Plastic welding--gas tank repair

[Nifrost]

I've searched the forums for plastic welding specifics and really couldn't find much info out there (It may be there and I just missed it).

Anyway, I had a punctured Workhorse gas tank and thought I'd try my hand at repairing it. I got this assortment of plastic welding rods and used a green PP/PC rod and a soldering iron. I cleaned it up good with alcohol and started melting the filler into the base plastic.

It all melted together very well and I feel like I got pretty good "penetration" with the soldering iron. After it cooled down I checked it with water....no leaks. I'm pretty confident it'll hold fuel well.

http://t.harborfreight.com/50-piece-....google.com%2F

Anyone know if this same rod will work on a crack on an ST cowl?

Hope this helps some more of you folks with leaking fuel tanks.

[mcdave71]

Somewhere on the cowl should be a symbol saying what kind of plastic it is. I would think it would plastic weld just fine. I use a surface mount soldering air gun to do my plastic welding. has some precise tips to control the heat.

[TomStark]

If it were me, I would just replace the tank. Maybe it can be repaired and be just fine. But it is a gas tank, and if there is an issue with it, that can turn quite serious. If I could fix it for $1 and be 99.9% sure it would be fine, or replace it for $100 I would replace it. Just me but I do not believe in saving money where safety is concerned.
Tom

[Nifrost]

Thanks for the input.

[TomStark]

Originally Posted by mcdave71

Somewhere on the cowl should be a symbol saying what kind of plastic it is. I would think it would plastic weld just fine. I use a surface mount soldering air gun to do my plastic welding. has some precise tips to control the heat.

For doing plastic repairs on cars, they make a tool that is like a soldering gun, you put a zig zagged piece of steel in it, and it heats it up and melts it into the plastic, makes a nice mechanical joint. Then you can sand, prime, putty, and paint. I think harbor freight may sell them.
Tom

[Nifrost]

Originally Posted by TomStark

they make a tool that is like a soldering gun, you put a zig zagged piece of steel in it, and it heats it up and melts it into the plastic

This is what makes the BGW forum awesome.

I've never heard of or seen anything like what you're describing. It looks like its called a "hot stapler". I didn't see it on Harbor Freight's website, but Google says that various models can be obtained from several online vendors.

I'm not sure if my small crack is worthy of the investment, but I'm seriously considering it......you've definitely expanded my "body work" knowledge!

thank you, TomStark

[smokindawg]

I plastic welded a gas tank on a 4 wheeler at one time but it was just a crack. It held fine as long as I had the 4 wheeler, over 3 years.


I have a good plastic welder just like the one Snap On sells. It came with many different rods including one that is flat and they call universal. It explained how to tell which plastic you have and there are even melt tests I found on line that will help.

I've thought about one of the staplers too, but just not jumped on it yet.

[TomStark]

I have my moments! Lol!

RIT rocks, cancer sucks. sent from my S5 by tap a talk