plastic welding, alternative to MEK

In my motorhome i have a plastic shower tray and a plastic wall liner, when i installed it about 7 years ago i got a tube of MEK based 'sealant' with it, i got the tray and that lot from a static caravan suppliers as it's the size usually used in static vans (cant be doing with the tiny shower cubicles they put in mainstream motorhomes)

I stupidly decided to store a couple of crates of coke in the shower tray whilst in germany a few years ago, and of course they moved about as i drove and smashed the corners of the shower tray to bits. i used the last bits of the tube of mek stuff to repair, but ripped it all out and fitted a new tray and wall liner last year.

But i couldent get any of this mek stuff, which apparantly melts the plastic a bit, and it sets hard so made a great joint, was told to use silicone instead.

did this and regret it, crappy stuff keeps coming loose due to vibrations and that of the motorhome when driving along our silky smooth roads (not)

Does anyone know if there is a way to get hold of some of this mek stuff, or if it is banned as i think i read (it was a tube that went in a sealant gun, came out like a sealant, but set rock hard in about 20 minutes)

Or should i look at an alternative, maybe plastic welding?? got a hot air gun, and have seen the adaptor things that allow you to feed in the filler rods, but no idea how hard or easy they are to use, the joins are all right angles plastic to plastic, but i have 2 places where it's plastic to metal of the door, so guess i need a sealant for there.

Reply to
Gazz
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use solvent welding liquid for plastic waste pipes.

NT

Reply to
Tabby

You have been repairing this shower tray for 5 years - that's going some even by normal DIY standards :-)

You can buy Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK), a clear colourless liquid quite easily - eg.

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will melt polystyrene so if your tray and panels are made of this will join them very firmly.

MEK will also dissolve acrylonitrile butadiene styrene ( ABS , the plastic used in some water pipes). By mixing chips of ABS in MEK (a slow process) a thick adhesive can be made.

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some ideas on the first pages.

Reply to
Peter Parry

In message , Gazz writes

I thought MEK had been banned. EMA replaced it with this stuff:

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Reply to
Peter Twydell

Is that the equivalent of coal in the bath?

Reply to
PeterC

i know, actually i fixed it with this mek stuff once, then i decided to 'do it properly' and got the complete wall enclosure and tray, they come seperate and are to be joined with that mek stuff, but when i got them, and asked for a tube, i was told it's been banned, and to use silicone.

excelent, i'll check those out, the mek stuff on it's own wont do as i need gap filling, the tube of stuff i had came out like a sealant, then sets like plastic.

Reply to
Gazz

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Reply to
Nick Odell

litres of it for about 15 quid, but then a tenner more for specialist delivery,

BUT, i need more than just mek, it needs the filler stuff in it, which i have found out is most likely just ground abs/styrene,

there is something called 'styrene sludge' which has the filler in it, goes on like sealant from a tube, melts the plastic a bit, evaporates, and the 'sludge' bit solidifies to plastic, just like the 'mek solvent cement' stuff did, just they use something other than mek nowadays, but it's about 50 quid for a 310ml tube, prolly just enough to do my shower tray, and i guess in the end i'll have to go down that route,

Sodding annoying, i've been fannying about with this tray since day one, before i had the motorhomes body built, i had located a complete tray and walls, in one single moulded piece, so no leaks, but obviousely it's a fair bit larger than a motorhomes entry door, hence it'd have to be put in whilst the body was being built before the roof went on, i went to buy it, and the twonk selling it used a forklift to get it off the racking, by poking the tines through the walls of the cubicle,

mind i'd have still broken the tray when i put crates of coke in it,

Reply to
Gazz

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buy a 500ml carton of acetone, and get all the expanded polystyrene you can muster.

Mix and apply.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

so dissolve some plastic from the kitchen bin in it. Don't use polystyrene, its not the most durable, better to use ABS.

NT

Reply to
Tabby

The other solvent that's used widely as a plastic glue/cement/weld is dichloromethane. Again, it's readily and cheaply available on ebay

Reply to
root

One not to mess with there, ventilate properly. What's cellulose thinners made of?

NT

Reply to
Tabby

MEK, acetone, xlyene and wot he says above, depending.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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