Stop leaking Fiberglass black water holding Tank at inlet/outlet pipe joints?

[LJ-TJ]

 i?? So my black water tank which is white fiberglass (old original 1975 tank) is leaking around the join where the pipe goes into the holding tank. Did we ever come up with a fix for it. Hm?

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Fibergass or the slick feeling polypropelyne (spelling?).  I have never heard of fiberglass being used.  Mine is poly.  And I am sold on plastic welding.  Everything else I tried failed.

Dave

[Oz]

If not "fiberglass" but the polypropellerstuff - >  Search "plastic weld" good stuff on that.  There's a few topics I'm sure will interest everyone... here's just one:

http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php/topic,1775.msg25813.html#msg25813

[LJ-TJ]

Hey Dave, I'm guessing if yours is a 78 we have the same tank. All I can tell ya is it's white and has Winnebago on it and is the tank take the black water goes into. I'm guessing if it's black it's something like PVC and you can to the weld thing on it. Geees I don't know. It's the original tank though. D:oH!

[LJ-TJ]

OK! I don't know if this will help but the holding tank is a Winnebago Ind. Model 24489. If these pictures work this is what the tank looks like and where the pen is pointing is a little seam around the pipe going into the holding tank.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

From my post yesterday: http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php/topic,1758.msg35264.html#msg35264

80 watt soldering iron



+

Poly tubing for fridge ice maker at Home depot (same material as tank)




Solder away to fix tank leak

Make sure there is no water in the area of the tank you are working on.  The water will steam up creating bubbles in the repair that will leak.

I used this method to fix several issues.

Dave

[LJ-TJ]

OK Dave, after chasing around and finding a few guys that plastic weld, they'll only do it if the tank is out of the motorhome. Sooooo, looks like I'll be heading state side to Harbor Freight to pick up a soldering iron like the one in the picture above. Once I get it is there any special technique you used to solder your tank. Should I grove out around the leaking area first? Do I just melt and glob? Thanks for all your help.

[gadgetman]

Plastic weld works good. I also used urethane for windshields which comes in a large caulking tube. Ii is very thick and wont run or drip , which means you can put it on real thick and wide all over the seam. Mine is almost 1/4 thick and has never leaked again.  Great stuff to seal with except its only black and dosent wash off easily from anything !!! Wear gloves

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Drill a small hole at each end of a crack to prevent it from creeping any further.  Do not let any water remain in the area to be repaired.  It will steam up and result in leaky welds (introduces air bubbles, loss of strength, and cohesion ).

You can use ABS pipe shavings for an ABS tank (black in color).

I used an inexpensive soldering iron for plastic welding - the heat source is more controllable and localized, so you only melt the plastic you want to.

If need be (ie hit something that resulted in multiple pieces), put the 2 (or more) pieces of plastic together so that they fit together properly and tape them together  - tape across the joint.  Working from one end , use a Dremel to make a V shaped groove along the joint, about 1/2 the depth of the plastic.

Use the soldering iron to "puddle" the plastic at  intervals, ie tack weld it.  Then work slowly along the joint, melting the plastic and adding the filler, just like real welding.  the weld should be just proud of the surface.

For things like bumpers and such, depending on the finish and strength needed, you can turn the work over and repeat the process on the other side.  Apparently, if you're really good, you can get a perfect finish.  I need more practice - lots of it.

Videos: http://www.google.com/search?q=diy+plastic+welding&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ei=8F-3UYGdCaX9iQLwgoHYBQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoADgK&biw=1600&bih=1091

Note - In 10 years I have never found any form of plastic welding epoxy that will provide a permanent fix to polyethylene plastic used in water and sewage tanks.  They all have failed after 1 to a few years.  Plastic welding is the only sure fix I have found and it is actually real easy to do.

Dave

[LJ-TJ]

Ok Dave it's me again. I made it over to Harbor Freight this weekend and Home Depot and picked up the kit you suggested. Some were in these post someone had pictures of how to fix the tank. Does anyone know were or how to access those pictures. Thanks gang. Hm?

[LJ-TJ]

   
• Anybody no about this stuff? I was thinking about giving it a try. Any thoughts Hm?

[LJ-TJ]

   
• D:oH! Sometimes I'm so brain dead.

   
• http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=3M+Scotch-Weld+DP8005+Acrylic+Adhesive

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

I have no clue about the adhesive but it is pricey gieven all the tooling need to use it.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=4374

Plastic Welding reference: Google

[Mr. T]

Gadgetman,


Rubbing alcohol will clean up a lot of the urethane on the skin.  Then scrub hands with Head and Shoulders shampoo. Better yet, wear gloves, like you say do.


Don T.

[DonD]

ABS can also be repaired using M.E.K. and some ABS chips/sawdust.

[M & J]

MEK bad JuJu. I didnt think you could still get it.

EDIT: My bad, used to be bad JuJu. The EPA took it off the hazard list back in 2005.

Never mind.  W%

[DonD]

Agree with plastic welding. I have an inexpensive airless welder that works very well.

http://www.urethanesupply.com/howtorepair.php

[LJ-TJ]

Thanks guys what I'm trying to figure out now is the holding tanks that we the 66's to probably the 78's have are they Poly or are the polypropylene or are they both? Is it a poly pipe going into a polypropylene tank. Thanks. Good stuff by the way.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Polypropylene has slick surface to it

[starrebel]

Previous owner said tank had a small drip. It did about a 1" circle after a couple days. I decided to take a look at it. This is what I found. Any ideas how to fix this?  Saw a post that daveva78cheiftan so went to harbor freight and home depot to pick up what he suggested. I couldn't find the exact same thing so got the closest to it. The soldering iron #60662 and got the ge ice maker tube at home depot for 10 bucks for a 6' piece. Tube didn't say what it was made from but reciept said PEX. Also bought 25' of polyethylene for 3 bucks. Will try to figure out how to post pics. Did a search for it but couldn't find any info. Anyone have an idea how to fix?

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

With many threads on this site you may have come across one where I didn't indicate you ned to be very careful with that HF welding iron kit.  It has a light duty tip on it and will bend/break after not to much time.   I simply use a 80 watt soldering iron from any hardware or hobby store.  Used in the stained glass hobby trade.  Here are youtube videos on the process:

http://www.google.com/search?q=diy+plastic+welding&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ei=8F-3UYGdCaX9iQLwgoHYBQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoADgK&biw=1600&bih=1091

Be sure to drill a hole at each end of the crack to stop it from expanding then start filling in the hole.

Dave

[starrebel]

Thanks Dave. I have been watching the videos on you tube I was originally going to try some kind of epoxy type repair until I found this post and will actually be cheaper. I read that about the welder in the harbor freight reviews so will try to be gentle with it and let the tool do the work. Do you think I should use the GE Pex ice cube line or the polyethylene tube? The polyethylene is way cheaper. $3.00 for 25' compared to $10.00 for 6 feet. I bought both. Thanks again

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

The white colored tanks are almost always polyethylene.  You want to use the same type of plastic as the filler for the repair so it will mix with the base material.  So, polyethylene is what you want.  Polyethylene is an approved material for drinking water lines is the most common one available. My ice cube line recommendation was based on the assumption that most kits use polyethylene tubing.  Use what ever polyethylene source is the cheapest.

Dave

[starrebel]

Thanks Dave cheaper is better

[starrebel]

No Joy on the tank repair. Think it was a combination of wrong material (made in china), Bad welding tool (worked good til it bent then it lost heat) and inexperience too. The material had a lot of air bubbles in it. Melted more like cellulose. I could see the water trickling through it so I'm back to the drawing board. The material just pulled off.