3326 Buffet Seat Pulling Away From Exterior Wall.

Hello,

I am having a problem with the kitchen table area in my 3326. The door side seat is pulling away from the wall. When I unscrewed it from the wall, I found several of the screws had rounded out the holes.

What is really needed is something that stiffens the wall as well as repairs the damage to the holes. I think I can fill the holes with a fiberglass, flox, epoxy mix that might bond well enough. Still I think the wall needs something to stiffen it.

Any other 3326 owners have a similar problem?

Thanks,

[ShrimpBurrito]

What material are the holes in? Wood, the sheet metal, etc.? Wood holes can be repaired with bamboo skewers (2nd choice is toothpicks), and sheet metal screws can be replaced with well nuts.

Dave

Actually the walls are an aluminum over foam composite (sandwich). The screws managed to enlarge the holes by a half inch.

It seems to me that I need something that fills and bonds since I don't think the foam is mechanically stable.

[Bill]

You can start with the next larger size sheet metal screws. But as Dave says, the ultimate solution is well-nuts, available in any hardware store.

Bill

[Wavery]

You will need to use well-nuts. That will give you the ultimate grip and should totally resolve the issue.

You can get them in several different sizes. You just make the hole as big as the shank part of the well-nut. Put the well-nut in the hole, place the item against it and insert the proper size screw. As you tighten the screw, the rubber shank swells on the inside of the wall..........it will not pull out.

Here are the ones for a 1/2" hole in the wall:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/25-M6...Q5fAccessories

Sorry I missed the suggestions on well-nuts. There are actually some other components that should work as well or better. I had an additional problem in that the holes got elongated by the screws so well-nuts would have needed some work to be able to use them

That said, I made compound of flock and epoxy that is used as filler on some aircraft. I would load up a dowel with the compound, stick into the hole and using my nitrile gloves wipe the compound to fill the hole as I withdrew the dowel. It worked pretty well though it took about three days to harden in the cold weather.

I probably could drill a pilot hole and use the original screws to secure to the wall without problems or drill larger and epoxy in the well nuts for the same if not superior repair.

Right not I have removed the dinette chair and I am replacing with a very nice folding unit with elongated legs. When not being used for dinner, the chair can be turned around or folded out of the way increasing living space.

[Harry Womack]

I have found that everything I screw to the floor or wall that I use liquid nails to keep the screws from slotting the holes out. Any movement from the wood while traveling down the road will wear large holes where the screws were in the wall or floor.