Plastic Fender repair

[jlsmith]

I actuly bought a plastic welder. I have to fix a deer feeder tomarrow and ill post before and after pics of it. It works on atv fenders and I fixed a gas tank last year and saved a customer about 800 dollars by fixing it myself. It is a great investment.

 

[Craig Clayton]

I wish I could do up some photo but here is some info to support the idea.
The Science of Heat Fusion Welding

Basics of Design Engineering - Fastening & Joining - Joining - Joining Plastic

how to weld plastic

Plastic Welders and Repair Kits

We recommend you practice welding several times on hatch cut-outs before attempting repairs on a boat. If at any point during welding, the boat begins to melt and give way, stop welding, and immediately remove the heat. Allow the boat to fully cool before attempting to weld again.
As the sites all show that heat is the medium for plastic welding. The above statement I pulled from a kayak site, which says practice on something else.
I found a good practice piece is the plastic tool case that new drills come in, break it ,then fix it , then through it out. The heat that is needed for the welding is equal to the thickness of the plastic, when you get good you can then go after the thin plastic.
Craig Clayton

 

[IslandTractor]

HF has plastic welders for about $40-50 if you have a compressor and about another ten or fifteen bucks for a model that has it's own built in air blower. I haven't fixed any tractor parts yet but have done other plastic repairs. Simple concept and works fine at least for non structural repairs. The only semi tricky part is figuring out what type of plastic you are working with so you can set the correct temperature and select the correct "welding rod" if needed. I have sometimes just trimmed a piece of the same plastic part off to use as my welding rod. Not sure how to tell if you have gotten full thickness "welding" but I haven't had any repairs break yet.

 

[jlsmith]

Here is a feeder i just fixed. Not verry pretty but i was in a hurry to get in the woods.

 

[jlsmith]

heres a few more. hope yall enjoyed :thumbsup:

 

[dfkrug]

I have a right front fender on my JD Gator that need repairing.

This is not a weld, but it seems to work for the JD green resin. I wonder
if NH uses a similar chemistry for their plastic?

 

[sweettractors]

This is not a weld, but it seems to work for the JD green resin. I wonder
if NH uses a similar chemistry for their plastic?

I may try that product and then weld on the backside. I think that should workout fine. Thanks, Ken Sweet

 

[Window Geek]

For PVC extrusions, the process is the same as welding that pipe, Craig.
Welded PVC window frames are cut to a miter and usually slightly longer than the finished size intended. The pieces are clamped in a jig, a hot welding plate is placed between the miter and the pieces are heated. After reaching a melt temperature, the plate is withdrawn and the miter joint is pressed together and allowed to cool. The cooled weld joint is milled into tolerance to complete the process.
Check out this short video of a four point vinyl welder that welds two sash at one time. You'll see the heated plate at 1:00 minute with various closeups until 1:30. The heated plate is covered with a "teflon" style coating to keep the melted vinyl from clinging to the welding plate. The rest of the video is more window nerd stuff. :laughing:

Build your manual welder with something that has a low stick coating, say, a high temp silicone paint like what is used for coating cookware or bakeware. Also, a hot knife will let you heat the joint over a wider area. Heat, melt, separate, and press together until cool.

Oh Yeah... The link! YouTube - Joseph Machine Company automatic Vertical 4 corner welder, V4W, welds 4 corners simultaneously

 

[Danno1]

This is not a weld, but it seems to work for the JD green resin. I wonder
if NH uses a similar chemistry for their plastic?

Plastic Welder II by Devcon is also a good adhesive for plastic. Drill a hole at each end of the crack and back it up w aluminum gutter flashing or get a sheet of PVC, ABS, or PVC/ABS (Kydex) fr McMaster-Carr.


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[timswi]

Plastic Welder II by Devcon is also a good adhesive for plastic. Drill a hole at each end of the crack and back it up w aluminum gutter flashing or get a sheet of PVC, ABS, or PVC/ABS (Kydex) fr McMaster-Carr.


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OK dumb question.Anyone have a fool proof (fool being me) of figuing out what kind of plastic that I'm looking at...This haunts me all the time.

I have used hot glue for ATV fenders and it works pretty good as long as you don't try to re-break it.

I have welded commercial grade plastic with a plastic welder and rod...That is a thing to behold, easy and very strong. Just wish I could figure out the unknown types that come on consumer/commercial applications...ie vehicles and equipment.