repairing a plastic barrel??

[michiganfarmer]

My dad just called me from home. He had is hay forks on the tractor. He was carrying my 1500 gallon plastic sap tank to the woods for me. He stuck one of the forks through the side,lol.

IM glad he did it. He would have riased a stink if I had done it.

Anyone know of a good repair? I have repaired plastic buckets with a propae torch, and used a screwdriver to smear the hot plastic back together, but I dont think this will work for this tank. 1500 gallons creates quite a bit of pressure. I was thinking about finding a couple pieces of plastic larger than the hole, drilling through them and the tank, putting lots of glue, or apoxy on both peices, and the tank, then bolting the "sandwitch" together.


Any ideas?

[FreightTrain]

J&B weld epoxy in the sandwich??

[Obser]

I have repaired plastic tanks using a sheet of ABS plastic (salvaged from a drum or pail), ABS cement (black), and sheet metal screws. I cut the patch considerably larger than the damage, smear both surfaces with cement, then put the patch in place with lots of sheet metal screws. That has worked surprisingly well.

[DaleK]

Find somebody with the right equipment to weld plastic. They can look at it and tell you if they can patch it. You can patch it yourself but it'll last longer if it's welded and they're usually pretty cheap.

[Junkmanme]

Repair it with fibreglas. I did this many years ago on a plastic Sewer holding tank on my motorhome...Saved about $300.00!!!

Just do it double what you read on the instuctions! Take your time when you can!
HURRY otherwise!

You MUST use at least 2 layers of fibreglas cloth!

It's almost as easy as today's patching of auto fenders..... Piece of cake!

Good Luck!
Bruce

[MELOC]

bummer. i would try to put the patch on the inside if you have access. i doubt that you do though. if you ever get inspected, i wonder if they would get picky about "food grade" substances being used for the patch.

[doing it in NM]

They make a PVC welder, it is almost like a hot air gun only a small nozzle. Then get the right welding rod for it (clear plastic or grey). If you look on the net you should be able to find someone who does this, if you have any chicken hatcheries around the would know as ther egg washers are pvc bases and food quaility.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by MELOC

bummer. i would try to put the patch on the inside if you have access. i doubt that you do though. if you ever get inspected, i wonder if they would get picky about "food grade" substances being used for the patch.

Yeah, I thought about that too

[michiganfarmer]

Thanks guys. WHen I got home last night, I looked at it. The hole is 4" in diameter, and its in the side right in the bottom corner,lol. It couldnt be in a worse place.

[michiganfarmer]

Ijust had an idea this morning. The hole is close to 4" diameter. The bung is clost to that also, and has inside, and outside flanges, and gaskets. Im going to take a sawzall, or a knife, or something, and round the hole out, buy a bung, put it in the hole, and plug the bung with a valve, or something.

[Big Dave]

Hey Michigan if you read this and are so inclined look up plastic welding in wikipedi. Lot of how to info there. Wish you well.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Hey Michigan if you read this and are so inclined look up plastic welding in wikipedi. Lot of how to info there. Wish you well.

will do. thank you

[logbuilder]

Originally Posted by michiganfarmer

Ijust had an idea this morning. The hole is close to 4" diameter. The bung is clost to that also, and has inside, and outside flanges, and gaskets. Im going to take a sawzall, or a knife, or something, and round the hole out, buy a bung, put it in the hole, and plug the bung with a valve, or something.

Oh, you're good...... very good.

[seedspreader]

so... did you get it fixed?