Repairing Mares Fins

[akirawut]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a kind of glue to repair some Mares Volo Power fins. The rubber is coming off the plastic V shaped spine right at the end of the fins, I want to stop it before it becomes more and more detached.

Bonus points if it's something I can find easily at my local home depot.

Thanks,
-Tom

 

[boulderjohn]

I used Mares Volos for a number of years. Finally both broke right at the hinge area. Even though they were well past any warrantee period, my LDS sent them in, and I got a new pair back from Mares. I used them for a while after that, then went a different direction. If you don't get what you are looking for, I can make a deal for you.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Try Shoe-Goo, a product made for the bottom of running shoes to allow them to wear longer. You'll need to prep the area by cleaning it with alcohol, letting it dry completely, and then applying the glue to the part and letting it sit until set (probably at least 24 hours). You can get it in either clear or black, probably at specialty running stores.

SeaRat

 

[Diver0001]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a kind of glue to repair some Mares Volo Power fins. The rubber is coming off the plastic V shaped spine right at the end of the fins, I want to stop it before it becomes more and more detached.

Bonus points if it's something I can find easily at my local home depot.

Thanks,
-Tom

IMO any money you put into fixing them is wasted. I would suggest just using them until they fall apart to the point where you can't use them and then buy new ones. The Volo's aren't overly good fins to start with so even if you do fix this, they'll just continue to fall apart anyway. More often than not, they'll end up breaking at those silly hinges.

If you want to stay with Mares then the Avanti are good fins, although they will eventually split at the tips as well. With the Avanti, though, you'll be good for maybe 400 dives or so.

Aqualung has a couple of good ones like the blades II and of course all the solid rubber ones are pretty abuse proof.

Any fin with cutsey things on them like bungees, hinges, "power assist" this or that and/or anything that looks like it could possibly break, come undone, split apart, snap, bend, warp, wear out or cause any kind of problem..... will.

In terms of fins, simple is good, fancy is bad.

R..

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Fixing things is a part of diving, always has been since the invention of wet suit neoprene cement. Come on, if something is starting to break, and is otherwise okay, fix it.

Concerning using the Shoe-Goo, you may need to clamp or otherwise hold the pieces together while the glue sets.

SeaRat

 

[divin'dog]

If you use any type of adhesive be sure to use some sandpaper to rough up the area you intend to glue. This will give it a "bite" for the glue to hold onto. Make it nice and rough. Otherwise, the smooth surface will eventually lose grip with the adhesive. Also try to find an adhesive that is compatible with the materials you are bonding. Usually the adhesive should "eat" a bit of the surface material thereby bonding everything together. You might also want to think about bonding with a type of material used to repair the bottom of snow skis (p-tex). You melt the end of a stick and drip it on then sand it when it cools. Might be able to smooth it out while hot then sand it to finish the process. My Mares Avantis split and the fin material is very difficult to glue to. Never did try the p-tex I but thought it would work. I just ended up buying a used pair of Quattros. I love them.

 

[Diver0001]

Fixing things is a part of diving, always has been since the invention of wet suit neoprene cement. Come on, if something is starting to break, and is otherwise okay, fix it.

Yeah, I get that. I guess Tom would be well advised to take your advice and not mine. I guess my point was more that if I had a pair of Volo's I'd be doing a little happy-dance if they broke so I could undo that mistake and buy better fins.

I guess that's kind of cynical, isn't it?

R..

 

[lmorin]

As Divin'Dog said, rough up the plastic surface with a coarse file or sandpaper. Try Gorilla Glue, if nothing else works. Dampen the surfaces, apply and clamp. Gorilla Glue is, AFAIK, insoluble and it is extremely sticky. When it hardens, it might detach from the plastic unless the surface is quite rough to start. I'm finding that Gorilla Glue works for all sorts of otherwise impossible fixes.

 

[boulderjohn]

Yeah, I get that. I guess Tom would be well advised to take your advice and not mine. I guess my point was more that if I had a pair of Volo's I'd be doing a little happy-dance if they broke so I could undo that mistake and buy better fins.

I guess that's kind of cynical, isn't it?

R..

Yes, it is cynical. I am ashamed of you.

And I repeat my offer to sell the Volos I stopped using a few years ago.

 

[akirawut]

Thanks for all the ideas folks. I will look into the shoe goop and gorilla glue routes.