Fabricate to lower coolant reserve tank?

Chicago-Spike said:

I got a cheap one for playing around...

150W Plastic Welder,Plastic Welding Kit with 800pcs Hot Staples,2pcs pp Plastic Welding Rods,knife,Plier, Plastic Welding Machine Plastic Repair Kit for Car Bumper Crack Repair Tools - - Amazon.com

150W Plastic Welder,Plastic Welding Kit with 800pcs Hot Staples,2pcs pp Plastic Welding Rods,knife,Plier, Plastic Welding Machine Plastic Repair Kit for Car Bumper Crack Repair Tools - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

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rangers4u said:

Would it be possible to make these with a 3D printer? IDK, just asking, maybe someone smarter than me might know.

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Harkon said:

Not just the sun, but the heating cooling cycle will make the plastic more brittle. They are made of HDPE, the same material, basically as the plastic milk bottles. You could use this, milk jug material, as repair material with your plastic welder. It helps when the repair material matches the hist material.


That depends, but the answer is definitely. But, and this is a big but, you would need to find someone with a printer that can print HDPE. Mine, for instance cannot do it with any reliability. Ideally if you could find someone, and there are a lot of places that do it, that can print PEEK, that would be ideal, but it should be carbon fiber re-inforced to make it durable. It is very high temp and will be more durable than HDPE. That said if someone can print it in HDPE, that will work.


There is no pressure as it us vented to the atmosphere. ABS and ASA are not options for this, these I can print, because anything close to boiling the plastic will be in it's glass temperature. If you find a local 3D print house, they can scan your tank and print you a new one out of a suitable material. Unfortunately I cannot print anything that will stand that much heat.

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[email protected] said:

There is a YouTube video of a guy that shows how to mend plastic using spare plastic and a soldering gun.

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Harkon said:

Agreed. The "staples" will definitely add to the strength of the repair. When repairing home electronics, we used a soldering iron and we bent up a paper clip, using the soldering iron to embed it in the repair part. Then using a filler material to cover it up. The single biggest thing to look out for, is over heating the plastic. It will start to crystalize and become very brittle. The lowest possible temperature you can use to get the job done is best. An adjustable temp soldering iron, if you gave one, will work wonders. I have used a small heat gun and my soldering iron set to a lower temp. Both have adjustable temps, but these things are fixtures on my repair bench. Obviously everyone will not have this equipment.

Glue remains an ever present option. HDPE is especially difficult to bond to. If you do a Google search for gluing polyethylene one of the links that shows up is;

Best Adhesive for Bonding Polypropylene PP and Polyethylene PE

From our kitchenware to our vehicles, plastic products have permeated every aspect of our lives and are integral to our day-to-day activities. There are two plastics that come up again and again as being extremely difficult to bond to. Polypropylene (PP) and Polyethylene (PE) are the two...

www.gluegun.com

There certainly will be more tips and tricks should you do a deep dive on it.

Another option just came to mind. If you have a hot melt glue gun, remove the glue and clean the tip, you could cut strips from a milk jug and use the tip of the hot melt gun as a heat source instead of a soldering iron. It will not be as hot and won't burn the plastic. Just a thought. I've never tried this but saw someone on YT using it this way using nylon ty-wraps as a filler material. Nylon won't work with HDPE but milk jug should.

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