Plastic Gas Tank Spigot Cut With Razor Knife

Plastic welding would be the best fix. The soldering iron is a decent approach though there are real plastic welders that weld with hot air and additional plastic. Probably not worthwhile for a one time activity. Don't get too carried away with the soldering iron. You could wrap the stem with some fine copper wire for additional strength.

One other thing that could work would involve cutting a larger hole that would receive a bolt-on tire valve with the Schrader valve removed. ___________________________ Keep the whole world singing. . . . DanG

jb weld

JB "Weld" is just overpriced EPOXY.

Epoxy does not bond to polyethylene fuel tanks.

I've used it for years to repair weedeater tanks where I work. And it holds.

JBWeld, I agree, will not work here.

It does a few things that plain epoxy won't though.

might work, might not. Will only work if it's a thermoset plastic.

I would be concerned that the glue would not actually stick to the gas tank and you'd end up with a leak between the tank and the glue.

Teflon tape is not a sealer; it's used on pipe threads as a lubricant to allow the pipe fittings to be tightened more securely for a better seal. It does not provide any sealing itself. Probably plain old electrical tape would work better, although again, I'd be concerned about the gasoline dissolving the adhesive and starting another leak.

How about cutting the nipple off entirely, finding an appropriately sized brass fitting, and threading it into the tank with some Permatex No. 2 or similar to seal the threads? Or if the cut into the plastic nipple is not deep, just cover the nipple with a thin coat of Permatex and reinstall the hose? (obviously this will permanently glue the hose to the tank, making future disassembly problematic.)

good luck,

nate

JB Weld is epoxy, sure, but its very GOOD epoxy, and it does stick to a lot of things that most 'normal' household epoxy doesn't. Why do you discourage it's use so strongly? it does work quite well. Whether or not it will work in this instance I don't know..but it won't hurt to give it a try

Forgot to mention, if you don't feel like messing with it, have you tried to get a price on a replacement gas tank? It might be surprisingly inexpensive. I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I priced out some replacement parts for some Andersen windows, under $60 for a casement window actuator, and a counterbalance and latch for a double-hung.

nate

No. You'll just get a bigger hole.

I very much doubt it. Won't stick.

No.

I'm sure. I cam accoss plastic epoxy in a double syringe, at ACE hardware. Haven't used it yet. Should be great.

PC-11 specifically says it doesn't stick to polyethylene, if that's what you have, but PC-7 doesn't say that.

I would try JB-weld because Steve recommended it, but if it doesn't work well you can scrape it off later. It wil come off in one piece.

I would have said the same thing about 5-minute epoxy, like from Devcon, but others have said they won't stick. Hmmm. It didn't stick to my motorcycle coil which is covered in some sort of plastic.

You might also try GE silicone. Available in 2 oz tubes at autoparts stores, in black. Again if it doesn't work you can srape it off. Also available in caulking gun size tubes for far less money per ounce, and probably won't dry out for months (or years?) if you seal it well. Mine came with a cap but I used plastic electric tape wound tight to go over the nozzle and cap.

PC-7 is worth buying even if you think you are only going to use it this once. in the two 2 or 4 oz. cans. People have raved here for quite a while about JB-welld, so I bougth some and tried it. And although it wasn't enough for one particular job, that probably was not its fault. It has the advantgage of being very creamy and I'm sure dries with a nice appearance (although in my case, the glue was hidden from view.

PC-7 is thick and comparitively hard to work ith, but that is all overcome by wetting one's finger and smoothing things out.

PC-7 is FANTASTIC. IT STICKS TO GLASS, FOR GOSH SAKE.

You can APPLY IT UNDERWATER, OR TO A LEAKING DRAIN WITH A LEAKING FAUCET ABOVE IT, AND it will be waterproof when it dries.

stick something like a woooden match or a stick in the "spigot?" for he gas, and then work in the pc-7, making sure it doesn't get too big for the tube that goes on it. That it's all or mostly within the slit.

Smooth it with a spit-wet finger, but use each of your fingers, and only once. That's why God gave us 10 (the thumbs don't seem to work well of rhtis.. Or at least don't put your glue-dirty finger in your mouth. In the last 4 months I've learned to pour my spit on it without touching my finger to my mouth. I doubt if the stuff I used to taste on rare occasions would kill me, but it couldn't do me any good.

pc-7 takes a full 24 hours to dry, set, completely. That's if you mix it well. If you don't, I don't think it ever sets. I use ttwo screwdrivers, one for each can, then mix it with one of them. Before it sets, it wipes off the screwdrivers with a paper towell, and will wash off with plain water too. Although I don't do that in a sink because I don't want it to go down the drain.

Even when smoo

If you try hot glue, heat the plastic first with a heat gun or hair dryer. If it's hat already, the hot glue sticks better.

Once you try silicone, you will likely have problems getting anything to stick.

Bob

As usual when it comes to anything involving chemistry, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Yes, it's epoxy-based -- but that's not all it is. Google up the MSDS on JB Weld. Then tell me that calcium carbonate, iron powder, and magnesium silicate are normal constituents in most epoxies.

Yes, but... you can forget about anything ever sticking to it again after you've put silicone on it.

"Plain" epoxy is pretty thin stuff. Those who work with epoxy on a regular basis rarely use it without additives or special hardeners of some sort. The additives used vary with the task at hand. JB weld is different only in that it has some fillers added into the mix to give it viscosity, and the fast hardener is diluted with additional fillers to make it work with a 50/50 mixing ratio. It cures much too fast to be considered a really good epoxy. Any epoxy that cures in less than 12-24 hours is sacrificing ultimate strength and bonding ability for expediency. 12 hours is really on the short side. JB weld has it's place, but it's a place next to duct tape. It's handy as a quick fix sometimes, but it's not "better" epoxy any more than a TV dinner is a "better" dinner.

Polyethelyne has very low surface energy and in reality, almost nothing really bonds with it well without extraordinary measures. When they build custom fuel tanks and such from polyethelyne they mount fittings by inserting them while spinning and the friction causes a weld to take place. My sugestion is to try JB weld and gluing the fuel tube onto the nipple with it. If that leaks, then buy a new tank. They are generally under $30 for small engines.

CWM

Another possibility would be to drill out the nipple and use some type of a "weldless" fitting in the hole. It would probably use a gasket and screw tightening to form a seal.

Bob

snipped-for-privacy@milmac.com (Doug Miller) wrote in news:tQ29h.14284$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com:

Epoxies used for gluing have fillers of all sorts. Fillers don't do anything to increase the bonding ability;that comes from the chemistry of the epoxy itself.Same for hi-temperature endurance.

For some good info on epoxies;

Your insulting demeanor doesn't deserve anyone's attention.

Your point is just a semantic quibble.

Do you have anyone close in real life? Haven't they warned you about your malicious habits of speech?

Charlie Morgan wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Epoxy also takes far longer than the specified cure time to FULLY cure;it usually takes a couple of weeks to be *completely* cured.

I've found JB Weld to be SOFT compared to other epoxies. It does have a higher temperature tolerance.

No, it's not just a "semantic quibble" -- you're *wrong*. JB Weld is *not* just overpriced epoxy as you claim it is.