12-24-2020, 10:50 AM
Silican mask can be fixed in an emergency
I have nasal Pillows. One night, well, over a few nights I was feeling a draft going towards one of my eyes.
Putting my finger to the Nasal Pillow appeared to fix it, but as soon as I took my finger away the draft started again.
This happened over a few nights, the machine was also saying I had a leak.
I checked the pillows a few times but I couldn't see any hole in them.
In the end I tried stretching the pillows to see if there was a hole but it didn't show up, so I stuck them on the machine, held my hand over the end of the pillows and had a good look.
There was a hold when the pillows expanded with air pressure, though you couldn't see it when I stretched them.
Anyway, I was surprised I couldn't see it as it was at the edge of the pillow where it left the main shell of the pillow.
Now this was Friday afternoon and all you get when you phone the hospital here is an answering machine, you are not allowed to go in due to Covid. I either had to fix it or put up with the leak for a few days.
The split was about 3mm long, how could I not see that?
I went out to the shed and got some "Clear£ silicone, not expecting it to work, I know white will just come off.
I injected some inside the pillow and made sure it went through the split, then applied it on the outside, spread it a little and left it an hour to start to cure and hopefully bond to the silicone pillows.
After an hour I got hold of the wife's hairdryer and put a bit of heat onto the silicone repair, then a blast of cooler air, then hot and then cold. I did this until the silicone had set, gave it a push around gently, it appeared to have set enough, but it was still slightly soft right in the centre, so I heated and cooled it until it was solid.
I didn't really expect this to hold very long, but I hoped it would last till the clinic opened in Monday Morning.
This was a month ago and so far it is still holding and has become part of the pillow mask.
I was surprised it had stuck, but with it being inside and out and contacting to itself it has become part of the mask.
It has to be good quality clear silicone, you do get small tubes of it, well you do here anyway.
White will not work as it has extra things in it like color that makes it less sticky, though when working with it you wouldn't think so!
But anyway, if you find yourself with a small tare in the fold of a mask or something it is worth trying a simple repair, heating and cooling appeared to help.
It is over a month and the repair is still holding.
It is just clear silicone for sealing windows and it was not even expensive.
Make sure it contacts itself through any hole etc as this will help it to hold when being moved around.
I didn't expect the silicone would stick to this type of silicone, but it did.
Putting my finger to the Nasal Pillow appeared to fix it, but as soon as I took my finger away the draft started again.
This happened over a few nights, the machine was also saying I had a leak.
I checked the pillows a few times but I couldn't see any hole in them.
In the end I tried stretching the pillows to see if there was a hole but it didn't show up, so I stuck them on the machine, held my hand over the end of the pillows and had a good look.
There was a hold when the pillows expanded with air pressure, though you couldn't see it when I stretched them.
Anyway, I was surprised I couldn't see it as it was at the edge of the pillow where it left the main shell of the pillow.
Now this was Friday afternoon and all you get when you phone the hospital here is an answering machine, you are not allowed to go in due to Covid. I either had to fix it or put up with the leak for a few days.
The split was about 3mm long, how could I not see that?
I went out to the shed and got some "Clear£ silicone, not expecting it to work, I know white will just come off.
I injected some inside the pillow and made sure it went through the split, then applied it on the outside, spread it a little and left it an hour to start to cure and hopefully bond to the silicone pillows.
After an hour I got hold of the wife's hairdryer and put a bit of heat onto the silicone repair, then a blast of cooler air, then hot and then cold. I did this until the silicone had set, gave it a push around gently, it appeared to have set enough, but it was still slightly soft right in the centre, so I heated and cooled it until it was solid.
I didn't really expect this to hold very long, but I hoped it would last till the clinic opened in Monday Morning.
This was a month ago and so far it is still holding and has become part of the pillow mask.
I was surprised it had stuck, but with it being inside and out and contacting to itself it has become part of the mask.
It has to be good quality clear silicone, you do get small tubes of it, well you do here anyway.
White will not work as it has extra things in it like color that makes it less sticky, though when working with it you wouldn't think so!
But anyway, if you find yourself with a small tare in the fold of a mask or something it is worth trying a simple repair, heating and cooling appeared to help.
It is over a month and the repair is still holding.
It is just clear silicone for sealing windows and it was not even expensive.
Make sure it contacts itself through any hole etc as this will help it to hold when being moved around.
I didn't expect the silicone would stick to this type of silicone, but it did.
I am NOT a doctor. I try to help, but do not take what I say as medical advice.
Every journey, however large or small starts with the first step.
Every journey, however large or small starts with the first step.
