An e-mail from the engineer at Abyss theorized three possible problems with Kaci's arm/elbow. His responses were as well as could possibly be "guessed" at, without any first-hand knowledge of what was under her skin.

With those thoughts in mind, i initiated a cut at the lower point of the elbow due to the likelyhood of two of the three possibilities being at that point. No luck, it WAS the area at the mid-forearm. Luckily i was able to get a very smooth cut along the entire length that was opened.

The procedure was this: Initial penetration at the existing seam line with one smooth motion until i hit solid. Then a smooth, slow (DO NOT USE A SAWING MOTION) drawing motion, FOLLOWING THE EXISTING SEAM, maintaining contact with solid material under the blade point. After examination of the joint and upper forearm revealed no problems, i then continued the cut using the same procedure as outlined above until i was able to reveal the lower end of the PVC bone. The cut was made thru the existing seam line and was accomplished with no exterior nicks or jaggedness. The entire cut top to bottom (thickness of the silicon) was virtually smooth. The cut allmost adheres back to itself and will or should be indistinguishable from the original seam line. I WAS LUCKY.

The problem is shown in the attached photo with captions. It was, as i originally thought, a rivet problem at the mid-forearm. It is only a small portion of each rivet as installed that holds everything in place. The bottom rivet in the photo is ready to come completely out of the assembly, with the top one "bobbing up and down and all around". Only mistake i made was guessing that they were aluminum and not steel. I drilled them out very carefully, realigned the wrist and lower fore-arm insert, inserted two new 3/16" rivets and set them. Of particular note is that this time, i fully seated the rivets before setting them. I considered replacing with a nut/bolt, but being verey familiar with the use of "pop-rivets", IF INSERTED AND SET CORRECTLY, deemed them sufficient. I also loosened her elbow joint a tiny bit while i was in there, the stiffness from the factory was a contributing factor to having to make this repair.

I came back and added this little section after my original post. What i forgot to mention was that there are three (3) rivets in that area (one is on the other "side") and only two were set incorrectly (thank goodness). ALL and i'll repeat, ALL the torque or force used to rotate the wrists or forearm are applied in a shearing force to those three rivets. I plan on doing a complete and thorough pictoral for TDF members to show how it all works and is put together. I was so pissed off when i saw those rivets i had the shakes. Oh yeah, notice the nice "square" cut end of the lower PVC bone, guess it does'nt matter if some portions of a high stress area are weaker than other areas by having a smaller area to distibute stress loading.
...... "What the hell, it's not mine"... usual thoughts from a person "making his 40"....and a lack of QA

Examine the photo and come to your own conclusions about a place that can be only defined as an " Immeasureably deep chasm, depth or void"
All in chorus now..... ABYSS.

Thanks OD for the invaluable info. And we are all wishing Kaci a speedy recovery.

od,
I'm hoping that Kaci's and Nicole's similarities are only skin deep....
Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for Kaci.
Thanks for the tips, I hope Nicole never has to rely on me playing doctor

I'm surprised that Abyss would use pop rivets in an area like that. I would have used steel bolts with locking nuts on them. Yes, it costs a little more, but look at all the work their absense put you through.

Now my question is this: Was this problem caused by your use of the doll or did it slip through when the quality control was done on the doll before it was shipped?

If the latter, then it would seem that Abyss needs to make their QC inspections of outgoing dolls a LOT more rigorous.


technoguy

thaks for sharing the info and I hope your lovely Kaci makes a speedy recovery!!!!!

Technoguy wrote:

I quote myself:

That help you out Technoguy???????

Sorry to hear of Kaci's problems, seems like you have done a good job with the cut, must of been a surgeon in a former life

Just to get my head around what I can see in the photo, the top joint is the elbow and an I correct in thinking that the plastic bit rotate on the bottom of the elbow?

By the way Kimi sends Kaci her love and hopes she makes a speedy recovery

Regards
Kimi & Eagle1

eagle 1 wrote:

These two photo's may help to clarify the wrist to elbow assembly:

[img][img]http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/4494/31640163sr4.jpg[/img]
[/img]

[img][img]http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/2769/71813296yp2.jpg[/img]
[/img]

Thanks Od for the extra photo's, they help allot.

Regards
Kimi & Ragle1

Similar to Louise's back joint in 2005: Although in that case I expect the pop rivet was fully in, it is not up to the job. I had to replace it with a bolt and locking nut. It has been fine ever since. (Until her hip joint came apart... for which I have received the repair kit but I have yet to carry out the repair.)

It strikes me that their quality control is inadequate. However, it is a tough nut to crack: Checking the work of your employees without pissing them off. I digress...

Exellent job, Od!

The arm has changed much since I had Phoebe opened up. Those pop rivets aren't in Phoebe.

What Abyss needs is a 6 Sigma Black belt to reorganize their production process. When you can convince the employees that a total quality system will make their job easier you will get more cooperation. It worked for Toyota.

Mahtek & Phoebe & Penelope

Great repair job OD! I know how worrisome extensive repairs can be.
The new pieces you put in look very good. I also like how you used wire to hold the cut open while you operated on her.

Myself, I would never use pop rivets inside a doll. Pan-head screws with locktite might be a better way to go.

mahtek wrote


We're going through 6 sigma now. They started off by senting out a '6 sigma' test, like we should know everything already

I'd send Bronwen the link to this thread.

There should be a inspection where each joint is moved and connections are checked for proper fit and torque prior to the doll being poured. The QC should be signed off by the responsible party. Spot checks to make sure the employee is doing his/her job should be mandatory.



Agreed, but they gotta do it somehow. IMHO it's much more unfair the customer ends up holding the stick and hacked off.

As to parts, I wouldn't know a pop rivet from popcorn but I gather -- not so good? What kind of tools did you need to make these type of repairs?

Well, very good pictorial. Excellent labeling job.

A great repair, od and thanks for the great photos. Quality has always been a problem with Abyss products and there is no excuse for it. They need to get an aircraft mechanic to assemble the skeletons who can see the weak points. Someone who double-checks their work and worries about the extra piston after assembly is completed.

I've been a double-checker all my life and have had sex twice to make sure I had that first orgasm. I look down the barrel of my handgun to make sure it is loaded and pull the trigger to double-check.

I've waited for someone (hmmm.... wonder who that could be) for a month now to show me the error in my assumptions. That has not happened, so i thought that i would finally update this repair thread using those assumptions with a lot of backup to support same.

Virgin arm assembly fresh from opening.


Basic schematic/explanation of the assembly.






Quick Rivet Tutorial. No "bulb" or piece of shank was found....The "bulb" is the round metal part on the bottom of the shank (looks like a nail) It breaks off BELOW or IN the Rivet Body itself. The shank is pulled bringing the bulb up and into the bottom of the rivet. When a specific amount of force is applied, it will break off after squeezing the sides of the rivet outward (hopefully). It is best used ina proper application for joining two (or more) flat sheets togther..... The rivets were used as pin without the conpression and just squeezed or hammered in. I found none of THREE bulbs from the three rivets and the rivets had no sign of being compressed,

Actual rivets pulled out of assembly. A pair of 5" needle nose and a steady tug was all that required.


Some of y'all may know exactly what you are seeing. I do, i think Abyss does also.... I want someone to prove me wrong in my assumptions so that i can eat crow and enjoy my doll and leave this in peace.


The lack of grip or the lack of insertion into the lower forearm assembly allowed the entire piece to pivot on the one fully inserted rivet(pin) which caused the entire lower forearm to oscilate 1-1.5" at the wrist. Note the space between the "bone" and the lower assembly shown in some of the pictures. Also note that the slanted/bad cut ( i guess ) on the lower end of the bone that allowed for "enhanced" movement
What Mark Twain said......