Fix/Prevent Bondo cracks?

[Jonathan Holt]

So I've finished my Wii laptop (mostly), and now that I've got the hinges installed and everything, I guess the opening and closing of the screen is causing stress on the bondo I used for the lcd housing because it has cracked some. There are very minor cracks in the bottom that are just barely visible, and on the right side a deeper crack that has actually separated slightly from the zn case. While I'm not worried about the screen falling out (it is epoxied from the other side to the case), it looks bad and I'm concerned that it will continue to crack all the way around.

Does anyone have a suggestion how to keep it from continuing to crack? After sanding it down when I had applied the bondo, it wasn't overly thick or anything. I thought about using epoxy to coat it, but wasn't sure how that would look. Ideas?

Here's a picture to show where the cracks are:

EDIT: Here's a picture of the actual cracks, which have gotten worse since my first post

 

[Noah]

Only use bondo as a filler, not a bonding agent. Use an epoxy to join pieces together, not bondo. That's the only thing you can do to prevent them. Even if you use epoxy and the piece is warped or moved too much it might still crack.

Epoxying the screen from one side won't do you any good. It should be done on both sides and then bondo should be used to fill in any gaps or dips in the epoxy after it has been sanded down. If there is a hole going from one side to the other then don't use bondo, fill it with epoxy.

 

[Jonathan Holt]

Only use bondo as a filler, not a bonding agent. Use an epoxy to join pieces together, not bondo. That's the only thing you can do to prevent them. Even if you use epoxy and the piece is warped or moved too much it might still crack.

Thanks for the reply. I did use epoxy to secure the screen, and then I used the bondo to fill in the gaps in the plastic. Perhaps I can use something different for the big gaps and then cover it in bondo. Any suggestions as an alternative to bondo for large gaps?

I did notice after taking it apart that the spots wear it cracked badly were where I had a gap on the epoxy because I didn't epoxy the whole border of the screen, so I fixed that by epoxying the whole border.