jilldwr Posted December 9, 2011 Share #1 Posted December 9, 2011 For anyone with plastic parts on a bike, you will eventually need to do this. This is the easiest and best video I have ever seen on plastic welding. Give it a go . [ame= ] [/ame] Cheers, D.W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvrT Posted December 9, 2011 Share #2 Posted December 9, 2011 I've done my fair share of plastic welding such as that but the idea of reinforceing with the copper wire never crossed my mind. Great Post !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryZ Posted December 9, 2011 Share #3 Posted December 9, 2011 Great post and thank you! I have repaired the plastic on both of my bikes using fiberglass and this would have done a better job, as well as it would have been easier . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37 bell Posted December 9, 2011 Share #4 Posted December 9, 2011 Thank you for the great post. I have a plastic piece broken on my o6 Ventuer. I thing I can do it looks pretty easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wideopenrod Posted December 9, 2011 Share #5 Posted December 9, 2011 I have tor try this sometime... May have to break something just so I can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvrT Posted December 9, 2011 Share #6 Posted December 9, 2011 I have tor try this sometime... May have to break something just so I can! Where do you keep your scoot? ... I can arrange for some "breakage" ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jilldwr Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted December 9, 2011 I've been doing some research as I've got a small crack in my lower left fairing I have to fix. It's amazing what you can find on YouTube! D.W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragtop69gs Posted December 11, 2011 Share #8 Posted December 11, 2011 I have a few places to try this out, looks like a much better fix than the Plastex I have used . I'm not knocking Plastex , it is good stuff. I fixed a leak in my hot tub plumbing with it and it's lasted 4 years so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hummingbird Posted December 11, 2011 Share #9 Posted December 11, 2011 that's a great video - wish I had seen that 2 years ago when I was trying to shorten a light bar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marczing Posted December 11, 2011 Share #10 Posted December 11, 2011 I'm tempted to break something that's not on my bike just to try this out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJoe Posted December 11, 2011 Share #11 Posted December 11, 2011 Haven't tried plastic welding with an electric soldering pen. Yup... I bet that would definately stink as it's too hot. Bought a plastic welder from Harbor freight 3 years ago under $20???. It uses compressed air (3-5 psi), blown thru essentially a minature heat gun thats plugged in. It gets hot enough to melt ABS and a variety of plastics. With 3 psi. air, when you hold close to ABS you can watch it melt and start moving (blowing away from the tip of the gun). I use a painting spatula (very thin device used to mix paint on a pallet) to smoothe out the plastic by heating the spatula and the ABS. Works very well using the black zip ties for welding rods.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabreco Posted December 24, 2011 Share #12 Posted December 24, 2011 EXCELLENT Video. I think I'll use this to fix the side cover tabs & cracks on the faring. CaptainJoe, I was looking at those plastic welders at Harbor Freight too, Do they actually work well? If if makes the repair job easier & neater I'll get one. LMK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJoe Posted December 24, 2011 Share #13 Posted December 24, 2011 (edited) Sure do... The key is to use the end of the spatula like the end of that soldier gun in the video, if you push the molten plastic together or "Knit it together" you ensure a strong bond... It definately takes practice but I believe its worth it... doesn't stink either.LOL Don't get me wrong, you could use a soldering gun and a small fan in a well ventilated area... Edited December 24, 2011 by CaptainJoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painterman67 Posted December 25, 2011 Share #14 Posted December 25, 2011 Ive only got one problem with this.Useing black plastic ties..Ever seen those things after a year or 2 in the elements. They get brittle. I had some I used to hold a gravity deer corn feeder to a tree. Left it in the woods and when I went to check it the following year the straps actualy broke when I put in corn. They were brittle and cracked form weather. Not sure if melting them and working them into abs would change that or not. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJoe Posted December 25, 2011 Share #15 Posted December 25, 2011 Any plastic unprotected in the sunlight will become brittle take window plastic for example after 2 years its very brittle. besides i believe the Black zip ties are ABS Key is to paint it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yammer Dan Posted December 25, 2011 Share #16 Posted December 25, 2011 Harbor Freight also sells the ABS rods to go with the welder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJoe Posted December 25, 2011 Share #17 Posted December 25, 2011 (edited) Yes I believe they sell 3 or four different types of plastic welding rods Probably shouldn't have sated that all black plastic zip ties are ABS...I've found broad statements like that can get ya into trouble...LOL I have welded with them though and they worked... Most plastic products have a little identitification? symbol somewhere on them. Will look up on the internet for the ABS one but i believe it is a triangle Edited December 25, 2011 by CaptainJoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabreco Posted December 25, 2011 Share #18 Posted December 25, 2011 I like that painters spatula idea, especially with the plastic welder torch. Manipulating the plastic on the fairing cracks with it will much neater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrenchrob Posted December 25, 2011 Share #19 Posted December 25, 2011 For anyone with plastic parts on a bike, you will eventually need to do this. This is the easiest and best video I have ever seen on plastic welding. Give it a go . Cheers, D.W. I tried this today. It worked great. One mounting tab was broke off the LH clear wind defleato mounted below the fairing and following this video it seems stonger than ever. Thanks for posting that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJoe Posted December 25, 2011 Share #20 Posted December 25, 2011 The one for ABS is a triange with a #7 . do a search on plastic identification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etcswjoe Posted December 25, 2011 Share #21 Posted December 25, 2011 Yes I believe they sell 3 or four different types of plastic welding rods Probably shouldn't have sated that all black plastic zip ties are ABS...I've found broad statements like that can get ya into trouble...LOL I have welded with them though and they worked... Most plastic products have a little identitification? symbol somewhere on them. Will look up on the internet for the ABS one but i believe it is a triangle ' All the zip ties we use use are vinyl, plastic is a no no for us however it is usally easy to tell them apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condor Posted December 25, 2011 Share #22 Posted December 25, 2011 (edited) There's been a lot of 'how to' plastic repair videos over the years, and the one thing most of them show is how messy hot welding plastic can be. I for one don't care for the results. For years I've been using IPS Weld-On Cement. What it does is chemically melt the ABS edges and allow them to bond back together. http://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/products/images/fullsize/standard/446_wo2354.jpg Once the IPS flashes off the crack is completely gone, and the plastic is welded together across the entire break. When welding with heat all you accomplish is melting the top and back surfaces together, but inside the break it's... still broken and will break again without some sort of reinforcement, or unless you've globbed on a ton of plastic and it looks double ugly... With IPS the crack is as strong as the original... and it will look good. In some instances it's hard to tell it's been repaired. One of the big reasons the tabs break, is that the gromet has a crush sleeve that will limit the amount of compression that can be applied to the tab. Lose the sleeve and the tab will be the next to go because of over tightening. So, just because the break is back to OEM specs, it'll probably break again unless the sleeve has been replaced in the gromet. For those areas that could still use some reinforcing regular glass mat will work very well on the back side or inside of the crack. For this I use IPS 16. http://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/products/images/fullsize/standard/611_weldon16.jpg Spread a thin coat of the 16 on the backside of the repaired crack and after about 2-3 minutes lay the glass matt over the tacky area. Once the glass mat is stuck ,wet it out with more of the 16... this can also be thin.. until the mat is completely covered and let dry for a couple of hours. The results will amaze you. You can not beat this type of repair. It's easy, clean, and super strong. My IPS Edited December 25, 2011 by Condor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabreco Posted December 25, 2011 Share #23 Posted December 25, 2011 I've used this to make lexan & plexigass tanks. It really works great. I was concerned about vibration though. Since my tanks are stationary they aren't subject to road movements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brown Angel Posted December 25, 2011 Share #24 Posted December 25, 2011 I've done my fair share of plastic welding such as that but the idea of reinforceing with the copper wire never crossed my mind. Great Post !! Totally agree with you, this was a real treat to see how easy someone has made to fix our panel parts. Thanks Angel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabreco Posted December 26, 2011 Share #25 Posted December 26, 2011 I just came back from Harbor freight. (yes, my wife will eventually kill me one day ) Picked up a few toys for the ABS repair. First I got the self contained plastic welder. It was $15 more than the other one but I won't have to lug around the air compressor. http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-air-motor-and-temperature-adjustment-96712.html This thing is massive. They did offer a 2 year warranty for an extra $20 but it's really a one time replacement within 2 years. I passed. I figure 90 days is sufficient, besides I have tools older than I am! The other thing I picked up was this $9 hobby wood burner. http://www.harborfreight.com/5-in-1-hobby-woodburner-38593.html Basically it's a soldering iron but it has a variety of tips, including one that holds an exacto blade. This will be helpful in fine tuning the shaping the repair of the ABS. I can also use it for my model railroad & kit bashing. Anyway, Once I play with this for awhile I will post some videos. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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