How to glue plastics

[goprog]

Broken toilet seat hinge (plastic). Can't just buy the
hinge from the manufacturer, have to buy the entire toilet
seat (special size/shape) for $50. So want to try gluing
the plastic. Haven't found a definitive guide to gluing
on the net - might be out there, but searching is just so
difficult these days with all the junk.

First problem is determining the type of plastic and unless
I take it to a chemist... I have a cement that works on
acrylic, but this isn't acrylic. It's a hard, white plastic -
pretty strong but not strong enough when a 200 pound roll of
carpet is pushing against/across the seat. I would say it
is the type of plastic you would find in a 1 or 2-step stool.

I'm thinking of using either super glue or epoxy. Super
glue says not to use on polyethylene. I don't think it is
polyethylene, but there is obviously nothing on the part
that says what it is.

Any experience/hints? I have the super glue here, but if it
doesn't work, then I'm left with residue which could mess up
the next attempt with epoxy. The biggest issue is that it
broke off vertically, so whatever I do will have to deal with
shear along the glue joint rather than at an angle to it.

 

[sudsmaster]

I have never had much luck gluing plastics back together when the part is to be subjected to some stress. Once I was able to restore a broken plastic part in a motorcycle start button by heating up a sewing needle red hot, plunging it into the two halves of the broken plastic shaft, and voila!, it welded the two parts together and acted as reinforcement, and it's never broken again.

When all is said and done, after buying all different sorts of glues, and spending hours trying to fix the darn thing, you might be better off buying the new toilet seat. Better yet, look for one with brass or stainless steel hinges.

 

[goprog]

If I have to buy something, I'll just buy a whole new toilet,
but that severely goes against my desire not to produce junk
for landfills. (It loses out to my desire to not support
manufacturers that produce non-repairable items - and this is
especially true in this case since all they have to do is sell
me a hinge they make already. Buying the excessive "packaging"
that goes with it -the entire seat - is not acceptable.)

I'll let you know how the gluing attempt goes.

 

[danemodsandy]

Plastix

I've had good luck with Plastix, a plastic bonder that you can buy in Home Depot. It's about five dollars for the kit. There are two parts. One is a little bottle of prep stuff that you brush onto the surfaces to be joined together. It sort of chemically melts the surface just a little bit, to prepare it for the adhesive part. Then you use the adhesive; it seems to be pretty much like Super Glue. But it holds way better, probably because of the surface prep part.

You might give it a try; it would seem you don't have much to lose. Hope this helps.

 

[maytagbear]

There is also

Gorilla (brand) Glue. I've had very good luck with it on the few things I've tried gluing with it.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[goprog]

That Plastix stuff sounds like a combination of epoxy and
super glue. I seem to remember buying an epoxy/2-part type
glue the last time I was up here - can't remember what for
or what I did with it... Senility moment again - but I'm
sure it will come to me in a day or two.

 

[goprog]

Well, I know I bought the 2-part glue when I was up here
before because I went to Fleet Farm and bought the same
stuff again. I do remember seeing it at home last week
now that I know what it looks like. But still can't
remember what I used it for.

Anyway, what I bought is called "Dr. Bond" - says it bonds
any plastic, including polyethylene and polypropylene. It
makes no claims to bond anything other than plastic and says
it is not weather resistant, nor recommended for repairs that
need high flexibility.

Seems to be a strong bond. Time will tell if it is a
lasting fix or not.

But $3.50 is better than $50 and no substantial landfill
addition.

 

[alr2903]

Maytag Bear, That gorilla glue Is great, I glued a metal door sill, to the concrete slab of our screened patio. The nice patio installers had left me a 1/4" gap at the bottom of the door.Grrr, you gotta watch those guys every minute. alr2903

 

[tomturbomatic]

Is the Fleet Farm where they grow those little white squeeze bottles with the rocket fuel inside?

 

[goprog]

rocket fuel

Hmmm, not sure if that is tongue-in-cheek or not.

Fleet Farm is similar to Menards/Lowes/Home Depot, but is
more farm oriented. Tractor/farm supply, automotive, lumber,
furniture, toys, garden, pet, clothes, small appliances,
household. It was the place to go for everything before
Menards came to town. Menards is more complete as far as
a hardware/lumber store.

Haven't seen rocket fuel at either place, but wasn't
looking for it.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Cheeks, but no tongue.

 

[whirlcool]

I have found that by clamping the item that is being glued after the glue has been applied results in longer lasting bonds.

 

[rp2813]

Gorilla Glue requires clamping which may not be easy with what you're piecing back together but it would likely hold if you can manage to work with it. But I agree with Suds, if it's going to be subjected to stress there may not be any glue out there that will hold. Plastix sounds like a good option. I've used heat (a soldering gun works well) to melt smaller plastic items back together so if Plastix creates a bit of melting action that could be your best bet.

 

[goprog]

So far it appears to be working well. I thought it had
broken a couple days ago, but the bolt holding the seat
to the bowl was just not tight enough. So far, I'm still
impressed. Used the 2-part glue to glue something else
that was broken, but afraid to test it because I really
don't think it will hold. (1/16" x 3/8" gluing surface
with very strong spring - holding battery - pushing
perpendicularly to the 1/16" thick joint.)