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Topic ClosedFresh water tank leaking
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Pod People View Drop Down
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Posts: 1088 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Fresh water tank leaking
    Posted: 09 Jan 2020 at 5:35pm
I just looked it up—it is called JB WEld epxy putty for plastic
It was $7.99
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Posts: 2702 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jan 2020 at 6:24pm
Originally posted by Pod People

I just looked it up—it is called JB WEld epxy putty for plastic
It was $7.99
Vann

I looked that stuff up at JB Weld and I either have the wrong stuff or else it specifically excludes polyethylene with the following statement:

"Does not adhere to polyethylene, polypropylene or some other plastics."

This is the stuff I am looking at:

https://www.jbweld.com/product/plasticweld-epoxy-putty

However....

I did some more searching and came up with this stuff:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Loctite-Plastics-Bonding-System-2g-Super-Glue-681925/100371829

This is a glue from Loctite. In its specifications it says:

"Works well with polyethylene and polypropylene surfaces"

That is $4 for a 2 gram tube. I have no idea how large an area that might cover. It doesn't sound like much.
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Posts: 3419 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jan 2020 at 6:39pm
I like the JB products, used them for years. Choosing the right one is important.
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Posts: 14 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jan 2020 at 7:40am
JB makes an epoxy putty called WaterWeld as well. It says it’s good for portable water tanks (many of which are made of polyethylene) but doesn’t specify whether it’ll work on polyethylene or not. I like the putty for ease of use in this application. I’ll get under there to take a better look at the crack this weekend before I decide.
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Posts: 2595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jan 2020 at 9:55am
Googling the issue brought up several possible solutions:

TAP plastics has an adhesive they claim works well, but they note it hasn't yet been approved for food/water containers.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-9yhanz5DE

These folks also claim to have a fast bond material for polyethylene:  https://tbbonding.com/glue-polyethylene/


And a Google User Group has an thread on this issue:  https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.woodworking/uuss6b0W6sI

I have not tried any of these methods, but it looks like they may be worth looking into.  The TAP product looks like the best for holes or cuts in polyethylene tanks, but for until they designate it food safe, it may be best to use it only on waste tanks or you might be growing a new appendage or some other exotic new body part.  Indeed, with all of suggestions in this thread, it may be well worth looking into the food use safety issue.
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jan 2020 at 10:56am
The West Systems gflex tech specs give specific adhesion strength data for polyethylene with and without flame treatment. I don’t know why anyone would use a product that doesn’t specifically provide that data when there is at least one that does.

Regardless of what adhesive is used, do flame treat the area first. That is really easy, all you do is wave a propane torch over the area first. Polyethylene is a low surface energy plastic which is what you want for a fresh water tank, so gunk doesn’t stick to it. The flame treatment temporarily activates the polyethylene surface so stuff can stick.
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Posts: 2595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jan 2020 at 12:48pm
TAP provides the adhesion technical data too:  https://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/pdf/Tech%20Data-2011-%20Poly-Weld.pdf

I should have looked at the West System site since it didn't show up on the Google search.  I've been using West System products for more than 40 years and they are very reliable.  Looks like either the TAP or the West g flex products would be good choices.  But, the West Systems data doesn't say wether it can be used to repair food/water containers for human consumption as is cautioned about by TAP in their video.  Bottom line, if you repair your fresh water tank with any product that is not certified for food/water containers, it might be best to test the water safety on Fido or someone else's children first.
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jan 2020 at 3:11pm
The TAP site states a lap shear adhesion of 2000 psi on flame treated HDPE. The West Systems site states a tensile adhesion of around the same number on the same material, also flame treated. But there is a difference between the two tests, the TAP one is done pulling on a lap joint so is measuring resistance to shear, while the West System one is a pull test perpendicular to the glued joint, putting tension on it. I’m quite sure the tension test is more difficult than the shear test, so if it were me I’d stick with the gFlex. Either way though, flame treatment is in order.
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2020 at 8:31am
One more thing I just rembered, if you haven’t done the repair yet. Stop drill any crack(s) first, otherwise they will almost certainly just continue to propagate.
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Posts: 14 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Feb 2020 at 11:38am
I’ve been traveling for the last couple of weeks so I haven’t done anything yet. Good call on the drilling, I’ll have to read back through these posts when I’m ready to attempt a fix.
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