Concept2 Forum

Well had my model D for a few years now and I knew my sweat was a problem but it has got under the stainless cap on the monorail and destroyed the double sided tape.

The stainless has even been attacked by the sweat, was a real mess and it took me a while to scrape off the remaining tape with some IPA and a narrow scrapper from the monorail.

Had to use a wire brush on the Stainless cap to get it back to usable condition.

All parts good enough to retape the cap back on. Will use some new 24mm wide double sided sellotape. Will also run it closer to the outside of the monorail so there as tape under the full width of the roller that is in contact with the cap.

Its easy to check, just try and lift the cap by the lip on it down both sides of the monorail.

If Concept 2 would like to buy some sweat for product testing its USD$4000 a litre and it would have to shipped DG or "Dangerious Goods" !

Alternatively I would accept a couple of airline tickets and a weeks accommodation to visit and tour the Concept 2 factory in Vermont and I will happily do a few rows and sweat all over some of your rowers and provide you with some design ideas.

Just finished the job.

The double sided sellotape doesn't appear to be ideal, needs something a little thicker that can conform to both surfaces. The stainless needs to be really clean with IPA for it to stick.

If anyone else has tried and tested a better double sided tape let me know. There are some extremely aggressive tapes like those from 3M, however they usually incorporate foam so they are too thick.

Do you have any photos Carl? I tend to sweat buckets, would like to know where to look and what to watch / listen / feel for.

Thanks very much,
Dean

Yes sure do.

Basically it was clamped both ends but all the tape was shot. The stainless slide pictured at the bottom just fell off once the monorail was stripped down. The top of the rail really doesn't want to be painted, the paint was lifting in places and its pretty thick and uneven so next time I will have to strip the top of the rail down to the aluminium and then I will give it a very thin clearcote that can be easily removed with IPA and resprayed as required.

You can see how the tape was bunched up and moving about right in the middle of the rail, this is a problem because the stainless needs to sit on a very flat surface or else the rollers constantly going back and fourth will cause it to flex and fatigue crack. Stainless is very brittle and will not take constant flexing.

As mentioned its easy to check, just try and lift the stainless away from the monorail, it should be stuck solid, if not you need to sort it out.

Basically pretty disgusting, a pool of sweat under the stainless and hence some serious pitting and corrosion. Not sure if this is 304 stainless but it cannot quite handle it. Fine if your in the USA, I'm sure a new stainless slide is cheap but parts over here cost a fortune.

I also changed the tape arrangement at the front of the slide so the sweat cannot capillary action under the stainless rail. I was in two minds whether or not to add a third strip of tape down the center. Will see how the new setup holds out and make some changes the next time it needs servicing.

Hi Carl!

Nice job. How many meters did you do on your erg till you had to change your mono rail?

Thanks.

Mat

Thanks Carl, appreciate the pic.

Mat wrote:Hi Carl!

Nice job. How many meters did you do on your erg till you had to change your mono rail?

Thanks.

Mat

Only doing about 2 million meters per season so about 10 million meters tops.

Its last summer that killed it, usually February is simply too hot to row with temps in the 32 Deg C area and high humidity but I rowed through as there was a target to hit. Sweat was running down the slide forming a puddle. The steel seat brackets are also getting a hammering, will have to go for something in Aluminium, going to custom make some brackets. Pretty surprised someone has not made up something in Carbon Fibre that is more "Universal" so you can fit different seats.

Carl, Wow, that's extreme for sure! Usually removing the stainless is a real chore because the double sided tape is so aggressive. I think your observation regarding capillary action is probably correct, along with some alternating sucking/expelling caused by the adhesive being compressed and released every time the seat rolls over an area. Sounds like your repair was good- cleaning and light abrading of the surfaces to get good adhesion and buffing out the top surface. Note some people have had good luck with a light application and thorough buffing out of oil on the track top surface- might be worth a try for this extreme application!

You mentioned thicker tape and indeed we did try a double sided foam tape on early model Cs but went to thin thin double stick when we started getting fatigue cracks in the stainless from inadequate support between the monorail and stainless.

I think we'll pass on the sweat offer though if you ever get to Vermont you're welcome to stop by....................thanks for the work and analysis.........C2JonW

c2jonw wrote:
You mentioned thicker tape and indeed we did try a double sided foam tape on early model Cs but went to thin thin double stick when we started getting fatigue cracks in the stainless from inadequate support between the monorail and stainless.

Any more information on the tape you currently use on the Model D so I can try and get some here ? it also seemed "Fibrous" in that it had some reinforcing in it.

My Model C appears to have held up better, if indeed it has a form of foam tape on it. This however may be due to the fact I keep the slide spotless. Any bits of foreign material on the slide would cause pressure points, causing an undue level of flex in the stainless at this point and hence the increased possibility of cracking. Potentially I'm better off using a very thin foam tape with a very aggressive adhesive.

Will see how the current setup holds out and report in if it fails again.