Magictail Monofin

[MerQueen Nerissa]

My magictail monofin cracked today. :(

[MerAnthony]

Anyway to fix that? or what are you going to do now?

[MerQueen Nerissa]

I sent her an email. Other than that, I have no idea what to do.

[malinghi]

The reason cracks grow is because stresses in materials are concentrated at sharp changes in the shape. That's why having a crack in something weakens it. I wouldn't make any changes to the fin until after you've talked to magictail, but if they can't help then I'd recommend cutting around the crack to give it a good edge again.
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[Winged Mermaid]

Sorry to hear that :( As it states in this thread (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?2909-MONOFINS-THE-OFFICIAL-THREAD), you can stop it by drilling a hole at the apex of the crack as well. I hope you can get it to stop for good. Let us know how it goes!

[Mermaid Dottie]

Iona, your gif is finomenal!

[Winged Mermaid]

Thanks Dottie ^_^

[Echidna]

My magictail monofin cracked today as well!
I had only used it four times, never bumped it, never stood on it, never put weight on it while putting it on or off.

AND guess what?
The crack looks almost exactly like yours!
Same location, similar broadness, same direction!

Maybe some fault in the production?

[Echidna]

Addendum;
the monofins of the tails have meanwhile been made stronger and a bit less floppy, because of the frequent cracking.

They replied to my mail only minutes after I sent it, and solved my problem :)
Top notch service really.

[MerQueen Nerissa]

The replacement they sent me seems to be stronger. I've swam in it quite a few times and it has not cracked yet (maybe because I'm really paranoid about it and have been swimming really lightly and trying not to make it flop so much)
I'm thinking about fixing the broken one. I plan to drill a hole at the bottom of the crack and glue the crack with marine epoxy.

[Kumori Kitsune]

Have you tried filling the crack with hot glue. while its drying you can smooth out the glue with the smooth side of a butter knife.
Lol hot glue is my safety for any craft problems I cant figure how to fix

[MerAnthony]

Is the monofin made out of Lexan(polycarbonite)? If so you can get what they call MEK (methyl ethyl keytone). Bend it alittle to where the crack is open a little pour some of the MEK into the crack. then close the crack an hold straight. It should cold weld the crack. Or should I say weld the plactic together. It worked for my home made monofin,

[Capt Nemo]

Those cracks look like acrylic and not polycarbonate! I have seen polycarbonate crack like that, but it takes a helluva lot of force applied very quickly to a small area.

Drill the apex of the cracks to stop them from running any further. Methylene chloride will weld both acrylic and polycarbonate.

I think someone thought Lucite (acrylic) was Lexan (polycarbonate).

[Echidna]

The replacement they sent me seems to be stronger.

Yes, they made the fins thicker, because the earlier ones cracked if you just used them normally, during swimming (and not even swimming hard).
The fin costs around 70€ now.

For that kind of money, you can get a real monofin, sew your own tail for it, and then outswim all the Magictail owners while looking just as good :D