Welding plastics - need some advice,,,

Without knowing what sort of plastic it is, I can't really suggest any repair ideas, other than to take it to a boat chandler and see if they have any ideas on repairing it.

If it has split there is a good chance the plastic is degrading and may not be viable for a patch anyway. If I was carrying water in something on a decent length trip, I would want to make sure it wouldn't dump it's load out in the middle of nowhere.

Safest bet would be to buy a new one and know exactly where you stand with it, it really is something you do not want to go wrong...

Aaba Industries WA
7 Redfin Pl Beldon WA 6027
ph: (08) 9403 2114
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All things Plastic
Wellard WA 6170
ph: 0412 357 938
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Amaroo Auto Coat
12 Lockhart Street Kelmscott WA 6111
ph: (08) 9497 1515
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Complete Plastix Services
52 Elgee St Bellevue WA 6056
ph: (08) 9250 6055
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Katana Plastics
Unit 8/ 15 Carbon Crt Osborne Park WA 6017
ph: (08) 9244 1691
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Plastonics
15 Newlyn St Belmont WA 6104
ph: (08) 9277 1737
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Polytech Plastics Pty Ltd
Unit 12-13/ 6 Hayley St Maddington WA 6109
ph: (08) 9493 0300
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Sandgroper Plastic Welders
Hope Valley WA 6165
ph: (08) 9410 0520

Try these mate - in Perth
LOOK UP SEARCH YELLOW PAGES on the tool bar of your browser. The rest is easy...

Grrr!!!

Bilbo,

I have repaired a plastic 4wd battery that split and lost some acid. After the repair the battery was topped up again at it was good enough to get us home.

Also a 1000lt plastic water tank at work. The boss was going to through it out so there was nothing to lose by welding it up. We are still using the tank to-day a year after the repair.

A small piece of plastic as a filler. A plastic coke bottle top can be used and a soldering iron.

Melt the plastic on to the split and at the same time melt the split together.

Wayne

I have done some welding repairs using an electric soldering iron and the same plastic as the original. Was slow and have sometimes needed to redo.
It is possible to buy plastic welding gadgets that work as quick as a metal welder. A small unit is about $300 so I guess there must be more people out there with them now because it used to be very expensive 10 years ago.
By the way I am not an expert but just a farmer (ex farmer now) getting things to work again when the shops have shut early because of daylight saving.

good luck
Neil

most older crash shops would have this kind of thing, the old guys like to repair not replace. there called real tradesman.

Hmmm,,,,,,seems like there's a few on here that take a dim view of an attempt to recycle and save money too.

The split was caused by a hose nozzle that was being forcibly bent out of line by rubbing against the trailer chassis. So I thought it might be recoverable.

Thanks to those that contributed helpfully. The others must be part of our "consumer society" eh?

Bilbo

Bilbo,
Try some of the bigger plumbers/suppliers they should be able to help. I had some welding done on some PVC pipe last week, they supplied the filler rod the guy has an elec heat gun and just uses it as you would an oxy torch. If they dont have the matching filler rod they can use a bit of the parent material as filler.
Not rocket science and I thought to myself, mmm!! there could be a market for this but I'm to old to go starting a new line of work.

Athol

Hi Bilbo,
Some years ago whilst working in a chemical plant,i attended a one day plastic welding course.The instructor showed us the 2 ways to identify the plastic so as you knew which filler rod to use.You need to burn a small piece in a gas flame and if it smells like candle wax from memory it is polyetylene and if it burns with green flame it is pvc.Specialist plastic weld mob probably best bet.The biggest question is why did it crack in the first place,followed by will it crack again or somewhere else? I currently work as a boilermaker/ welder in a steel manufacturing plant and i always ask myself these questions before attempting any crack repairs on heavy equipment or machinery.Your tank may be breaking down through age or not being mounted correctly.Steve

Gday,
the only way to determine what sort of plastic it is is to do a couple of tests.
1.Cut a small piece off the seam or something you can afford to cut off.
2.Light it with a cigarette lighter and note a) The colour of the smoke.
b) The smell
d) Weather it drips or not as it melts.
I cant remember off hand which one is which but if you buy a test pack of rods from someone like BOC gases and do a comparison you can work out which filler rod you need to use.
Most plastics can be welded as long as you find the right filler.
I personally wouldnt muck around with a soldering iron or anything. If you cant borrow a plastic welder Id take it to someone who has one.
Let me know if you need more info and Ill dig out my plastic ID chart.

Cheers