M.E.K. solvent cement (where to get)

[CampinGazz]

I've got a plastic shower tray in the motorhome, got a few cracks in the corners (someones stupid idea to put a couple of crates of drinks in the shower tray, then drive halfway around europe)

I've read about some stuff called M.E.K. solvent cement, it's apparantly sold primarily for sealing a plastic shower tray to the wall, but is also used for plastic shower tray repairs,

it's in a sealant guny type cartridge, and the blurb says it turns to solid plastic in 12 hours after being applied,

Problem is i've only found one place that does it, and it's on ebay, and the sellers postage is taking the piss a little bit to say the least.

Anyone know where i can buy this stuff from a shop? or is it more of a thing for the static caravan market and thus i need to be near the coast to find it in those types of shops, (i'm near nottingham)

[manatbandq]

The only form of MEK I know is sold as liquid polystyrene cement for plastic models. Ask for "Slaters Mekpak" in a decent model railway shop (the sort that doesn't just sell a few Hornby boxes, or google for it. It works by melting the parts together rather than being applied like a filler in your description. It might work on a shower tray, depending on the type of plastic.

MBQ

[Merryterry]

MEK is a colourless clear solvent used for cleaning certain plastics purposes. I doubt it will solve your problem. A sealant that contains MEK might do it.

Firstly find out what plastic your shower is made of. Some are Styrene some are Glass Re-inforced Polyester. Bit difficult to tell the difference I will admit.

If it is GRP a car body repair kit will do the trick. You will have to make the repair from the underside as it is not very pleasing to see Glass Fibre Mat sticking up from the surface of the shower.

If it is styrene a model repair cement should do the trick but it is not very strong. You will problably have to re-inforce it on the underside of the shower with Glass Mat soaked with the repair cement.

[CampinGazz]

The shower tray is very light weight, it seems to be a vacuum formed plastic item, i cant get access to the underside without ripping the entire shower enclosure out, as the wall boards overlap the tray's outer lip,

i was going to inject some expanding foam between the tray sides and the walls of the van around the cubicle, through the cracks in the tray, so that's give a re-inforced tray i hope, why i never did this when i put the tray in i dont know, makes sense now,

the stuff i've seen on ebay is here...

guess if it does the job it's worth every penny, i was just hoping to be able to go into a shop and get it, or something similar rather than pay 6 quid postage for an item that'll cost about 2 quid to post,

i had thought of fiberglassing the entire shower cubicle, but that'd be a big job, and i've never glassed before, so don't really want to practise on the area that will show up the imperfections big time... and leak if i get the mixes wrong, losts of complex curves in the shower tray and all that too.

[<Garp>]

MEK stands for Methyl Ethyl Ketone. More commonly known as solvent cement/glue for solvent pipe fittings. It doesn't tend to work on most plastics other than water pipe. It's a solvent mixed with plastic powder to make it thick and gooey - by itself it's like water and very runny, so they add plastic powder to make it easier to work with and to give it some density. It works by melting the plastic of the item it is applied to (plastic water pipes being the favourite). Painted on the ends of the 2 pipes, they go sticky, plug em together and the whole lot sets usually in a couple of minutes.

I'm not sure about a shower tray, as the strength of MEK relies on overlapping surfaces melting and bonding together. The shower tray won't have this overlap.

If you can find out what sort of plastic the shower tray is (there's loads of different typpes), you may find an appropriate solvent and a spare bit of the same type of plastic as a patch to stick underneath... But I wouldn't know who to approach to find this info out.... sorry.

Cheers

[manatbandq]

MEK is a cement for styrene.

MBQ

[manatbandq]

No, MEK will glue styrene end to end as used for plastic model kits. No need for an overlap.

MBQ

[manatbandq]

[Rob Morley]

With a model kit you have two flat surfaces that are accessible until they're stuck together, and mate properly. I suppose a solution in this case (if the shower tray is susceptible to MEK) would be to flood it with the runny stuff to get solvent to any closely-fitting faces, then use the thickened stuff to fill any gaps. But in any repair of this sort I'd really want a patch on the back as well.

[<SuitSat>]

That's fine as long as the shower tray is made of the right plastic - shower trays are a different type of plastic normally, and a blob of MEK over a crack will prove innefective as its strength is based upon the fact it is a solvent and makes the plastic surfaces go like welsh rarebit for a short while - the surfaces bond and provide more strength than the glue itself - you can't use it as a filler like Araldite - it has no inherent strength on its own.

The surface area of a crack on a shower tray is about 2mm - 2 off 2mm surfaces pressed together will have no strength unless supported by a bonding patch underneath. The weight of a human being stomping on the shower tray will be quite substancial and easily pop the joint.

You may be better off loading up the base of the shower tray with resin and fibreglass sheeting and layering it up over a period of days till it becomes thick and strong - although I don't know how well the fibreglass and resin will bond to the plastic - sand the plastic first to roughen it up to provide a better surface to bond with. And then support the underside of the base with something light and strong to support the repaired section - maybe expanding foam in a tin? Use with care and caution though, as once it gets on a surface its a bugger to remove!!

[Dave]

MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) is a clear colourless fluid. It is highly inflammable and can damage internal body organs by being absorbed through the skin.

MEK solvent cement is not MEK. It is presumably an MEK base with added plastic to make a solid cement when the MEK has dissolved.

I have used gallons of MEK until it got banned for HSE reasons.

Dave

[nightjar]

Except it is illegal to send many substances through the post and I would expect this to be one of them. It should be sent via a carrier and the charge is about right for that.

Colin Bignell

[nightjar]

It used to be sold in liquid form, by specialist model shops, which could be applies to the joints of model kits with a fine brush after they were closed. It drew into the joints by capilliary action and made a much neater joint than the conventional plastic cements. It looked and smelt exactly like the MEK that I bought in gallon cans as a modified for a jeweller's oxy-hydrogen welding unit.

Colin Bignell

[manatbandq]

It still is!

MBQ