Plastic welding?

[Jstpssng]

What experience has anybody had with this; good, bad, ineffective? 1300 Watt Plastic Welding Kit with Air Motor and Temperature Adjustment

I'm just asking for a friend named dumb***, who ran a stick into the cowling of his brand new snowsled last year and would like to fix the damage.
It seems like there was a discussion a few years ago about this but I'm not clever enough to glean it from the many posts since then about arc and mig welding.

 

[bmaverick]

plastic welding can be done a few ways. Basically that's all I know in welding.

1. Solvent liquid welding using acetone to certain plastic polymers works great, other plastics not so great. Various ways to apply from wide brush for a patch to a Q-tip for hairline cracks.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2012/08/30/tech-tip-solvent-welding-plastics

How Acetone Affects Certain Plastics | Miller Plastics

Before you choose a material for your custom part, make sure you know acetone affects certain plastics. Choose wrong, and your product could even dissolve.

www.millerplastics.com

2. Heat-Shrink tubing layered enough to repair rod cables in areas that the rod would require massive amount of man hours to remove or cost prohibitive or areas that hot welding can't possible reach. First place heat tubes on each rung side of the rod. Different diameter heat tubes too to allow stacking and layering. Once on, evaluate next if Gorilla glue, super glue or Permatex can bond the 2 halves. Bond the rod back together and then start with the heat-shrink tubes to hold the joint together and keep working upwards till the layers are all shrunk and done.

3. Heat-gun or the hot air tool in your H-F link. Works like a heat shrink for thin faced sheets or using plastic 'weed-eater' string line, one can heat weld to bond things.
How to Weld Plastic


4. Hot forming tips, plastic welding much like soldering to a degree. Tips get messy, but can be cleaned. Years back, I had a heater leak in my truck. Had to cut the HVAC plastic housing apart just to get in there. Got the new heater in and then had to plastic weld like the image shown.

At times, a combination of a few of the 4 mentioned really does the job. I once had a display table that the top cracked in 1/2 from a blunt impact. I was able to fuse it back together using a combination of 1, 3 & 4.


For vehicle bumper plastics or formed body plastics, check out this technique too.

Forums - 6x6 World

6x6 World Forums

www.6x6world.com

 

[Williy]

Here are some youtube videos of plastic welding!

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=plastic+mwelding

willy

 

[CJONE]

Well I know another dummy (me) that has got his radiator twice this year in his toy tractor that uses plastic tanks. Welded it both times and is holding great. I use a small round tip of a file to work and fill the Crack on the first "pass" fusing it together then fill and smooth with a thin flat piece of steel that is easily heated. I use a propane torch to heat with. Basically just like welding, clean and vee the Crack if it is thick and keep it warm. If you can steal a piece of filler from the hood that is best if not I use nylon air tubing at whatever color you want. You can also reinforce with jb weld epoxy if there is no flex in the area needed.

 

[Panik]

What experience has anybody had with this; good, bad, ineffective? 1300 Watt Plastic Welding Kit with Air Motor and Temperature Adjustment

I'm just asking for a friend named dumb***, who ran a stick into the cowling of his brand new snowsled last year and would like to fix the damage.
It seems like there was a discussion a few years ago about this but I'm not clever enough to glean it from the many posts since then about arc and mig welding.

So I'm a dumb*** who went down this road not too long ago and actually considered the plastic welding kit you linked. My tomfoolery was leaving one of those black 300ga Rubbermaid stock tanks you can get at Tractor Supply stood up on end long enough for it to develop a 6" long crack in one wall right above the drain plug.

Ended up not purchasing 1300 Watt Plastic Welding Kit because my Harbor Freight didn't have any in stock. Bought a Weller 100/140watt soldering iron, watched a couple of videos and went at it as described by example #4 in bmavericks post.

Due to the thickness of the stock tank's walls I used the soldering iron to push melted plastic back into the crack from both sides of the wall kinda I guess like doing a root weld. That mostly joined the edges of the crack at depth, but the process also pushed some of the plastic back out creating a wider seam that I was concerned wouldn't hold against the force of water pushing against the walls of the tank. Ended up using black zip ties as "welding rod" along with the soldering iron to completely fill the defect on both sides of the tank. It's been about a month and the tank has been holding water without a leak.

Take aways I learned:

- Practice on scrap pieces to get a good sense of how the soldering iron and plastic behave
- Work in a very well ventilated area as the process produces a lot of fumes/smoke
- Welding thicker material is probably easier than thinner material due to less chance of burn through.

 

[Toyboy]

What I've fond doing plastic welding, is that use some of the plastic from what your welding. There's always areas you can "harvest" extra plastic from to use. That always gives me the best results. Some plastics are incapatable and you end up making a mess.

 

[Boss 302]

We used a PVC welder to make repair on deionized water piping where I worked. It is as you described a hot air torch used to melt PVC rods, once you made a couple of passes as long as you applied enough heat to the rod so it would flow, the repair was pretty easy. The system we used it on was anywhere from 1/2" PVC piping up to 10" with around 60 psi.

 

[DieselBound]

What I've fond doing plastic welding, is that use some of the plastic from what your welding. There's always areas you can "harvest" extra plastic from to use. That always gives me the best results. Some plastics are incapatable and you end up making a mess.

Yes. There is different plastics and mixing plastics isn't going to come out well. I have a plastic welder (used a couple of times- once it worked as needed, another time it couldn't get it done) and it came with different types of plastic rod.

I've used JB Plastic Weld for some ad-hoc stuff and it works pretty well.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I have been wanting to buy one of these for a while.

I think it would take care of your (sorry I mean duba$$es) issue. As a matter of fact, I just ordered it.

 

[Rockbadchild]

This is a old thread but since it got revive I would add windshield urethane adhesive work really well and make a strong bond, not the it is black so works if the plastic is also black or if nothing fancy is required.

 

[CADplans]

I use a soldering iron (Weller "gun") to push stainless steel screen into the plastic.
I have fixed an ATV gas tank that was cracked at the filler neck with that,,
The fix is still holding ten years later.

Why stainless steel??
Because stainless conducts heat poorly, the heat stays where you hold the gun.
So, rather the the entire screen getting hot, like aluminum would, one spot gets hot.

I typically use VERY fine screen.

I order the stainless screen from eBay,, it takes a while to get here, but, it is cheap!!

 

[dj1701]

 

[ray66v]

I have been wanting to buy one of these for a while.
View attachment 835970
I think it would take care of your (sorry I mean duba$$es) issue. As a matter of fact, I just ordered it.

I have used both the "stapler", and the soldering iron type extensively. (https://a.co/d/gNQ0SOc).

I never use the stapler any more. It's fast, but very crude, and not as reliable a repair.

Once you develop a technique to the soldering iron type unit, you can make repairs that were all but impossible previously.

Basically, you melt a piece of stainless steel screen into the back side of the crack, and then, v out the front and melt the rod into the grove.

I have repaired automotive bumpers with little to no filler after the welds are lightly sanded.

Success still depends greatly on what type of plastic you are repairing. Some, kinds just can not be welded.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I have used both the "stapler", and the soldering iron type extensively. (https://a.co/d/gNQ0SOc).

I never use the stapler any more. It's fast, but very crude, and not as reliable a repair.

Once you develop a technique to the soldering iron type unit, you can make repairs that were all but impossible previously.

Basically, you melt a piece of stainless steel screen into the back side of the crack, and then, v out the front and melt the rod into the grove.

I have repaired automotive bumpers with little to no filler after the welds are lightly sanded.

Success still depends greatly on what type of plastic you are repairing. Some, kinds just can not be welded.

This stapler will do both and I think it comes with screen as well. I think the stapler will be fine for things where crude is ok. For isnstance, the first thing I am going to use it for is to weld a L shaped crack in the top of my trash can that allows water to come in. I do not need it to be aesthetically pleasing, just need it to keep the water out.

 

[ray66v]

This stapler will do both and I think it comes with screen as well. I think the stapler will be fine for things where crude is ok. For isnstance, the first thing I am going to use it for is to weld a L shaped crack in the top of my trash can that allows water to come in. I do not need it to be aesthetically pleasing, just need it to keep the water out.

It will join the two halves of the lid together.

But, it won't seal the crack up so no water can get through.

There is no way to melt the plastic to put in screen with the stapler.

It only heats up the staples, and you try and push them in to the center of the plastic.

You then have to cut the legs off, which are always protruding enough that you can't do much with it to sand, glue, or weld it together.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

It will join the two halves of the lid together.

But, it won't seal the crack up so no water can get through.

There is no way to melt the plastic to put in screen with the stapler.

It only heats up the staples, and you try and push them in to the center of the plastic.

You then have to cut the legs off, which are always protruding enough that you can't do much with it to sand, glue, or weld it together.

Gotcha. I was going to put the staples on the inside of the lid, melt and weld the outside of the lid.

This stapler comes with the same flat nosed spatula like attachment that goes into both holes and heats up.

Can't never could my friend!

 

[scootr]

I bought a kit in preparation to repair a 4k gallon water that developed a split. Lots of how to videos show using things like paper clips melted into the plastic as stitches across the split prior to filling.
For a water tank I plan to put some waterproof flex sealing tape on the inside after the repair is complete.

 

[RandyT]

I have been wanting to buy one of these for a while.
View attachment 835970
I think it would take care of your (sorry I mean duba$$es) issue. As a matter of fact, I just ordered it.

I have this one coming tomorrow

 

[ray66v]

​

Gotcha. I was going to put the staples on the inside of the lid, melt and weld the outside of the lid.

This stapler comes with the same flat nosed spatula like attachment that goes into both holes and heats up.

I was only going by the photo of the stapler you posed.

I have not seen the kit you are referring to.

By the time you do what you are suggesting, you could just use the screen with the iron, instead of the staples, and have a much better weld.

Good luck.

 

[CliffordK]

Find something to practice on. I was trying to weld some plastic bumpers. My practice bumper looked good, then when I tried the tear test, it certainly had very little strength. I think I had managed to burn the plastic a bit.