split fuel tank on my lawn mower

I went to mow the lawn on Monday and found after I had filled the mower with fuel, that there was a leak in the fuel tank. Bugger.:mad:

I removed the cowling and still couldnt see the split so went to get some more tools from the shed, while I was getting them my 10 year old daughter found the crack in the tank.:D

It was on a corner and across the joint where the tank must have been joined in the factory. I made the call and found that a new tank was going to cost $84.00, stuff that I thought, I rang a mate who is a specialist plastic repairer. who asked what sort of plastic it was. HTPE. he then told me how to fix it.

This is what I did, I aired the tank to remove fuel & fumes then got a small flat bladed screw driver and heated the tip till it glowed red
I then gently pushed the tip into the plastic split (but not thru the tank) removed and did again until the whole of the split was welded back together.

there was some plastic tabs on the fuel tank that didnt serve a purpose so I cut a small piece off of two of these.

cleaned up the welded split with a dremmel and then got my hot air gun and gently melted these two bits over the split area (two bits because of the corner) I used a punch ( there hot) to gentle put pressure on these and help mold them into the tank.
then let the tank cool down by itself ( didnt try to hurry it up)
I covered the outlet where the fuel hose connects and put my mouth over the filler and blew some air into the tank to see if there where any leaks, there wasnt any that I could detect.

I then put the tank back on the mower and filled with fuel, all good and no leaks. then mowed the lawn, after running for about 20min the tanks was still fine.:D :D :D
It took about 15-20min to fix and I reckon it cost about 5 cents to fix (a little bit of gas and some electricity) plus my time.

money much better in my pocket.

And no I didnt get any pictures I was busy fixing it.

Cheers Ian

Well done. How did you determine the type of plastic, as this does not work on all.
Macca

Nice work. I've only ever had mixed success with plastic. Like Macca, how did you determine the type of plastic?

Bit boring Ian. Not only did you miss out on that speccy WHOOMF as the petrol fumes go up, you had to mow the lawns afterwards :D

Richard

i waited till the "sidewalk supermarket" comes around and rebuilt my lawm mower from three differant ones.
then went and put the dead mowers back on my pile of rubbish for any one else who wanted them:cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by macca2

Well done. How did you determine the type of plastic, as this does not work on all.
Macca

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Macca, it was marked on the plastic, but even if it wasnt because I used plastic taken from the same piece there should not of been any problems. So my mate said.

Cheers Ian

A hint I got from a mechanic is to hook up a hose from the exhaust of a car into the fuel tank before and while you put heat near it. Flushes all of the oxygen out.

I know when my mate spay paints plastic he runs a naked flame over it to remove oxidisation and this lets the paint stick better.

I have repaired many plastic toys with my temperature controlled soldering iron and scraps of similar plastic.
I also use hot melt glue sticks where I need to fill a little.

Caution. Use a worthless bit in the iron as the plastic stuffs them as far as soldering goes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wood Butcher

A hint I got from a mechanic is to hook up a hose from the exhaust of a car into the fuel tank before and while you put heat near it. Flushes all of the oxygen out.

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:o Of course you need to hold your breath while doing this.....

car exhaust fumes can kill you just as faster as not breathing at all.:doh::doh::doh:

I'm sure the fumes from melting plastic are just as bad or worse.