Author:
Don Duncan
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Date Posted: 11/ 10/ 05, 4:54pm
Hello,
If it is a whitish/transluscent tank, kind of waxy fealing then it is LDPE (Low density polyethylene). I recently did my tank and it is no small task if you need to remove the tank.
This stuff is weldable with LDPE. It melts and blends w/o burning if you use the correct temperature range. But is sticky to work with and you have to melt the plastic you are working with as well (the tank). You will have a hard time finding the rod and it may be spendy. A local plastics shop may have a bit on the shelf, but probably not. Lots of folks weld plastic but this stuff is a bit obscure. DO NOT use an open flame as the plastic will burn and look horible and leak like a spundge, at best.
Try getting a kit off of ebay, hot iron style, but avoid the hot air style kit as this takes more skill.
If you have rot by the tank, soft wood that you can easily chip away with your fingers, don't by surprised if the wood under the tank is just like bark dust. This would is or was nailed down. As the wood rots you may find in time that these nail heads will sooner or later penetrate the bottom of your tank.
I put allot of effort into my tank repair and it has held so far, about 6 months. Forget glues, they will not permanently bond to polyethylene. You need to get the plastics to flow together.
Hot glue sticks work well as well and are dirt cheap to aquire. Very simular material to ldpe but flow better w/o burning. I used ldpe welding rod first then nuked the general area with glue stick.
Expect more than one leak. Aplly a bit of air pressure, by mouth with tube and check for leaks.
Regards, Don Duncan
1980SB31
Beaverton, Oregon
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