Plastic basin repair - What's best (1 Viewer)

[andycotterell]

Hi Everyone

I have recently acquired as my first ever motorhome a 1996 Hymer S700, which I'm very pleased with. One thing I need to fix before I set-off is some cracking in the bathroom basin. It's on the surround, near where the whole thing meets the wall, and appears to have come from flexing of the whole unit.
Does anyone have a recommendation for the best approach to fixing this.

Many thanks in advance,

Andy

PS. excellent forum - I've spent hours reading through past and present posts.

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Possibly some gelcoat, but you may have a colour match problem.

Peter

 

[hilldweller]

Does anyone have a recommendation for the best approach to fixing this.

You've identified the cause, so fix this first, can you get behind to reinforce it ?

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[andycotterell]

You've identified the cause, so fix this first, can you get behind to reinforce it ?

That's a good point. I'll see if I can get underneath or behind it. All of the bathroom fittings seem to be made out of molded, somewhat brittle plastic, presumably to save weight. Unfortunately this appears to make it suffer from the inevitable flexing and bouncing that comes from being driven around in a truck.

 

[hilldweller]

somewhat brittle plastic, presumably to save weight.

Cheap(ish) too.

I've had success welding plastic with a soldering iron. Get the joint as tight as possible then fuse the two sides together with the iron on the back then beef it up with fibreglass.

If it's perspex then there are solvent glues that will melt it together.

Not easy at all, but 1000 times easier if you can get it out, which may be impossible.

 

[Douglas]

Some plastic's are very difficult to get anything to stick to it, IE polythene is one and is used to stop fiberglass resins from sticking.

I have a similar problem with my Swift shower tray, I have had a new one fitted and watched the installation to make sure that there was foam injected under the tray to carry the load but I have kept the old one to use as a mold so that I can make a fiberglass copy when the new one eventually cracks and it will do in time.

Doug...

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[hilldweller]

Some plastic's are very difficult to get anything to stick to it, IE polythene is one and is used to stop fiberglass resins from sticking.
Doug...

Doesn't have to stick to support.

 

[45eEver]

Plastex Plastic Repair Kit - Repairs the Impossile, Works the First Time

 

[gazznsam]

when i smashed the corners of my shower tray in (touring germany, buying 12 bottle crates of coke, where to store em... shower..... not the best idea i've had)

i got a product off ebay, it's sold for installing plastic shower trays in static caravans to get the edge bonded and sealed, is also used for repairs as is some solvent stuff that turns to plastic when set,
it's like a sealant... in a cartridge used with a sealant gun, goes on sort of runny, but drys rock hard and is a plastic, bonds to the existing plastic,

colour match may be a problem, they only do ivory or white, but cheaper than a new sink or in my case a shower tray with all the hassle of taking the wall boards out to lift the tray.

You don't say where you live, if it was anywhere near nottingham, i'd say pop over and you can borrow my tube of plastic repair stuff, as the stuff is a bit expensive... and i've only used a quarter of the tube, worst was the postage as the chemicals in it make it need a hazchem delivery.

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[45eEver]

What's it called please GazznSam?

 

[gazznsam]

M.E.K solvent cement is what it says on the tube,

apparantly the mek is the stuff that slightly melts plastic for solvent welding, so the other stuff in the tube is the filler of the colour required,

i bought it from a static caravan shop off ebay a few years ago, but i can't find who it was in my ebay bought items list as it was so long ago.

 

[vicdicdoc]

Found this which looks like it will do the trick :-
Link Removed

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[gazznsam]

nooooo, that stuff is for joining 2 bits of plastic together,

the stuff in the tube i have has a filler in it, it goes on like a sealant, but dries rock hard and is plastic,

unfortunately all my tube says is it's mek solvent, it dosent list the other bits in the tube, but you need to search for static caravan shower tray repair stuff, that's how i found mine, but a quick ebay search dosent show this stuff anymore.

one of the static van shops on the coast would have it,

 

[rayow2]

Hi Andy, try a guy Les Bran of "Branfibre" near Banbury, he repaired a shower base for me, he did avery good job it cost me £175 , LOWDAMS wanted £1200 for a new fitted.