[Closed] Gluing plastic.

Araldite Rapid , that stuff has gotten so much better over the years.

Polystyrene cement (a la Airfix)

Only really works with polystyrene - I guess its tricky to know what the plastic actually is. Something like the old airfix glue disolved the plastic which then re-set as weld rather than a glues joint - it wouldn't really work with any other material. Any other adhesive is just going to give you two bits of plastic with some glue in the middle rather than one bit of plastic

Is it not worth seeing if that bit of plastic is available as a spare?

It all depends what plastic it is made from.  Do you have any acetone in the house (“pure” acetone as used by the glue on nails people rather than nail varnish remover which is diluted and usually has some moisturisers in it - but if you are stuck).  Try wiping some acetone on an unimportant part of part, if it goes sticky there is a good chance you’ll be able to “solvent weld” it.  Soak one side of the joint liberally in acetone wait 30s and then press the other side against it.  Keep in intimate contact whilst setting.  Leave at least an hour (and until the surface is hard again) before fitting.  If the joint will be stressed in normal use I’d leave it 24h and If possible I’d want to reinforce the join with fresh material (plastic or metal).  Superglue will work on some plastics that won’t weld. If it is HDPE or even PP you’ll struggle to get it to glue without specialist products.  ABS, PS, PC, Acryllic, PVC should weld ok IF you can hold the part in the correct position whilst setting - often the part is distorted before it snaps.

Depends on the plastic. I'd suspect it's ABS in which case, acetone can work great, it works basically like welding by slightly disolving the plastic, it can be as strong as new. But won't work at all on some and will destroy other plastics. Devcon plastic weld adhesive can be a good option as it's excellent with ABS but works much like a 2 part epoxy on other materials.

You can fix pretty much anything with E6000 (super-shoegoo)

I guess its tricky to know what the plastic actually is.

This was my concern and why I asked.

Is it not worth seeing if that bit of plastic is available as a spare?

Last time I looked, you had to buy the entire thing at like £200, hence my question. But yes, you're absolutely right and it's on my to-do list.

Thank you.

Do you have any acetone in the house (“pure” acetone as used by the glue on nails people rather than nail varnish remover which is diluted and usually has some moisturisers in it – but if you are stuck).

Not any more, unfortunately.

 If it is HDPE or even PP you’ll struggle to get it to glue without specialist products.  ABS, PS, PC, Acryllic, PVC should weld ok

Ye gods.  I dunno, it's plastic?! (-:

If it's any help, I don't think it's massively load-bearing.    The clips around the circumference deal with that, from looking at it, I just need to secure the other side.  Should this have been a "what's my plastic?" question?

@northwind that's great, thanks - what do you recommend I do?

Keep in intimate contact whilst setting.

Won't the glue stick to your pubes?

If you can get a look in side the moulding it should tell you. Most manufacturers have to mark the material type inside.

PCABS, ABS, PP etc should be moulded into the part near the logo/date stamp.

We use a Plexus Methacrylate 2 part epoxy glue at work on automotive plastics. Not many things it won't stick together and can be used as a bridging filler/glue if required, only downside is it's exothermic so can cause shrinkage as it cures on large flat surfaces.

Small handheld applicator gun and tube available for £25, might work out cheaper than a replacement, even from a breakers.

@Cougar, just to add to my comment- there's a few plastics that Devcon will dissolve so test first. But it's good stuff, I suspect Fettlin is talking about a similar (but probably industry and therefore better) product.

Hot glue is another brilliant bodger's tool. Using it is a sin, and it's hot enough to warp or otherwise damage some plastics (acrylics mostly). But you can get some great results with it, it's reversible and if you have a hot air gun you can reposition or remelt it.

Last but not least there's the mighty cable tie butterfly stitch, beloved of racers everywhere.

low surface energy plastics are almost impossible to bond with stuff you can get in hardware stores.

when in a bind, I've fixed seemingly unglueable car interior plastics by drilling holes and using epoxies as new material.
Most car parts are stamped with the plastic they are made of.

Last but not least there’s the mighty cable tie butterfly stitch, beloved of racers everywhere.

There is a guy who cuts about edinburgh with a number of yelliw stitches in his bumper.

I swear on of them isn't even a crack and its all "stylin'"

Cougar, i've had success with un original replacements from wingmirror man or something like that. Think it cost me a 30quid for everything from the mounting bolt tobthe fairing, glass including electric adjustvand heater.

Another option could be to take it to a place specialising in car bumper repairs that have plastic welding materials?

If the part is structural is might be made from a glass-filled polyamide / nylon or acetal which are very difficult to bond - epoxy and 'stitched' with wire is probably the best solution. The part should be embossed with a material code.

First stop for me would be plain old superglue. It's cheap, sticks most stuff and is readily available. Give the surfaces a very light rub down, join them a few times dry so you are sure how they fit & then try to join them.

If it works & there is room with the other parts that it needs to re-attach to, you can reinforce the join pretty easily. Sounds stupid, but I did this over a year ago with one of my daughter's toys & it is still holding firm today:
Clean up a plastic milk bottle & cut some pieces to size. You can use superglue to bond these pieces along the crack to support the join you have made. I stuck it outside face down as this is slightly rougher, so I figured it the glue would bond to it better than the inner face.
I did this to the lugged connector part at the end of a piece of ramp track. It gets abused quite a bit as the join is right where the part naturally bends when trying to fit the ramp to the tower it attaches to, and like I say, it's been like that for over a year.

Try mitre adhesive from toolstation or screwfix.  Its basically super glue with a activating spray for instant grab.  I didn't realise the bloody superglue would also glue skin instantly without the activator, doh!  They stick the trims around UPVC windows and doors with it, and I've never seen one fall off...

Fletchtite.

or

Lidl dual glue. Instant repair stuff. Baufix injection filler. Be very quick though.

http://www.jb-weld.co.uk/j-b-weld-epoxy-syringe/j-b-weld-plasticweld-epoxy

Ooooh sugru hasn't been mentioned yet!

Couple of holes either side of the crack and smoosh it all over. A repair worthy if any 5 yearold.

My bodger's glue du jour these days is the Gorilla stuff that froths up a bit with moisture on one of the parts to be glued.  I can't visualise whether that would be appropriate for your application though.  Seems to stick to most things and gives a bit of extra structural support too.

If you can get a look in side the moulding it should tell you. Most manufacturers have to mark the material type inside.

PCABS, ABS, PP etc should be moulded into the part near the logo/date stamp.

The back of the mirror is stamped "ABS."  Can't see anything on the mount (unless it's on the back side).

I can’t visualise whether that would be appropriate for your application though.

The broken bit is stamped "HEGH0093K" which Google would suggest is the part number for the entire mirror motor assembly.

Ah, and POM 50 is the plastic stamp!  Polyoxymethylene (thanks again, Google).

Ballcocks.

https://www.cnczone.com/forums/glass-plastic-and-stone/49359-glue-pom-plastics.html

"Bonding POM
Acetal polymers are typically very difficult to bond. Special processes and treatments have been developed to improve bonding of acetal. Typically these processes involve surface etching, flame treatment or mechanical abrasion. Typical etching processes involve chromic acid at elevated temperatures. DuPont has a patented process for treating acetal homopolymer called satinizing which creates anchor points on the surface, giving an adhesive something to grab. There are also processes involving oxygen plasma and corona discharge.

Polyoxymethylene (commonly referred to as POM and also known as polyacetal or polyformaldehyde) is an engineering thermoplastic used in precision parts that require high stiffness, low friction and excellent dimensional stability. It is commonly known under DuPont's trade name Delrin"

Superglue, then...?  (-:

Aha.

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/epxy_plstc_s/overview/Loctite-Epoxy-Plastic-Bonder.htm

"recommended for bonding substrates such as: PVC, polycarbonate, acrylic, ABS, FRP, Nylon™, Mylar™, Delrin, phenolic, aluminum and stainless steel"

... at £32 a bloody tube!

I'd go for superglue in the first instance.

Does something attach directly on top of that part? If not, I'd also then reinforce the join as I mentioned above, using small pieces of old milk bottle cut into shape & stuck on top over the join.

It sounds stupid, but the milk bottle plastic is thin, easy to trim to shape, flexible & just reinforces the join.

It's the mount for the mirror glass, so I'd assume so.  I've not looked too closely at how it attaches, in honesty.  I should probably do that...!

So, looking at it, the broken piece attaches to the motor housing with those clips on the circumference, and then the mirror clips around the outside edge of that piece.  So there's nothing in the middle there that's particularly load-bearing as far as I can tell.  I reckon I'd get away with superglue - arguably I might even get away with just clipping it back in as-is.

Crickey! your worried about how to repair it, the car it goes on you should be able to afford a new one! 🙂

Joking aside, googled the part number 4E0959577, the first hit is here linky. Lambo Huracan RH mirror motor (!) with mounting plate, you'd have change out of £36 if it was in stock.

if it was my Lambo, i'd just glue the whole thing to the back of the mirror glass, put it back together and forget about it. How often do you need to remove the mirror glass?

if it was my Lambo

😆

Nothing so flash I'm afraid, it's an Octavia.  That motor seems to be a generic part, first hit I had was for a VW Alto or something.

How often do you need to remove the mirror glass?

This is the second time since I got it in November...