OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Tech Talk Plastic Catcher Repairs

Has anybody found a method of welding/glueing the black plastic catchers.
Repairs with metal and a heap of rivets, while they may work, just look so bad,
about as bad as an office chair on a ride on mower.

Soldering iron and a zip tie as the "welding" rod

Hmmm ... i feel an old war injury flairing up ...

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Jack

p.s. I have moved this topic to Tech Talk.

Yes there is a tool that you can buy which is a plastic welder,however when the job is done it leaves a higher point.I guess just like any other welder.

Thanks for that, Bigted, over the years I have tried the soldering iron method with limited success. I have also considered the plastic welder but never really had enough need. I guess you would need something under the plastic, like a piece of cement sheeting to support it and prevent it from sagging

G'day folks,
I'd meant to reply to this topic earlier, but it somehow fell off the radar.

Norm, by far the best way to weld high-density polythene [aka HDPE, which is the catcher material] is by use of a device that produces a narrow jet of high-temperature air.

There are a few small butane-fuelled types about, and I have used one of those to successfully fix short [~40mm] cracks in the front lip of a Masport catcher, without using filler. The main headache with repairing short cracks is getting the mating surfaces clean enough to weld. Acetone and an old toothbrush usually works OK.

By far the best tool is a mains-powered plastic welding gun.
The go-to brands for pro work are Leister and Steinel, but they're seriously exy items. However, there are Chinese clones, of the Leister in particular, available on FleaBay for cheap.

Two things to watch out for; some of them say in the ad that they use asbestos components - avoid those! The other is that for use with filler rods, the shizzle is to use a 'speed welding' nozzle - these have a port for feeding the filler rod in. These just fit over the 8mm OD 'pencil' nozzle that comes with the main unit.

There seems to be a sharp price step between the 1080W models @$55-80 and the 1500W versions @ $150+. For thin PE sections as used in catchers, the lower powered units should do the job OK. http://www.ebay.com.au/bhp/plastic-welder

Filler rods are listed too. I'd just get HDPE and maybe PVC rods - it can get a bit tricky to definitely identify many of the other plastic types.

Hi Gadge, I think the 1080W would do the job ok. I guess you need to have something under the area you are welding to prevent it from sagging, probably a piece of cement sheet would do, this also allows the heat to bounce back into the welded area. I haven't tried it but I would think the best filler rod would be strips cut off a broken catcher. Problem with plastics is that there is a million different types and many not compatible.