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On Apr 22, 2012, at 8:31 PM, Siri Khalsa wrote

Hi Bob,

First, my yurt is working beautifully for my watsu pool! We’ve had storms, extra hot days and “normal” weather and I’ve been able to modify the yurt to fit every condition. Everyone is very impressed with how it looks and works.

I have tropical plants around the sides, and would like to hang some ferns inside, if possible. How much weight can the dome take and what do you suggest we use?

I tried your Q & A pages, but didn’t see a “Search” box; too many to read through, sorry.

thanks! Laurie

Laurie Loving
[email protected]


see below

Sincerely,

Bob Gillis

Hi Boston

We had a dome set up in partial year-round shade that was sold as a functioning shelter after 9 years; so if you keep your dome shaded I would guess you should get quite a long life out of your dome. Our Greenhouse and Shelter Coverings have been tested in the harsh sun of Florida and Arizona and where they lasted three plus years. High elevation also shortens the sun life of our domes as thin air offer less UV protection.

Replacement covers ar 90% of the cost of the dome.

Shelter Systems LLC, 224 Walnut St, Menlo Park CA 94025
Orders & Customer Service (866)777-1066 (831)464-2004 [email protected]
www.DomeTents.com www.GripClips.com www.ReliefTents.com
Copyright 2012 Shelter Systems All Rights Reserved.

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On Apr 22, 2012, at 8:31 PM, Siri Khalsa wrote:

Hi Bob, I have a few inquiries. I have an 18′ playa dome and I ordered a two replacement panels a few months back. I was able to replace the old ones with new ones just fine. The reason I needed to replace the panels is I noticed there was some slight ripping at the joints between the bottom panels and the middle panels. I understand that this is normal under wear and tear as we have had the dome for a few years, and it’s been to burning man. I went to a festival recently and we were hit with hurricane force winds and the dome collapsed. A few of the bottom PVC struts snapped and a few more panels completely ripped from the Grip Clip connectors.

I am in hopes of repairing the dome as I still feel it has a lot of good use. My first instinct was to buy new replacement panels but considering there are lots of small tears around the joints throughout the dome this would get rather pricey at $70 ea. My second thought was to un-clip the panels that need fixing and actually patch some of the tears.

Here is what I did. With an old panel I kept I cut a few square spots and created some test repair sites. I purchased, 100% silicone rubber sealant, gorilla glue, and liquid nails. I did a test of all three and let them sit 24 hours in my garage. When I came back the next day to check them I noticed the rubber sealant and the liquid nails were the least durable and actually the gorilla glue held the strongest, however they all gave way when I did a light pull test with my hands.

what do you think is my best bet in repairing my dome, are there any retailers that sell the tarp like material to make my own panels??

see https://shelter-systems.com/accessories.html

In terms of patching am I using the wrong adhesive?

100% silicone rubber is the best I have seen but if it is a stress point which yours are: sew first:

Repairing small holes:repairing small hole in dome using glue
The simplest way to repair a hole or cut in the covering is to cut a patch from the material the dome came wrapped in. Use 100% silicon rubber to glue your patch on the outside of the tear. If the tear is small you may be able to plug it up with a blob of silicon rubber alone. Silicon rubber glue is readily available at hardware stores.

Repairing larger tears or holes:
If you have a larger tear or a tear that is immediately adjacent to a clip, you can make a repair from a patch cut out of either material at the skirt of your dome or cut out of the material that your dome was wrapped in for shipping. Use a patch of about 12” square, as long as this is sufficient to cover the tear with at least a 2” overlap on good material. This is important, as it allows the stress that the clip generates to be spread over a large number of stitches. Sew in your patch using stitches about 1/8” long with doubled cotton-covered polyester button thread. You don’t need to remove the torn section of the covering. Preferably, you should glue the patch in place first with 100% silicon rubber bathroom caulk, which will make the sewing easier and provide a better seal. If you do this, press the glued patch between two heavy objects (like large books or rocks) and wait until the glue is completely set, about 12 hours. Make sure the covering is clean and dry before gluing. After you set up the shelter, you can apply Silicon Rubber to seal the seams and along the edge of the patch.

Another way to do this is take the dome down; locate the damage; remove the grip clip (you can brake the clip off with pliers if you have a replacement clip; label with a making pen the order and orientations of the layers of panels; cut and sew by hand or machine a patch to replace the damaged area (use strong thread and 1/8″ stitching); mark and trim patch to size; re-layer (in the right order and orientation) the panels; attach the clip (best to first practice “clipping” till you can clip 3 to 4 layers); proceed to next area; set up dome; use 100% silicone rubber caulk to seal seam with dome up (this way seam is tensioned and glue sets to seal needle holes).

 

I know you sell repair kits and it includes Silicone rubber Glue…is this different from the Silicone Rubber sealant? and if so what retailers sell it? Perhaps I could buy some from you…
Also, where do you get the thin wall PVC, all I have found so far is thick wall which is heavier and the lower level pieces dont fit in to it.

use thin wall class 125 or 200 get at an irrigation supply store

I really appreciate any help with this issue as I would love to fix our dome for a festival this coming weekend, fingers crossed.

Siri


Siri Khalsa