Has anyone EVER found a way to fix broken plastic?

[IdahoMan]

You know, take a plastic item (trim, panel, dash, knob, appliance corner, computer case, model, etc.) and fix it as good and solid as it was before?

If so, I've never seen it. Glues, adhesives.. singe or two-part.. I've never seen anything that has actually worked.

My problem: A few pieces of my interior trim and the wiper knob are snapped in half (and my bezel blinker outline is worn). I can't replace them (not to my satisfaction anyway), I want to fix them.

Anyone?

Thanks.


Sincerely,
IdahoMan

[andrewmp6]

Look in to a plastic welder,I haven't used one but i have heard they work.

[special-K]

My perfect solution is throw it away . That's always been my beef with things becoming plastic. It don't rust or rot, but when it breaks it's trash and you can fix rust and rot. But, people are clever and I have seen some plastic fixed and don't some myself. No glue would work on early pliable plastic because it was parafin based. In my old camper the neck to the water tank was cracked and it wouldn't draw water to the sink. The PO had attempted a repair gluing part of a milk jug over it. I had a guy impress me with his repair (I was out of state on a trip). He took all the glue of with a wheel, then cut 1/4" of the end of the neck. He cut that in two and used that as welding rod with his soldering gun. Same plastic welds same plastic! This didn't have to be pretty like something on your dash, but that tank pumped good the rest of it's days and I learned something. I've welded plastic like that since.

[blazer2007]

there was something I saw on u tube,It was a mix of baking soda and something else,but it looked like it worked like a charm

[blazer2007]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_PxZ6vmeDQ I found it

[carboncrew]

The plastic glues/epoxy have come a long way the last year or two it seems. I've had great luck with Super Glue Plastic Fusion.

[ron350]

Some one on this forum recommended Plastex repair kits but I personally have not tried it.
http://www.plastex.net/Repaired_Photos.php

Tried using super glue and baking soda several time but it always broke. Was told it did not work because I did not use a expensive brand of super glue. If I was going to sped a lot on glue why not try something like Plastex or just replace the broken part?

But I have had good luck repairing cracks in hard plastic using cheap super glue.
It is a slow process of sanding and layering the super glue.

[IdahoMan]

What kind of plastics are on these trucks anyway? Are there some lists somewhere?

I don't see any code molded/stamped into the trim pieces. The inner door panels might have it. Don't know about the knob.

FYI, I tried some of that twin-tube "Plastic Steel Steel Weld Epoxy" to put the wiper knob back together. After drying for a week I tried to push back onto the shaft and it spit back open immediately.

[ron350]

IdahoMan why not post a picture of the knob you need and see if someone here has a replacement?

[motornut]

http://www.lepageproducts.com/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=84

I've found this glue the stickiest and easy forming

[wilkin250r]

I've done quite a bit of plastic welding, I am forever breaking ATV plastics.

The plastic welding does indeed hold up very well, I like to use special-K's method and cut filler material off an inconspicuous area so I know for a fact the plastics are compatible. If I need reinforcement, I'll often add a small section of metal screen and weld it in place.

Problem is, while the weld can be strong, it won't be strong enough to handle leverage like a window crank or anything like that. And I've NEVER found anything that actually looks like new. The weld always shows. BUT, it might not be quite as noticable if you weld the backside of the panel instead of the front.