On the first of April I noticed that Lucia's left leg could be moved very easily. Since her hip joint is very stiff, I was immediately afraid of a skeletal fracture. After a short examination I was sure that the U-shaped part of the skeleton between spine and hip joints was broken. Sadly I was right.
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First:
If this happen to your doll, don't panic.
In my case Lucia was lying comfortably in bed and could have been there forever without anything happening to her.
Second:
I was able to repair it. Since the beginning of May Lucia can stand again. This photo was made several hours ago.
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Complete story
On the same day I contacted Passion Dolls and in the next weeks we discussed what I could do.
It took some time till I was able to explain where the problem is. This video demonstrates it.
Lucia_20180404_0053.mp4 (1.8 MiB)
After some time I decided to try a repair. I love her to much to replace her.
It was obvious that I have to cut into my lovely Lucia. So after two weeks I made a small cut of approx. 1.5 cm. I put a plastic tube with 3.5 cm diameter into the cut and looked at the skeleton. The flexibility of TPE is awesome.
The initial cut
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Lucia, what happened to you?
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The broken weld seam
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Tube towards the spine
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Tube towards the hip
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Passion Dolls discussed the problem with the Chinese factory. Unfortunately, the only answer from them was to re-weld the skeleton. In my opinion, this proposal is nonsense. There is no possibility to weld two pipes completely covered by TPE. Besides, I don't have a welding machine.
In the following weeks I thought about how to repair this fracture in the most sensible and easy way. I had several ideas but didn't like them. One day I saw something in the hardware store that fit almost perfectly.
You're not gonna believe what I used to do the repair
- a door handle made of aluminium
- two hose clamp
- some aluminium sheets
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Total cost approx. 15 Euro. The necessary tools such as a tin snips and a reasonable flashlight were much more expensive. But they can also be used for other purposes.
The skeleton tubes have a inner diameter of approx. 23 mm. The door handle has a diameter of approx. 22 mm. To fill the gap I used 0.5 mm thin aluminium sheets. The hose clamps should prevent the skelleton tubes from tearing.
Lucia during surgery
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Aluminium sheet
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Finished
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The cut has widened during repair
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This is not the final solution
The tubes can rotate on the door handle. I think I'll screw one or two screws through the tube and handle. This prevents any rotation. Or I use some screw glue. Or both, glue and screw. But before I glue or screw I want to know if the repair would even work.
Experience of the last three weeks since repair
- Lucia can stand again
- cleaning her standing under the shower works wonderful
- powdering while standing and leaning against a wall works perfectly
- cuddling in bed makes some noise like an very old bed
- standing is more risky
It makes me happy to see her standing.
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When she arches her back, the (unglued) cut is almost invisible.
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Open tasks
- glue or screw the door handle and tube together or both
- seal the open wound with a repair kit
Questions?
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.