Emfo vs. Jaxida covers

I have now Jaxida covers for my ASH26E. No problem of humidity inside
the engine bay because the doors are closely closed. I even think that
without covers, no humidity would enter the engine bay.

The problem is to protect the gelcoat against UV thanks to a cover.
The new plastic layer from Jaxida is more fragile than the one I had
some years ago. Now, only after 2 years, the plastic is becoming
brittle. It seems to be at an end of life. Basically, the current
Jaxida covers seems to have a lifetime of about 2 years while in the
past, it was about 5 years.Considering the high price of Jaxida
covers, I am not very happy to detect that my Jaxida covers are death
only after 2 years. In addition, I did not wash them just for sparing
them against potential aggressive soap.

I received recently a sample from Emfo which seems to provide a more
robust external plastic layer. In fact, Emfo provides some kind of
tissue impregnated with a polymer. This external layer seems to be
more resistant (mechanically). This would be my current best choice
but the post from James D'Andrea worries me a little bit.

I sent an email to the British company announced in a previous post.
Still no answer.

There is also another manufacturer in France named : Aerobache. See:
http://www.aerobache.com/product_inf...roducts_id=178
In addition, they seems to have their product immediately for an
ASH26E. But they seems also to be quite expensive. I asked them for a
sample but did not reply.

Important aspects are the conditions of use:

In Belgium, I am using covers from March till end of September. Medium
average temperature is about 20°C, we could have hot day with burning
sun but most of the time we receive a lot of rain and associated humid
weather from the UK. (NW winds).

During winter, if samples are available I will try to be more
professional by testing in an appropriate way (IEEE or MIL standards)
the samples (UV resistance, humidity resistance etc)

Cheers,
Bruno

I have now Jaxida covers for my ASH26E. No problem of humidity inside
the engine bay because the doors are closely closed. I even think that
without covers, no humidity would enter the engine bay.

The problem is to protect the gelcoat against UV thanks to a cover.
The new plastic layer from Jaxida is more fragile than the one I had
some years ago. Now, only after 2 years, the plastic is becoming
brittle. It seems to be at an end of life. Basically, the current
Jaxida covers seems to have a lifetime of about 2 years while in the
past, it was about 5 years.Considering the high price of Jaxida
covers, I am not very happy to detect that my Jaxida covers are death
only after 2 years. In addition, I did not wash them just for sparing
them against potential aggressive soap.

I received recently a sample from Emfo which seems to provide a more
robust external plastic layer. In fact, Emfo provides some kind of
tissue impregnated with a polymer. This external layer seems to be
more resistant (mechanically). This would be my current best choice
but the post from James D'Andrea worries me a little bit.

I sent an email to the British company announced in a previous post.
Still no answer.

There is also another manufacturer in France named : Aerobache. See:
http://www.aerobache.com/product_inf...roducts_id=178
In addition, they seems to have their product immediately for an
ASH26E. But they seems also to be quite expensive. I asked them for a
sample but did not reply.

Important aspects are the conditions of use:

In Belgium, I am using covers from March till end of September. Medium
average temperature is about 20°C, we could have hot day with burning
sun but most of the time we receive a lot of rain and associated humid
weather from the UK. (NW winds).

During winter, if samples are available I will try to be more
professional by testing in an appropriate way (IEEE or MIL standards)
the samples (UV resistance, humidity resistance etc)

Cheers,
Bruno

On Mon, 8 Sep 2008 08:25:10 -0700 (PDT), nimbus
wrote:

....
Now, only after 2 years, the plastic is becoming
brittle. It seems to be at an end of life.

My 6 or 7 years old Jaxida set had lost all weatherproofing. The
coating progressively turned into a white powder that was filling my
clothes during the cover/uncover process.

I have sprayed the whole (cleaned) set with two thin coats of a
plastic paint called "Plastivel". The result is a different looking,
slightly more rigid and crisp glider cover.
No water passes through the fabric now, even under heavy rain. I still
can easily store the set in its bags, though the sound is definetely
different.
The seller claims that the treatment will last for more than 3 years.
It is in commont use on camp tents and for sealing toxic-painted
aquarium decorations from the vital environment.
My 18m single seater required 8 cans of spray paint for a total cost
of about 60 Euros.

Plastivel:
http://www.bricoliamo.com/17/37/546/
http://www.costruire.com/a+r/prod_sx...0&w=1332&n=153


The following product might be a good alternative, though it's based
on rubber instead of plastic.
http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

Any other suggestions?

Aldo Cernezzi

cernauta wrote:
On Mon, 8 Sep 2008 08:25:10 -0700 (PDT), nimbus
wrote:

...
Now, only after 2 years, the plastic is becoming
brittle. It seems to be at an end of life.

My 6 or 7 years old Jaxida set had lost all weatherproofing. The
coating progressively turned into a white powder that was filling my
clothes during the cover/uncover process.

I have sprayed the whole (cleaned) set with two thin coats of a
plastic paint called "Plastivel". The result is a different looking,
slightly more rigid and crisp glider cover.
No water passes through the fabric now, even under heavy rain. I still
can easily store the set in its bags, though the sound is definetely
different.

A DG 800 pilot in my area added a layer of 1460 Tyvek (a form of Tyvek
sold for the purpose of covering and protecting things that are outside)
to the top side of his Jaxida covers, which had lost their top coating.
He said it was cheap and easy to do, and the last I heard from him, the
Tyvek was still in good condition after 2 years of leaving the glider
tied down April through September. Here is where he got the material:

www.materialconcepts.com

My wife made me a set of lightweight covers for use during soaring camps
and contests. She tells me it was easy to handle and to sew.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

On Sep 8, 8:25*am, nimbus wrote:
I have now Jaxida covers for my ASH26E. No problem of humidity inside
the engine bay because the doors are closely closed. I even think that
without covers, no humidity would enter the engine bay.
[snip]

Without covers I would suspect rain moves inside, through capillary
action around the outer door seals and through the central opening. Of
course measurements could make me think otherwise. With covers I would
hope the primary moisture stays out but still would worry about this
if the glider is in a high rain/moisture environment. As you know
moisture and corrosion can be a concern if the engine is not operated
frequently.

Darryl