Fuel tank repair

[b4himdude]

Hey, has anybody ever had any luck trying to repair a small crack in their stock k5 fuel tank.?if so what did you use to fill the crack it bind the plastic.?ive tried a couple things. It's tough though. I think of it like a fish tank ( if theirs a seam to repair best repairs seen to do better if you repair the inside. Because the pressure of the liquid pushes the repair into the hole) but it is really tough to get to the inside much on a fuel tank. Anyway just wondering if I'm just destined to search eBay for a good used tank. Anyway any success however your method of repair might have been, I'd love to hear it

[Foxx4Beaver]

there are guys out there that do plastic welding, and are good at it....but....when it comes to fuel tanks, or anything involving fuels/accelerants...I myself always opt for a replacement.
no need to go down in a "blaze of glory"...literally.  

[b4himdude]

Ya no kidding. Well I guess the only good thing is that I can do some shopping around . At least the crack is up high on the tank. I suppose I should drill the ends of it so it doesn't grow on me . I wonder if that holds true in splits in plastic as it does metal. Thanks Foxx , kinda what I was thinking. Although they fuse Driscoll pipe there in my dads shop at Newmont gold. Maybe I can drain it, fill it with water and rinse it. Then see if he can take it there and fuse it. But that's kinda the feeling I had with the epoxy. I even tried doing it from the inside by pressing the wpoxy down with a long thin stick. Couldn't really rough it up with sandpaper. Getting good  light in there was a frustrating feat in itself. Had to try.

[tkeen511]

When I was restoring my old 72 Kawasaki s2 (2 stroke 350) I used an epoxy called caswell. Stuff worked wonders. It's a little pricey though, but I'd just use it on the whole tank. Not sure if it will work for a hole though. Harbor freight also sells a little plastic welding kit pretty cheap. I might tack a piece of plastic on there, then use the caswell. But honestly I'd just save yourself the headache and get a different tank

[Brute]

I picked up both soldering iron and hot air type 'plastic welder' tools plus trying my own 'home made' tool. After using them and spending hours playing I can say definitely say I am NOT impressed with the strength or durability of the welds.
While they can be 'Ok' I don't think they are as good as the original products strength. As with most repairing you have to be careful to not screw it up worse (overheating being #1) because then you have more of a mess.
Best take it to someone that does it a lot or practice on the EXACT material you are going to attempt the repair on. Best of luck!

[b4himdude]

When I was restoring my old 72 Kawasaki s2 (2 stroke 350) I used an epoxy called caswell. Stuff worked wonders. It's a little pricey though, but I'd just use it on the whole tank. Not sure if it will work for a hole though. Harbor freight also sells a little plastic welding kit pretty cheap. I might tack a piece of plastic on there, then use the caswell. But honestly I'd just save yourself the headache and get a different tank

   Ya I'm familiar with caswell. Didn't really think about them. Matter of fact I got their app on my phone. Thank you I'll check into the price and see if it's worth it compared to just getting another. I actually have 2 tanks with repairs needed. So it might just be worth a shot anyway. Thanks again. Was that their "BLACK MAGIC MOTORCYCLE GAS TANK REPAIR"?

[b4himdude]

I picked up both soldering iron and hot air type 'plastic welder' tools plus trying my own 'home made' tool. After using them and spending hours playing I can say definitely say I am NOT impressed with the strength or durability of the welds.
While they can be 'Ok' I don't think they are as good as the original products strength. As with most repairing you have to be careful to not screw it up worse (overheating being #1) because then you have more of a mess.
Best take it to someone that does it a lot or practice on the EXACT material you are going to attempt the repair on. Best of luck!

.    Ya I've never really seen the  results of the plastic fusing technique or system. I am told that the Driscoll piped they use at the local gold mines are fused with great success but that's a lot thicker plastic and I have to assume they must have some sort of heat and pressure chamber as they do when a tire injury or conveyor belt splice is repaired doing a hot vulcaniZing procedure. I'm kinda with you on the fusion aspect with plastic. Thanks for your time

[b4himdude]

Update on fuel tank. Ok so nothing likes to bond to poly propyl or ethylene plastic. Not true. So gorilla super clue and acrylic dust seems to be doing the trick. Granted it's not a large hole . But it is a crack about 2 inches long at the bottom of the left side and stops right where the tank bevels in above the petcock. What I did was got the split opened up a little using a small flathead screwdriver and filled it with a lot of gorilla super glue. Then I pulled the screw driver out and tilted the tank back and forth while sprinkling acrylic shavings and dust I mad frim some triangle acrylic rods I have. As the glue dried I was using the screwdriver to push the acrylic into the separation but not through to the inside . Once the glue dried after about a half hour I repeated the process with the acrylic and glue as a topcoat while adding a little acrylic green paint as well. I've filled it 3 times since the repair and I haven't had a drop come out yet. I am getting another tank.  ( it's on it's way) but in a pinch this method seems to work good for small cracks. Well it is for this crack anyway. Just thought I'd pass it on. So far so good. Let cha all know if it fails and when....

[tkeen511]

Yeah nothing works quite like the original, and yes I used the black magic kit. I also gave some to my buddy for his maico, he can't find a tank for a price that's even remotely reasonable, especially since the maico is a "second" bike.

[Brute]

I forgot about super glue and acrylic. Glad it seems to have worked!