What plastic is the Nikon Coolpix camera body made up of (why did glue melt it?)

Do you know what plastic the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera body is made up of?

The reason I ask is that I had the same problem as all other Nikon Coolpix
owners did - namely the tiny plastic loop on the camera body breaks off so
the battery door won't latch so I superglued and epoxied a paperclip in
place. This worked but everywhere inside the battery compartment was fogged
and pitted with tiny holes from the Locktite cyanoacrylate superglue and
everywhere the Locktite Quick Set 5-minute Epoxy was wet, the camera body
melted.

Obviously I used the wrong glues and epoxy but nowhere in the reference
articles on how to fix the common flaw in the Nikon Coolpix cameras did it
say WHICH epoxy and glue were used!!!!

Here is a photo of the Nikon Coolpix camera body BEFORE it breaks
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Niko...ompartment.jpg

Here is a photo of Nikon Coolpix camera body ultimately broken
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0065b.JPG

Here a user fixed the Nikon Coolpix camera body with a paperclip
http://www.uthunter.com/images/Nikonfix.jpg

Here a user fix the Nikon Coolpix camera with a tripod
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0070b.JPG

Here is how I fixed the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera with epoxy
http://usera.imagecave.com/coolpixfixer/

Here is a photo of how Nikon fixed the flaw themselves
http://www.scaredpoet.com/images/E7600_batterydoor.jpg

Since the crazy glue fogged and pitted the body and since the epoxy melted
the body where it touched and stayed wet, I must have used the wrong glues.
The epoxy says not to use on polyethylene or polypropylene - but what is
the Nikon Coolpix 2100/3100 camera body made up of?

Don't know, but the minute amount of CA req to attach the repair part in
that location should not cause a fogging problem. Prolly you used *way*
too much. Also, there are less energetic CA formulas, like slow/thick
gap-filling, which do not go off with the fumes and heat that super-thin
CA does. Once more, a little dab'l do ya.
JR
Dweller in te cellar

Jeanette Guire wrote:
Do you know what plastic the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera body is made up of?

The reason I ask is that I had the same problem as all other Nikon Coolpix
owners did - namely the tiny plastic loop on the camera body breaks off so
the battery door won't latch so I superglued and epoxied a paperclip in
place. This worked but everywhere inside the battery compartment was fogged
and pitted with tiny holes from the Locktite cyanoacrylate superglue and
everywhere the Locktite Quick Set 5-minute Epoxy was wet, the camera body
melted.

Obviously I used the wrong glues and epoxy but nowhere in the reference
articles on how to fix the common flaw in the Nikon Coolpix cameras did it
say WHICH epoxy and glue were used!!!!

Here is a photo of the Nikon Coolpix camera body BEFORE it breaks
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Niko...ompartment.jpg

Here is a photo of Nikon Coolpix camera body ultimately broken
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0065b.JPG

Here a user fixed the Nikon Coolpix camera body with a paperclip
http://www.uthunter.com/images/Nikonfix.jpg

Here a user fix the Nikon Coolpix camera with a tripod
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0070b.JPG

Here is how I fixed the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera with epoxy
http://usera.imagecave.com/coolpixfixer/

Here is a photo of how Nikon fixed the flaw themselves
http://www.scaredpoet.com/images/E7600_batterydoor.jpg

Since the crazy glue fogged and pitted the body and since the epoxy melted
the body where it touched and stayed wet, I must have used the wrong glues.
The epoxy says not to use on polyethylene or polypropylene - but what is
the Nikon Coolpix 2100/3100 camera body made up of?


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Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
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On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 23:34:49 -0700, JR North
wrote:

Don't know, but the minute amount of CA req to attach the repair part in
that location should not cause a fogging problem. Prolly you used *way*
too much. Also, there are less energetic CA formulas, like slow/thick
gap-filling, which do not go off with the fumes and heat that super-thin
CA does. Once more, a little dab'l do ya.

Hi

You can buy CA glue which is safe to use on plastics - try a model
aircraft hobby store.

Whether or not it is safe to use on your particular plastic is of
course a matter for experiment - but it's probably worth trying.

Regards
KGB

Jeanette Guire fired this volley in
. net:

Since the crazy glue fogged and pitted the body and since the epoxy
melted the body where it touched and stayed wet, I must have used the
wrong glues. The epoxy says not to use on polyethylene or
polypropylene - but what is the Nikon Coolpix 2100/3100 camera body
made up of?

They recommend against PE and PP plastics because epoxy just won't adhere
to them -- both are _extremely_ resistant to solvents, and probably
wouldn't soften in the presence of any chemical you could obtain at
retail.

The CA "fogging" is because CA cements sublime at room temperatures, and
recondense on adjacent surfaces -- where they ultimately cure in the form
of a white film.

The only two plastics of which I'm aware that might be affected by the
plasticizers in some epoxies would be polystyrene and perhaps acetate.

Most likely, the plastic is a styrene/polybutadiene copolymer, which is
sensitive to acetone, xylene, toluene, naptha, and PVC plasticizers, and
which is one of the two most common injection-moulding plastics in use.

The problem must be with the specific epoxy you used. I'm not familiar
with which plasticizers are present in which brands, but would suggest
you use one with different properties. For instance, if you used a clear
5-minute epoxy (which tends to the soft side when cured), try using a
pigmented slow-cure type that cures hard, and try an entirely different
brand, as well.

LLoyd

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" lloydspinsidemindspring.com fired this volley
in . 3.70:

The problem must be with the specific epoxy you used. I'm not
familiar with which plasticizers are present in which brands, but
would suggest you use one with different properties. For instance, if
you used a clear 5-minute epoxy (which tends to the soft side when
cured), try using a pigmented slow-cure type that cures hard, and try
an entirely different brand, as well.

I should have mentioned this: If the plastic _remains_ soft, then the
plasticizer is probably PVC or an adipate (organic oil). Dioctyl adipate
is often used to soften rubbers and styrenes, and its effect is
permanent. You won't get the plastic to re-harden after "drying" for a
spell. IF the plasticizer was PVC, you can expect it to re-harden in a
few weeks.

LLoyd

On Oct 15, 2:08 am, Jeanette Guire
wrote:
Do you know what plastic the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera body is made up of?

The reason I ask is that I had the same problem as all other Nikon Coolpix
owners did - namely the tiny plastic loop on the camera body breaks off so
the battery door won't latch so I superglued and epoxied a paperclip in
place. This worked but everywhere inside the battery compartment was fogged
and pitted with tiny holes from the Locktite cyanoacrylate superglue and
everywhere the Locktite Quick Set 5-minute Epoxy was wet, the camera body
melted.

Obviously I used the wrong glues and epoxy but nowhere in the reference
articles on how to fix the common flaw in the Nikon Coolpix cameras did it
say WHICH epoxy and glue were used!!!!

Here is a photo of the Nikon Coolpix camera body BEFORE it breakshttp://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonCP3100/Images/battcompartment.jpg

Here is a photo of Nikon Coolpix camera body ultimately brokenhttp://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0065b.JPG

Here a user fixed the Nikon Coolpix camera body with a papercliphttp://www.uthunter.com/images/Nikonfix.jpg

Here a user fix the Nikon Coolpix camera with a tripodhttp://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0070b.JPG

Here is how I fixed the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera with epoxyhttp://usera.imagecave.com/coolpixfixer/

Here is a photo of how Nikon fixed the flaw themselveshttp://www.scaredpoet.com/images/E7600_batterydoor.jpg

Since the crazy glue fogged and pitted the body and since the epoxy melted
the body where it touched and stayed wet, I must have used the wrong glues.
The epoxy says not to use on polyethylene or polypropylene - but what is
the Nikon Coolpix 2100/3100 camera body made up of?

Polystyrene garbage. A step from even rotten polycarbonate.

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:06:46 -0000, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:

The CA "fogging" is because CA cements sublime at room temperatures, and
recondense on adjacent surfaces -- where they ultimately cure in the form
of a white film.

That must be what happened. The entire inside of the battery compartment
turned a milky white and changed from a smooth surface to a slightly
rougher surface. Even the yellow plastic sticker showing which way to put
the batteries seemed to get fogged up. Wierd.

I thank you for your help because I have only one camera to fix but there
are tens of thousands of others out there who will benefit from choosing
the RIGHT glue to fix the engineering flaw in the Nikon Coolpix series of
cameras.


Most likely, the plastic is a styrene/polybutadiene copolymer, which is
sensitive to acetone, xylene, toluene, naptha, and PVC plasticizers

This is good to know for the next person who does this repair
http://usera.imagecave.com/coolpixfixer/

if you used a clear 5-minute epoxy, try using a
pigmented slow-cure type that cures hard, and try an entirely different
brand, as well.

I used the Locktite 5-minute quick-set two ingredient epoxy as shown at
http://usera.imagecave.com/coolpixfi..._latch_011.gif

For the record, the next person who tries the Nikon Coolpix camera repair
should use pigmented 30-minute expoxy.

Thanks for helping all of us!

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:12:33 -0000, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:

Path: newssvr14.news.prodigy.net!newsdbm05.news.prodigy. net!newsdst01.news.prodigy.net!prodigy.com!newscon 04.news.prodigy.net!prodigy.net!goblin1!goblin.stu .neva.ru!uio.no!news.tele.dk!news.tele.dk!small.ne ws.tele.dk!sn-xt-sjc-02!sn-xt-sjc-08!sn-post-sjc-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail
From: "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" lloydspinsidemindspring.com
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital,sci.electronics.design,rec.craft s.metalworking
Subject: What plastic is the Nikon Coolpix camera body made up of (why did glue melt it?)
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:12:33 -0000
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"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" lloydspinsidemindspring.com fired this volley
in . 3.70:

The problem must be with the specific epoxy you used. I'm not
familiar with which plasticizers are present in which brands, but
would suggest you use one with different properties. For instance, if
you used a clear 5-minute epoxy (which tends to the soft side when
cured), try using a pigmented slow-cure type that cures hard, and try
an entirely different brand, as well.

I should have mentioned this: If the plastic _remains_ soft, then the
plasticizer is probably PVC or an adipate (organic oil). Dioctyl adipate
is often used to soften rubbers and styrenes, and its effect is
permanent. You won't get the plastic to re-harden after "drying" for a
spell. IF the plasticizer was PVC, you can expect it to re-harden in a
few weeks.

LLoyd

The plastic seemed to only "melt" where the epoxy was liquid. I only fixed
the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera yesterday so I don't know if the plastic will
re-harden but it seems OK now.

It was just anywhere there were drops of two-part epoxy, the body melted a
bit so I was worried the whole body would collapse.

I wish Nikon actually made good cameras or that the reviewers would
actually test the cameras ... if that were the case, this problem wouldn't
exist for the hundreds of us who have this problem.

It wasn't a cheap camera either. I fault the reviewers at dpreview and
Steve's DigiCam for very faulty reporting.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikoncp3100/
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ni...ix3100-review/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_...nikon3100.html

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 05:27:41 -0700, Rich wrote:

what is the Nikon Coolpix 2100/3100 camera body made up of?

Polystyrene garbage. A step from even rotten polycarbonate.

That begs the question of which is the best substance to glue a paperclip
onto the camera body to fix the infamous Nikon Coolpix camera flaws?

Jeanette Guire wrote:

(snipped because it's good for all mankind!)

The plastic seemed to only "melt" where the epoxy was liquid. I only fixed
the Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera yesterday so I don't know if the plastic will
re-harden but it seems OK now.

It was just anywhere there were drops of two-part epoxy, the body melted a
bit so I was worried the whole body would collapse.

I wish Nikon actually made good cameras or that the reviewers would
actually test the cameras ... if that were the case, this problem wouldn't
exist for the hundreds of us who have this problem.

It wasn't a cheap camera either. I fault the reviewers at dpreview and
Steve's DigiCam for very faulty reporting.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikoncp3100/
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ni...ix3100-review/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_...nikon3100.html

Jeanette,

Just a SWAG, but it could be that the plastic seems to melt
due to the reaction heat of the epoxy. ie: it DID melt.

Not that it's all that hot in the absolute sense, but the
location is very concentrated.

Thin thermo forming plastic don't take much to deform.

If it has stabilized, it's going to be ok.

BTW, the paper clip latch (Metal work, guys!) was a stroke
of pure genius.

I filed that one - just in case...

Richard