Light force spot lights
Submitted: Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 at 22:11
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Member - Ross H (QLD)
Hi all
hoping someone mave have an idea about plastic welding a cracked spot light.
Have tried several types of plastic as fillers ie: cable tyes,plastic brackets,
Everything seem to give way in about a month due to UV light I guess.
Would a coat of paint solve this problem,or should I just get a new reflecter housing.
thanks
ross
Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 at 22:24
Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 at 22:24
tried contacting Lightforce?? they have a great warrenty repair dept...
AnswerID:
103658
Reply By: allaussie - Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 at 22:26
Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 at 22:26
HArts paint
shop at
newman road geebung have a kit for plastic welding works
well if don,t have it try protect auto paint supplies they have em too same place just 2 doors down cheers chris
AnswerID:
103659
Reply By: Rob from Cairns Offroad Training & Tours - Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 at 22:45
Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 at 22:45
I had a minor problem with one of my light force XGTs after over 50k klms on corrogated roads, They replaced the complete unit. They are proud of an excellent Australian product. Cheers Rob
AnswerID:
103661
Reply By: Bonz (Vic) - Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 at 22:45
Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 at 22:45
I would go back toLightforce and show them whats happened. They sell their lights as the toughest, even shooting them swith a shotgun to show how tough they are, They'd maybe come good with a replacement.
AnswerID:
103662
Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 at 08:39
Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 at 08:39
But But But,
I thought they were bulletproof:-))
FollowupID:
361201
Reply By: Footloose - Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 at 11:41
Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 at 11:41
If desperate find a company that repairs plastic bumpers.
AnswerID:
103702
Reply By: shaggy - Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 at 12:17
Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 at 12:17
You need to know what the housing is made of. The housing might be made of ABS, PC, PMMA, PP or numerous other plastics. Most common is ABS filled with glass fibres. It should be moulded into the housing somewhere.
I suggest that you try using toluene or chloroform (trichloromethane). I am not sure if these are available to general public, but you may know some industry sources (people) who could get you some.
The toluene is often sold as hobby glue, as it disolves pmma (acrylic), and other thermoplastics very quickly, and then evaporates and in effect glues two pieces together. But the housing may be a thermoset polymer, in which case solvents will not work, and you need binder. Something like slow cure epoxy, but then you need to uv proof the epoxy with paint or laquer.
This way you should overcome any uv problems, as you have not bound the parts with a resin.
And certainly paints will help, as long as the substrate will accept it. You need outdoor paint or laquer as these have high amounts of uv stability. You may need to do same flame ionisation to the surface, to improve keying and surface energy. Or you could do some solvent etching of the surface too.
No simple answer without knowing what the cracked housing is.
cheers
shaggy
AnswerID:
103706
Reply By: Member - muzzgit - Friday, Mar 25, 2005 at 20:17
Friday, Mar 25, 2005 at 20:17
Hmmm. this is why I have cibbie oscars. Steel, not plastic.
I saw a 100s cruiser yesterday with two stubbie bits of broken plastic where his lightforce spotties used to be. OOPS.
AnswerID:
103841