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Mosquito Magnet Replacement Base

We had a handful of broken bases so it was much cheaper to invest in making our own repair than sending each one back to the manufacturer who doesn't supply spares.


The plastic base loop typically breaks around the hinge point where the metal brackets meet the thin plastic.


An undamaged base or hand repaired part is used for making a two part silicone mold. I pressed the part into a modeling clay bed and built walls with foam and foam core around it. The thin areas of the part which were prone to breakage were filled in with modeling clay so the mold would cast reinforced parts. I used SmoothOn's OOMOO30 silicone, ordered by the gallon.


With the first half cast and hardened, the clay is removed and the silicone is lightly coated with Vaseline as a release agent before the top half is poured.


If vent holes are not made as part of the casting they can easily be cut into the silicone with a drill and sharpened metal tube.


With each half of the mold cast one side is loaded with fiberglass and steel rods for reinforcement. The dimples and bumps around the perimeters meet to align the mold.


Small vent holes around each top corner allow air to escape as the resin flows in from the soda bottle funnel. The two tape cylinders are to raise the vent hole's height to prevent resin from prematurely running out.


I used Bondo polyester resin for the castings as its inexpensive and you can easily control the cure rate by varying the amount of hardener catalyst added.


The new reinforced parts are painted and sent for use.




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