Stumbled across this video as I am totally new to the plastic welding world. So much practical information in under 5 minutes. The clear instructions make this now seem completely approachable. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
Great video man. Great idea. For the people who are picking on what he should have done and not done, please make your own perfect video with a perfect solution and watch others comment on it. At least he made a video and we can build upon it. We all came to this video on how to plastic weld, meaning we weren't sure.
Thanks man!! After watching your video and one by another TH-camr, I decided to make an attempt at fixing a broken cup holder in my truck. It worked perfectly; nice strong bond. I'm pretty sure it will last for a long time. Another "skill" added to the skillset!!
Thanks a bunch, I have an old Christmas Decoration that had a door opening mechanic, but it broke on the inside, so I was originally planning on using a simple glue to repair it, however when that failed that's when I came across the idea to look videos up about this. I would have never thought to use my iron to plastic weld, but thanks its really effective.
Excellent Welding Plastic 101 Tutorial, Greg! Take away quote "weld plastic... sounds a lot more sophisticated than it is"! Thanks for adding "I'm just going to use a soldering iron" part too... it's not what you got but how you use it that counts, right? Love the steel wool reinforcement and zip tie welding rod tips... Thanks for scoolin' this old nailbender! Best, Matt
FANTASTIC Iwas goiny to throw out my boiler with the cracked base and after watching you for 2 minutes I went and fixed my boiler base. Thank you so easy
Not for those of us who is broke who just fix everything we can! XD I just got done fixing an office chair plastic lumbar support using a similar method. I have another one I need to fix and figure how other people do it. Mine was mix with plastic filler, cover with hot glue, top it all off with epoxy! Little black paint if I cared about aesthetics.
@@ktmediavideo Funnily enough, still holding up strong! Although found a alternative fix using just 6 zip ties rates for 100 pounds each. When you are a broke high school student with no job because of lockdown, you gotta get clever with limited supplies you find at home!
Nice plastic welding video. I would've never of though to use steel wool as reinforcement mesh. I have always used 2 part epoxy glue as it's cheap and readily available at the dollar store for $1.25. Nevertheless, this method is an excellent alternative if you don't happen to live near a dollar store. Example you provided is very clear and easy to follow. Good work!
I need to reprair a 130 gallon fishtank frame, this would be the safest way to do it without shutting the entire community down for a day. Good job! thanks😊
Thanks for this. I'm repairing a cracked HVAC box in a car and so far I just JB plastic weld (so glue) a piece of abs on the inside. Once that dries I might try this on the outside of the box to really make it air tight then heat and bend another piece of ABS and JB plastic weld that to the outside. So on top of the soldered plastic. Won't look super pretty will look better than it looks now (you can see a hole with the ABS on the inside. It will cover up the melted plastic too. I would do it all on the inside but it's so deep in the box and along an edge so can't fully get in there from the inside.
thanks for the vid. have some freezer draws that need cracks repairing. super small nails and zipties I'm thinking. never thought of a soldering iron. was gonna buy a staple heat gun version. saved me 60 quid a draw
nice video. I like the idea of using the steel wool. I have been using small pieces of paper clip bent into a Z pattern to melt into the fracture line. Except for the initial tack welds, most of what you are doing is cold welding, just melting filler onto the site without much "welding" or melting of the primary plastic. It may bond the area but is far from a true weld in strength. Thanks
I was thinking that, primarily because he's using what I'm thinking may be a non-compatible plastic (zip ties=nylon; not sure what the repair item is made from, but I doubt it's nylon.)
A great way to get a smooth finish with out sanding is to use a deep well socket to smooth it as you weld. Great video thank you for sharing, fix it don’t fill the landfill. 😃
Lay a V between the cracks with the iron, same effect as grinding a v in metal before welding two pieces together. Then follow up with using the iron to sweep plastic from surrounding area or a filler piece of the same plastic (you didn't even use the same plastic, your trying to mix nylon zip tie and PP or whatever that was) into the V. Trick is, just like welding, you need enough heat to actually melt the base but in the case of plastic not boil and char the plastic, that makes it brittle. You sweep the plastic into the v and smooth it over flush with the surface. I cut tiny pieces of metal out from a sheet and burr them up with the cutters of a pliar. You them melt those into the surface, pushing the iron on them until they sin/k in and become embedded, crossing over your weld like a stitch. /Keep a wet towel nearby and cool the iron if you notice it smoking and getting too hot. Do it like that and you'll be pod racing in no time.
Thank you for the video I did the same thing for my hard plastic podcast stand and now all I'm doing is letting it cool off before I add the light o the stand
@@survivalistor6195 no hahaha.. he quite literally broke whatever weak seal he put on it. Watch it again see how he man handles it , it cracks and then on out he fake jiggles it cause he knows what he just did.. watch his hand jiggles but not the cock waterer. It's very believavke because that tool does not get to the right temp , he's using 2 different types of plastic, the top and then the zip tie for God sake he tried to melt down.. that ain't happening then as he put the metal surround on it he said be sure to melt the base.. NO... You don't melt the base you lay down a welding rod then the metal the melt it through then layyer another welding stick on too of it.. the plastic the top is made of melts into bread crumbs if you didn't notice .. what's gonna melt to bread crumbs beside butter or cheese... Alright then that's what she snapped
For people looking at doing this : Please clean the piece, you're gonna get impurity in the weld And plunge the welder a lot deeper in the plastic, to weld correctly to the center of the piece (and you can integrate clip to the weld)
I'm not sure if that zip tie is the same material as the cap. I think most zip ties are nylon and I have no idea what the cap is made from, maybe ABS. I'm also not sure how much it matters!
Brilliant, thanks. Do you know if it is stronger than using 2 component epoxy glue? I usually use 2 component epoxy glue, which I can "mold" around the edges. Often this works, but not always. Your welding method is probably faster in giving you a usable repair, compared to waiting for the glue to hardened, but it probably takes more of your time.
This will only work temporarily. If he had melted the two edges from inside out this would be permanent. It is not easy to do and only someone who is steady handed and quick would have the know how. Hear how it cracks as he tries to show his handiwork in the end.
my case is it is a screw hole it's broken all the way outside while halfway on the inside(theres a hole for screwing) I have redid welding it 3 times already but it's still flimsy and gets break off
steel expansion under temp changes is much less than plastic, might slowly weaken as product heats and cools... nylon is thermoplastic that melts at 250c rather than 125celcius for hdpe, nylon thread might work better, similar rate of expansion
I have half a dozen lawn mower HDPE fuel tanks and nothing works on their leaks. It's like "whack-a-mole" - fix one leak and you then have to chase it leaking somewhere nearby. Low reactive plastics won't bond to anything I have and soldering (both flame soldering or iron soldering) using spare HDPE doesn't work either
If you can get your hands onto some pure acetone you might be able to drip a little between the cracks to melt the plastic a little . To bond it maybe.
If you want to ever use it for soldering again, you're probably best buying a new tip. I find that after exposure to plastic/etc, solder will no longer wet the tip, regardless of how much cleaning and sanding you do to it. (Something like Hakko FS100-01 Tip Cleaning Paste will restore the tip and allow it to wet with solder again, but unless you're soldering regularly, for the $10 the paste costs, you're better off just buying a couple extra tips, then dedicate one to plastic.)
I bought a metre of copper rod the same diameter as my soldering iron tipe. Using about 8 cm of the rod at a time i have a good supply of spare tips that I can use. By bending, filing, etc these tips you can have all the shapes you want to reach narrow places, or sharp edges, or flat plastic pieces etc. For those who have to ask how to clean a tip, don’t diy anything; you don’t have the imagination or common sense needed for this type of work!
You flatten the top of the soldering iron so it looks like a spatula. Once you have a flat tip you insert it between the two broken edges wait till it melts both sides and smash it together as quick as possible for a solid bond. If you do it this way it is not a repair anymore (like in this video), it is refurbished.
Plus a woodworking iron insures that you don't burn the plastic most plastics weaken with a soldering iron it produces more extreme heat. And a woodworking iron comes with different iron tips
I think he's right, you'll probably for want to do that out side with a mask cause that smoke is really really TOXIC. My friend was burning trash outside and it had plastic in it and he was standing real close. Cause of the smoke he inhaled he had to be rushed to the emergency room
Stumbled across this video as I am totally new to the plastic welding world. So much practical information in under 5 minutes. The clear instructions make this now seem completely approachable. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
Great video man. Great idea.
For the people who are picking on what he should have done and not done, please make your own perfect video with a perfect solution and watch others comment on it.
At least he made a video and we can build upon it.
We all came to this video on how to plastic weld, meaning we weren't sure.
Amen!!
Thanks man!! After watching your video and one by another TH-camr, I decided to make an attempt at fixing a broken cup holder in my truck. It worked perfectly; nice strong bond. I'm pretty sure it will last for a long time. Another "skill" added to the skillset!!
Thanks a bunch, I have an old Christmas Decoration that had a door opening mechanic, but it broke on the inside, so I was originally planning on using a simple glue to repair it, however when that failed that's when I came across the idea to look videos up about this.
I would have never thought to use my iron to plastic weld, but thanks its really effective.
Excellent Welding Plastic 101 Tutorial, Greg!
Take away quote "weld plastic... sounds a lot more sophisticated than it is"! Thanks for adding "I'm just going to use a soldering iron" part too... it's not what you got but how you use it that counts, right? Love the steel wool reinforcement and zip tie welding rod tips... Thanks for scoolin' this old nailbender! Best, Matt
Sir I must give you my ultimate compliment! That is slicker than Snot on a Door knob!
I rarely give a nod to this plastic welding idea but I must agree that the presentation is above most others that I have seen.
Gonna give this a try, for sure. Thanks, Greg!
FANTASTIC Iwas goiny to throw out my boiler with the cracked base and after watching you for 2 minutes I went and fixed my boiler base. Thank you so easy
You're brilliant, buddy! That's fantastic!
Quick & to the point! Great video, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the informative video I was able to repair an old shopping cart my mom loved. 👏🏿
Use of the plastic zip ties was ace, I’m definitely going to use this technique- thanks mate!!
Great tutorial! Now a video on measuring the force it takes to pull apart would be awesome!
I need to do this for a drawer shelf for fridge what is the strongest way to weld plastic that is cracked? JB weld for plastic perhaps?
Great teaching! Thanks bud!
Coronavirus time means fix everything you can
Not for those of us who is broke who just fix everything we can! XD
I just got done fixing an office chair plastic lumbar support using a similar method. I have another one I need to fix and figure how other people do it. Mine was mix with plastic filler, cover with hot glue, top it all off with epoxy! Little black paint if I cared about aesthetics.
@@AnickYT lol
@@ktmediavideo Funnily enough, still holding up strong! Although found a alternative fix using just 6 zip ties rates for 100 pounds each. When you are a broke high school student with no job because of lockdown, you gotta get clever with limited supplies you find at home!
Thanks for the lesson!
Nice plastic welding video. I would've never of though to use steel wool as reinforcement mesh. I have always used 2 part epoxy glue as it's cheap and readily available at the dollar store for $1.25. Nevertheless, this method is an excellent alternative if you don't happen to live near a dollar store.
Example you provided is very clear and easy to follow. Good work!
2-part epoxy can sometimes fall off.
Very useful video, others have done very little to impress me.
Very Interesting! I normally use JB Weld, but that has a 24hr cure. Could see using both together, with the spot weld to hold the breaks. Thanks!
Excellent. Great stuff ! Thx.
I need to reprair a 130 gallon fishtank frame, this would be the safest way to do it without shutting the entire community down for a day. Good job! thanks😊
Pretty freaking ingenious
This is an awesome video and I very much appreciate it.. 👍
Thank you, now I'll fix my broken ones...
Very cool video thank you for sharing this it is really helpful.
Absolutely brilliant, very great idea.
I just bought my first soldering iron, and this video is very helpful!
Great idea using the steel wool. Thanks for sharing
I was about to say! I wonder how much that changes the strength (quantitatively)
Would be interesting to see which side is stronger. Could attempt to pull the handle straight up in the center to see which side breaks first.
Thanks for this. I'm repairing a cracked HVAC box in a car and so far I just JB plastic weld (so glue) a piece of abs on the inside. Once that dries I might try this on the outside of the box to really make it air tight then heat and bend another piece of ABS and JB plastic weld that to the outside. So on top of the soldered plastic. Won't look super pretty will look better than it looks now (you can see a hole with the ABS on the inside. It will cover up the melted plastic too.
I would do it all on the inside but it's so deep in the box and along an edge so can't fully get in there from the inside.
thanks for the vid. have some freezer draws that need cracks repairing. super small nails and zipties I'm thinking. never thought of a soldering iron. was gonna buy a staple heat gun version. saved me 60 quid a draw
Great video. Thanks
Nice job !
nice video. I like the idea of using the steel wool. I have been using small pieces of paper clip bent into a Z pattern to melt into the fracture line. Except for the initial tack welds, most of what you are doing is cold welding, just melting filler onto the site without much "welding" or melting of the primary plastic. It may bond the area but is far from a true weld in strength. Thanks
I was thinking that, primarily because he's using what I'm thinking may be a non-compatible plastic (zip ties=nylon; not sure what the repair item is made from, but I doubt it's nylon.)
This is so cool! Lol I love it
that was awesome. great info thank you
great and quick
Terrific vid, thanks a heap!
So should we use special solder tips for this or will it clean up with no lasting damage to the tip?
A great way to get a smooth finish with out sanding is to use a deep well socket to smooth it as you weld.
Great video thank you for sharing, fix it don’t fill the landfill. 😃
how long did this last? thanks for sharing
Great video.
Zip ties for nylon plastics, I assume. Or does it actually bond to other plastics?
Thanks ! Will try this :)
Lay a V between the cracks with the iron, same effect as grinding a v in metal before welding two pieces together. Then follow up with using the iron to sweep plastic from surrounding area or a filler piece of the same plastic (you didn't even use the same plastic, your trying to mix nylon zip tie and PP or whatever that was) into the V. Trick is, just like welding, you need enough heat to actually melt the base but in the case of plastic not boil and char the plastic, that makes it brittle. You sweep the plastic into the v and smooth it over flush with the surface. I cut tiny pieces of metal out from a sheet and burr them up with the cutters of a pliar. You them melt those into the surface, pushing the iron on them until they sin/k in and become embedded, crossing over your weld like a stitch. /Keep a wet towel nearby and cool the iron if you notice it smoking and getting too hot. Do it like that and you'll be pod racing in no time.
Make a video of what you suggested. That should help others.
Great vid, thank you
Thanks for sharing!
This was brilliant! What do you do/use to clean the soldering iron tip?
Acetone when it's cool
So cool! Saves us some money from throwing stuff away
Excellent job.
I have a plastic boat and I want to add plastic flotation pods do you think this method would work
Thank you for the video I did the same thing for my hard plastic podcast stand and now all I'm doing is letting it cool off before I add the light o the stand
The crack sounds at the end make me doubt xD
Hahaha lol😆😆😆
Thats not a crack, thats a rapping sound from his fingers on plastic
@@survivalistor6195 no hahaha.. he quite literally broke whatever weak seal he put on it. Watch it again see how he man handles it , it cracks and then on out he fake jiggles it cause he knows what he just did.. watch his hand jiggles but not the cock waterer. It's very believavke because that tool does not get to the right temp , he's using 2 different types of plastic, the top and then the zip tie for God sake he tried to melt down.. that ain't happening then as he put the metal surround on it he said be sure to melt the base.. NO... You don't melt the base you lay down a welding rod then the metal the melt it through then layyer another welding stick on too of it.. the plastic the top is made of melts into bread crumbs if you didn't notice .. what's gonna melt to bread crumbs beside butter or cheese... Alright then that's what she snapped
He knew it cracked cause cut the video asap.
For people looking at doing this :
Please clean the piece, you're gonna get impurity in the weld
And plunge the welder a lot deeper in the plastic, to weld correctly to the center of the piece
(and you can integrate clip to the weld)
how do you clean the soldering iron
Is that about a 25 Watt soldering iron or something hotter than that?
thank you for this i just fixed my light
At what temperature should the soldering iron be at?
I'm not sure if that zip tie is the same material as the cap. I think most zip ties are nylon and I have no idea what the cap is made from, maybe ABS. I'm also not sure how much it matters!
Thanks a lot
Great idea with wool to reinforce the plastic!!!
good tips, thanks man... (y)
Nice job
Brilliant, thanks. Do you know if it is stronger than using 2 component epoxy glue? I usually use 2 component epoxy glue, which I can "mold" around the edges. Often this works, but not always. Your welding method is probably faster in giving you a usable repair, compared to waiting for the glue to hardened, but it probably takes more of your time.
This will only work temporarily. If he had melted the two edges from inside out this would be permanent. It is not easy to do and only someone who is steady handed and quick would have the know how. Hear how it cracks as he tries to show his handiwork in the end.
Can you use the soldering iron again for metal/circuit soldering, or is the tip pretty much ruined by the plastic?
Its easy to remove plastic from solder tip, just scrape it off with iron wool while the iron is just starting to cool down.
Well I never knew that. Thanks very much
I would definitely recommend wearing a face mask when you do this if your not outdoors.
Don’t be a wuss
@@AquaTech225 my man
Now you need a facemask outdoors too :c
@@WvlfDarkfire indoors more like...
Fantastic
Great thank you
Great
The best teqniques. My favorite and strong.
"bring in that filler rod" - black tire wrap lol nice
my case is it is a screw hole it's broken all the way outside while halfway on the inside(theres a hole for screwing) I have redid welding it 3 times already but it's still flimsy and gets break off
Works great! Thanks. So, anyone know of common items that are made of polycarbonate? Bonus points if it comes in red!
steel expansion under temp changes is much less than plastic, might slowly weaken as product heats and cools... nylon is thermoplastic that melts at 250c rather than 125celcius for hdpe, nylon thread might work better, similar rate of expansion
I have half a dozen lawn mower HDPE fuel tanks and nothing works on their leaks. It's like "whack-a-mole" - fix one leak and you then have to chase it leaking somewhere nearby. Low reactive plastics won't bond to anything I have and soldering (both flame soldering or iron soldering) using spare HDPE doesn't work either
I wrapped copper around my soldering iron to make a copper tip. It'll be on a video i release in a month.
Did the steel wool rust after awhile? (Or were you able to cover it enough)
If you can get your hands onto some pure acetone you might be able to drip a little between the cracks to melt the plastic a little . To bond it maybe.
How do you clean the plastic off the soldering iron tip?
heat it up and get it really hot and dip it in steel wool a few times or with wet sponge
Or take it to a grinding wheel
If you want to ever use it for soldering again, you're probably best buying a new tip. I find that after exposure to plastic/etc, solder will no longer wet the tip, regardless of how much cleaning and sanding you do to it. (Something like Hakko FS100-01 Tip Cleaning Paste will restore the tip and allow it to wet with solder again, but unless you're soldering regularly, for the $10 the paste costs, you're better off just buying a couple extra tips, then dedicate one to plastic.)
I bought a metre of copper rod the same diameter as my soldering iron tipe. Using about 8 cm of the rod at a time i have a good supply of spare tips that I can use. By bending, filing, etc these tips you can have all the shapes you want to reach narrow places, or sharp edges, or flat plastic pieces etc. For those who have to ask how to clean a tip, don’t diy anything; you don’t have the imagination or common sense needed for this type of work!
@@andrecrouse9704 rude. How did you learn? These are a start for someone who never has done it.
You flatten the top of the soldering iron so it looks like a spatula. Once you have a flat tip you insert it between the two broken edges wait till it melts both sides and smash it together as quick as possible for a solid bond. If you do it this way it is not a repair anymore (like in this video), it is refurbished.
Plus a woodworking iron insures that you don't burn the plastic most plastics weaken with a soldering iron it produces more extreme heat. And a woodworking iron comes with different iron tips
@@whydontyouaskme Thanks for the tip!
@@whydontyouaskme Could you link a good example of an iron with a good selection of tips like you spoke of? I'm currently using a 25W Soldering Iron
is it a normal solder or specific one for plastic?
It's just a normal iron
Thanks bro.
what is that mesh called? steel wool ?
Yup
If you have some fine steel window screen that would really make it strong steel not plastic, lol.
haha "our filler rod" , well it works so +1
btw wear googles , some fumes attac the eyes too.
Don’t be a wuss
Sounds like it crack at the end lol
Nice
It works.
Okay so welding plastic is just like welding metal
Wow
Super useful and no nonsense, thanks very much
I think he's right, you'll probably for want to do that out side with a mask cause that smoke is really really TOXIC. My friend was burning trash outside and it had plastic in it and he was standing real close. Cause of the smoke he inhaled he had to be rushed to the emergency room
How come ur hands r so shaky???
wow
Great idea using a zip tie for filler..
I would have super glued it underneath it first and then tack welded it
Seems like some 3,500 lbs per sq inch epoxy would work much better and faster. Also expoxy isn't very expensive
"i think made a very solid repair!"
nope.
Thsi kind of welding depends on plastic type ...
Just use super glue it’s really work strong on blastic