A Liquid Plastic Repair Job

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Back in 2017, I talked about the prepping uses of liquid resin and a UV curing light. This past weekend I had an emergency situation where this method of repair came in very handy. 

As I have mentioned before, I use a CPAP at night. Well, after many years of faithful service, part of my mask broke. Actually, I'm not sure if "broke" is the correct word, as it doesn't look like anything sheared off; instead it just seems like the hard plastic ring inside the soft silicone nose piece, which serves as an attachment point for my headgear, decided it didn't want to stay in place any more. Perhaps there was a spot of glue holding it in place, or maybe the silicone just softened enough over time that there wasn't sufficient friction to keep it in position; regardless, the malfunction prevented proper operation of my CPAP because the nasal pillows wouldn't stay in place. 

More distressing is that it decided to break when I was already in bed and about to fall asleep. I needed to fix this quickly with a solution that didn't take a lot of time, effort, or brainpower:

• I considered using superglue to keep the rings in place, but I didn't know how well it would adhere to silicone, and even if it did I had no desire to breathe ethyl cyanoacrylate fumes all night. 
• I thought that something like duct tape or electrical tape might work. However, trying to wrap a complex curved surface with flat tape is something I find extremely challenging. Additionally, I wasn't sure how well the tape would stick to the silicone; if it didn't stick well then it would slip off in the night, but if it stuck too well then I might damage my headgear when I took the tape off to replace the broken nasal pillow. 
• As you have guessed, I fixed it with UV-cured liquid plastic. I reasoned that if I coated the exterior of the locking ring and then placed it back inside the silicone nose piece, even if it didn't glue the ring in place it would increase the surface area enough that I would have a good enough friction fit to make it through the night. As a bonus, I wouldn't be breathing any toxic fumes or risking damage to anything I wasn't intending to replace. 

I'm pleased to report that my quick fix did indeed solve my problem for that night. Unfortunately, the bond didn't hold for a second night, but by that point I had dug out my backup mask and ordered a replacement part, so it lasted as long as I needed it to last. Honestly, that's all you can ask of a patch job.