Plastic Repair Tip

[riggsy]

Thought I'd make quick post about the repair of plastics.

One of the plastic trim pieces was snapped on the 4R, so did this quick repair to get it functional again.

I've done this a couple times, this is the first one on the 4R, the last one was the outer housing on my John Deere riding mower(many $$ to replace, the repaired one has been fine for a couple years now).

Tool:
I bought a cheap 60w soldering iron just for this task, and only use it for plastic repair (when you use tips on non solder related stuff, it can make tinning the tip a hassle, so better to set aside a tip for plastic).

Using this iron, you essentially can melt the plastic back together. You'll want to do both sides, but basically think of it like you want to go about halfway through the material, and melt it back together. Not the prettiest, and maybe not as strong as original, but way stronger than any adhesive

Hope this helps

riggsy

 

[JZiggy]

Nice work! That's a good idea for a welding method to fix these plastic trim parts.

If you can find "PP" or "PE" stamped on the part then it is polypropylene or polyethylene, which will melt easily at a low temperature (hot glue gun plastic, essentially) but are hard to stick to with glues. So this method would be ideal for them

If you part says "ABS" or "PC" then there's a better chance that glues will work on them.

 

[phattyduck]

I just did this to repair a running board end cap.

-Charlie