plastic welding

gerard · Apr 7, 2008

Finally bought one of those plastic welders. Figured it would come in handy for fixing things on the farm. Tried it out on a cracked heated plastic watering bucket. They cost about $35 and it was 3 days old when our horse backed into it and cracked it on the inside. I welded it up ok and just paid for 1/2 the welder but I wasn't too happy with the filler rod. It comes with three different types of filler rod for different types of plastics but they ALL seem to have a higher melting point than the bucket plastic which is pretty soft with a low melting point. Does anyone have experience with these and know if there are lower temp rods I can get? (Makes it kind of hard when the substrate melts faster than the filler rod, be ok if it was the other way around.....)

George2615 · Apr 8, 2008

I bought one from HF too a few years ago. Very hard to get used to. The only good thing I plastic welded that held was a cracked plow light housing for my truck. Then sanded it down and repainted it black. It held without cracking again. I used the white rod which seemed to melt faster. I found that whatever you plastic weld should be as thick as the rod you use which is about 1/8". Never had any luck welding thin stuff but thicker plastic welds pretty well. As you have found thin plastic just melts faster than you can weld it.

gerard · Apr 9, 2008

yep - getting a little better with practice. I bought one with adjustable temp output but was trying to weld hdpe and I don' think any of the rods it comes with are for that. I was trying to fix some cracked muck buckets and cut some small strips of similar plastic from a scrap piece and used that as filler. Worked ok but rod would be easier.

tommu56 · Apr 9, 2008

gerard

I've done some repairs and welded in some fittings I got the rod from here
Plastic Tanks, Plastic Buckets, Plastic Bottles, Labware, PVC Pipe - United States Plastic Corporation ®

some times the hardest part is what the part is made of unless its new with recycled # on it

tommu56

yomax4 · Apr 9, 2008

Greetings. If you are having problems with HDPE, You can use LDPE ( Low Density Poly Etheylene) Low density will melt better. I have done a ton of Plastic welding and there is an awful lot of High Density out there. ie: ATV fenders, Wheel Borrows and some car bumpers. If you want a nice selection of rods to keep around, Look Up Seeyle on the web. They have the most. Or Steinel. They will both offer a burn test so you know what material you are welding. PVE, ABS, HDPE, LDPE etc. Its fun. Look into it. If you want to try a stick of LDPE send me your address. I have a Lifetime Supply.

Thanks> MM.

gerard · Apr 12, 2008

yomax4 said:
Greetings. If you are having problems with HDPE, You can use LDPE ( Low Density Poly Etheylene) Low density will melt better. I have done a ton of Plastic welding and there is an awful lot of High Density out there. ie: ATV fenders, Wheel Borrows and some car bumpers. If you want a nice selection of rods to keep around, Look Up Seeyle on the web. They have the most. Or Steinel. They will both offer a burn test so you know what material you are welding. PVE, ABS, HDPE, LDPE etc. Its fun. Look into it. If you want to try a stick of LDPE send me your address. I have a Lifetime Supply.

Thanks> MM.

thanx for the info. I went to usplastics.com and got some polypropylene and hdpe. That should get me started. One of the things I have to repair frequently are muck buckets which are pretty thin and melt through is a problem if I'm not careful. I found taking an unsalvageable one and cutting strips to use as rod works pretty well and then I don't have to worry about matching the plastic because it's the exact same stuff!