Plastic Welding

[sonny8l3]

Hello, Does anyone know any thing about or have experience with plastic welding? Thanks for your time.

[hogcowboy]

I've tried it with a cheap kit from Harbor Freight with mixed results. The kit had plastic stick rods and it appears you need to know your plastics to get the best results. One item I tried to repair worked great. Another was a total failure. But then I'm not a good metal welder either. Glob welding would be more like it there but it's good enough for farming repairs. I've seen others use the old time big solder irons to plastic weld. The plastic welder I got was some kind if hot blow gun with a concentrator tip. I could see right off the bat that practice is needed for best results. What's new there? Everything is like that.

[LarryA]

I have the same setup from HF welded a holding tank on the camper....worked good. Had to try different rods. I think if you practice and identify the plastic correctly it will work_​.

[rhino 2]

If its on a 35K Trike fender.......I don't think anyone will think it looks good........

[grandpanystrom61]

Not all will weld together, some look like they do, but the heating process actually made the plastic seem more brittle.

I spent days on a ATV body, than weeks with fiber glass. I had to try something as the wife would not let me purchase a new one. Cost more to ship it to me, so a no go.

So all lasted a few years, now all is just separating and falling a part.

Lesson of all this, should just buy a new body regardless of the cost, or go with out a body.

[consitter]

Not all will weld together, some look like they do, but the heating process actually made the plastic seem more brittle.

I spent days on a ATV body, than weeks with fiber glass. I had to try something as the wife would not let me purchase a new one. Cost more to ship it to me, so a no go.

So all lasted a few years, now all is just separating and falling a part.

Lesson of all this, should just buy a new body regardless of the cost, or go with out a body.

You let your wife tell you what you can and can't do???

Me too

[grandpanystrom61]

You let your wife tell you what you can and can't do???

Me too

Open for debate, but she does seem to win more of the discussions than I do, LOL

I, myself, wanted it bad and was seriously thinking of buying it, I had the money than, but yes she talked me out of it.

That was years ago, wonder what all cost now ? I will have to look into it and see if the local repair shop could order cheaper than me.

I have been winning all discussion on the Trike, yep I am up on this, she does not understand much of what I am doing, but does understand it is needed ( that is what I keep telling her ) and of course anything to do with rider safety is a instant " okay ". Actually she is the one who talked me into buying the Trike, so getting it fixed up and road worthy has not been to hard. I just wonder about the new paint job I want, LOL

[consitter]

Open for debate, but she does seem to win more of the discussions than I do, LOL

I, myself, wanted it bad and was seriously thinking of buying it, I had the money than, but yes she talked me out of it.

That was years ago, wonder what all cost now ? I will have to look into it and see if the local repair shop could order cheaper than me.

I have been winning all discussion on the Trike, yep I am up on this, she does not understand much of what I am doing, but does understand it is needed ( that is what I keep telling her ) and of course anything to do with rider safety is a instant " okay ". Actually she is the one who talked me into buying the Trike, so getting it fixed up and road worthy has not been to hard. I just wonder about the new paint job I want, LOL

Other than having the money to do the things I want, all my mods have been about functionality and comfort. And that’s how I present it to her, and it’s hard for her to veto it. Being a rider herself, she gets where I’m coming from.

The rake kit I added was a must, because my shoulders and back got sore after short rides. The mechanical reverse I just ordered is way better than the junk electrical reverse that Harley puts on the Tri Glides. I’ve got hemmed up a couple of times with my daughter aboard, and the wife has helped push me out, so she understands why. Now if I were to want a thousand dollars worth of chrome (which ain’t hard to do) she might get her back up!

[DeathBySnuSnu]

Most all the "poly's" weld good. Polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, ect.

A hot air welder does good but slow.

Most bodywork like on a 4 wheeler or motorcycle is Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. ABS dont weld the same. It has to be chemically welded. The easiest way I have done is with abs plastic glue from the hardware store.

[grandpanystrom61]

That might have worked better than all that I did, but it was my real first time playing with the stuff.

it was to busted up to do anything with other than garbage, but I am a tight ass and I had to show myself that I could do it.

I thought all was prepared correctly for painting, not even that seems to last, so a waste of time for some and a disappointment for me.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I have been winning all discussion on the Trike, yep I am up on this, she does not understand much of what I am doing, but does understand it is needed ( that is what I keep telling her ) and of course anything to do with rider safety is a instant " okay ". Actually she is the one who talked me into buying the Trike, so getting it fixed up and road worthy has not been to hard. I just wonder about the new paint job I want, LOL

Ya know ... that's the same logic I use on myself ... I have myself convinced that buying a motorcycle or trike is just a down payment on the accessories ... and that they are very much needed. The manufacturer makes a "basic machine" and they expect each owner to finish their work.

As for the paint job .. just tell her safety is all about "visibility" ... the shiny new paint job will allow other motorists to see/notice you and make you and her safer ....

I've been using that logic to convince myself that I really need to take the Fat Bottom Girl to Vegas and have Ryan at Counts Kustom paint it pearl white with just a hint of black cherry pearl in the mix. Then do the lettering in black cherry/gold leaf and add some black cherry pin stripping ... of course ... I'd have to demand no horns from "Horny Mike" ... LOL.

[chopptrk]

Hey Sonny, I have no experience with plastic welding and have no idea what you're trying to do. But,, maybe a metal backing plate attached with rivets and/or epoxy then smoothed over with a lil bondo then sanded and painted??? Long shot but may give you some ideas, good luck.

[Danny R.]

That might have worked better than all that I did, but it was my real first time playing with the stuff.

it was to busted up to do anything with other than garbage, but I am a tight ass and I had to show myself that I could do it.

I thought all was prepared correctly for painting, not even that seems to last, so a waste of time for some and a disappointment for me.

The plastic on my trike has several cracks, they keep showing up. It is a 1986 Suzuki Cavalcade. It is brittle and easy to break. I have tried to glue different materials to the back side of the crack and fill the crack with glue, but that does not work. I have seen posts where a soldering iron is used, by making a little "ditch" behind the cracked plastic, and then filling up the "ditch" with either melted plastic or glue. I am not good at this plastic welding, so I just keep patching up the best I know how, with some touch up paint.

[rhino 2]

The plastic on my trike has several cracks, they keep showing up. It is a 1986 Suzuki Cavalcade. It is brittle and easy to break. I have tried to glue different materials to the back side of the crack and fill the crack with glue, but that does not work. I have seen posts where a soldering iron is used, by making a little "ditch" behind the cracked plastic, and then filling up the "ditch" with either melted plastic or glue. I am not good at this plastic welding, so I just keep patching up the best I know how, with some touch up paint.

Way back with my ATC's...I would drill a small hole on both sides of the crack to stop it from spreading.....Then plastic solder the crack it wasn't pretty but it worked, But like i said in a previous post.....On a new or relatively new trike....No way Jose......

[vwbug72501]

Most all the "poly's" weld good. Polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, ect.

A hot air welder does good but slow.

Most bodywork like on a 4 wheeler or motorcycle is Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. ABS dont weld the same. It has to be chemically welded. The easiest way I have done is with abs plastic glue from the hardware store.

I've had luck with this: https://www.matterhackers.com/news/h...lue-and-slurry

Get a broken plastic piece from the same year/model as your motorcycle for the scrap material to assure the same type of material. Work in a WELL VENTILATED AREA or OUTSIDE! Fumes are dangerous. Glue is flammable!

Figure out a way to hold everything in place for about 24 hrs to let the repair cure up soundly. You can build up the slurry and later sand it down to smooth the area.