Broken Upper Back On 4Woods

katiesBoyfriend · Post by **katiesBoyfriend** » Sat Apr 20, 2019 3:27 pm

I have a second-hand 4Woods and her upper back went crunch last night. I took a look by cutting through the silicone and foam and I located the break. Using the picture at:

viewtopic.php?p=690860#p690860

for reference, the upper arm of the tee in between the shoulders broke off. The break is just underneath the nut and screw assembly that holds the neck in place. The result is that her head and neck are not only loose but kept in place by only the silicone.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you.

poppy70 · Post by **poppy70** » Sat Apr 20, 2019 5:26 pm

Hello,

I‘ve had some issues with my 4woods hand plate and contacted the manufacturer in France. Depends on the doll but you should try to contact the manufacturer. They are helpful and can supply spare parts and useful hints how to repair the doll. Also try to contact Samara - she‘s the doll doctor here.

good luck repairing your doll

katiesBoyfriend · Post by **katiesBoyfriend** » Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:07 pm

poppy70 wrote:Hello,

I‘ve had some issues with my 4woods hand plate and contacted the manufacturer in France. Depends on the doll but you should try to contact the manufacturer. They are helpful and can supply spare parts and useful hints how to repair the doll. Also try to contact Samara - she‘s the doll doctor here.

good luck repairing your doll

Thanks. I'll see if I can contact them.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Sat Apr 20, 2019 9:22 pm

WOW! It cracked the steel? Is that arm welded on/ cracked at the weld?
If 4-wood can't offer you for free or to purchase that piece, it should be easy to make a new and heavier replacement piece.

katiesBoyfriend · Post by **katiesBoyfriend** » Sat Apr 20, 2019 11:03 pm

rubherkitty wrote:WOW! It cracked the steel? Is that arm welded on/ cracked at the weld?
If 4-wood can't offer you for free or to purchase that piece, it should be easy to make a new and heavier replacement piece.

I got the impression that the tee was plastic (PVC, maybe), but I could be wrong. I've often heard grinding noises from her back when I rolled her sideways on my bed but I wasn't sure where they came from.

The break itself is right below where the screw passes through the arm to hold the neck assembly in place. The hole would be a likely place for a stress fracture to occur.

I've sent a message to 4Woods and I'm waiting for a reply.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Sat Apr 20, 2019 11:47 pm

Yeah, it does look like a Grey PVC T fitting now that I zoom in.
Kind of a major joint to be using plastic if that's what it is.

Karrot · Post by **Karrot** » Thu Apr 25, 2019 3:43 pm

Im replied over on UKLDF but I'll put it here too.

OK, heres how I would go about it.

You go in from the TOP. Cut the neck and shoulders along the seam lines with a sharp knife and a single deep steady cut from the top of the neck to just before the shoulder starts to roll over on to the arm, this will give you a simple and clean way to close up after.

Once you have the silicone and any foam cut you'll be removing bolts in the order shown

: Image1.jpg (115.9 KiB) Viewed 2939 times

This should then let you remove the "T" piece and neck.

Replace the piece (up to you to figure that bit out)

Reassemble in the reverse order ensuring you set the shoulder joint tensions.

Glue any foam back together using either Super Glue, or clear all purpose silicone.

Clean all silicone areas with Acetone or Isopropyl Alcohol and allow to dry.

using small amounts of clear all purpose silicone, cover the silicone surfaces to be 'glued' and press then together, remove any surface silicone over spill. Use cling film to hold the silicone together whilst it all cures for 24 hours. The more time and care you take here the better the finished repair will look.

With cuts this big, you may even be better off closing in stages rather than trying to go all in one go.

K

Heres a link to a good video showing how to open, repair and close a silicone doll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhQySUr ... verified=1

katiesBoyfriend · Post by **katiesBoyfriend** » Sun May 05, 2019 5:24 pm

I opened up her back again this afternoon and it turns out that the damage was much worse than I first thought. Not only did that arm break off, the main body of the piece broke in two as well. My choice is to either close her up and leave well enough alone or open her up even more and actually replace the piece.

From what I've gathered, it's a standard electrical or plumbing PVC fitting--either a cross or a tee that's been modified. I can get a new one easily enough and made the modifications, but it looks like I'll have to peel her apart in order to get at all the screws.

Thelord001 · Post by **Thelord001** » Tue May 07, 2019 8:13 pm

This shouldnt happen. As far as i know, all other doll manufacturers are using steel skeleton these days. Even the cheap TPE dolls have steel skeleton. Regarding the prize u pay for these dolls, there is no excuse for not having a steel skeleton.

katiesBoyfriend · Post by **katiesBoyfriend** » Tue May 07, 2019 10:13 pm

Thelord001 wrote:This shouldnt happen. As far as i know, all other doll manufacturers are using steel skeleton these days. Even the cheap TPE dolls have steel skeleton. Regarding the prize u pay for these dolls, there is no excuse for not having a steel skeleton.

She is an older model, so, perhaps, the manufacturer did things differently when she was produced.

I'm in the process of fixing her. I'll have to modify a standard PVC tee, but that shouldn't be all that difficult, though it'll take some time. I'll have to cut a hole into the bottom of the fitting so that it can fit onto the main part of the spine. The sockets are a touch too small (roughly 1 mm), but I should be able to enlarge them with some filing and sanding.

As I mentioned, she's second-hand, so I have no knowledge of her previous history.

katiesBoyfriend · Post by **katiesBoyfriend** » Tue May 21, 2019 5:48 pm

Just an update on the repairs.

I made a replacement tee and it's now in place with the neck and shoulder joints connected. I'll be closing her up over the next few days, which will be considerably easier than removing the old pieces and putting in the new one.

I plan on posting some pictures and comments about what I did in the next few days.

Maviarab · Post by **Maviarab** » Tue May 21, 2019 5:50 pm

Excellent news KB....look forward to the write up.

Chuck Norris · Post by **Chuck Norris** » Tue May 21, 2019 9:06 pm

Not that it can be of any help at this point. But working with PVC thickness is measured as schedule.
The pics you have shown is a schedule 20....kinda hard to tell from the pic.

No pressure pipes use Schedule 20-40 for like septic and sewage collection system since there is no pressure in those pipes so it is very thin and can break very easily.

Higher grades PVC piping like watermain and other pressurize piping use schedule 80-90 which are thicker.

Conclusion: They have put the cheapest and the most brittle piece of PVC in her.

Edit: If you dont understand what I mean, just google it up /Wink!

I work and repair piping all day long

katiesBoyfriend · Post by **katiesBoyfriend** » Tue May 21, 2019 10:31 pm

Chuck Norris wrote:Not that it can be of any help at this point. But working with PVC thickness is measured as schedule.
The pics you have shown is a schedule 20....kinda hard to tell from the pic.

No pressure pipes use Schedule 20-40 for like septic and sewage collection system since there is no pressure in those pipes so it is very thin and can break very easily.

Higher grades PVC piping like watermain and other pressurize piping use schedule 80-90 which are thicker.

Conclusion: They have put the cheapest and the most brittle piece of PVC in her.

Edit: If you dont understand what I mean, just google it up /Wink!

I work and repair piping all day long

I definitely know what you're referring to. I've checked my share of spool sheets when I worked in the oil industry some 40 years ago.

Chuck Norris · Post by **Chuck Norris** » Wed May 22, 2019 6:36 pm

katiesBoyfriend wrote: I definitely know what you're referring to. I've checked my share of spool sheets when I worked in the oil industry some 40 years ago.

Sweet! Good luck on the repair!