When you google polypropylene gas tank repair, google gives you a snippet from itstillruns.com that claims that polypropylene gas tanks cannot repaired. That statement is false. That snippet is categorically untrue. Itstillruns.com is just a blog site, paid for by ads all over the place. Anyone can submit a blog page on it and we question Google’s newest search algorithm, if their first returned result is a falsehood. But I digress. The good news is that YES YOU CAN, repair a polypropylene gas tank. First let us run through the reasons that the suggestion on itstillruns.com, are a bad idea.
Their recommendations raise many alarming concerns.
Itstillruns.com says to fix a hole in your polypropylene gas tank, you are to melt the plastic back together. But there are SEVERAL MAJOR PROBLEMS with this. First of all, by stretching the remaining plastic out, you are thinning it. The areas of stretched plastic are going to thin and more accident prone. It will not have the same strength as the rest of the tank. Naturally this weakened area suffers from wall thinning, which could result in catastrophic failure. Furthermore, depending on the size of the area to be repaired, you can drastically change the entire shape of your gas tank, which could lead to obvious function and reinstallation problems. There are yet more hazardous problems, with the novice itstillruns.com blog/ad pop up page, but the severity of the first two, eliminates the need to even mention them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCavEIMOyBo&t=125sVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Permanent Plastic Gas Tank Repair (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCavEIMOyBo&t=125s)
https://tbbonding.com/product/ptfe-patch/
Another video from Moses Ludel, an 4 wheel drive, off-road influencer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_KivatBR4E
Lifetime Guarantee On All Polypropylene Gas Tank Repairs
We stand behind our products.
If you need further convincing, that you CAN repair polypropylene gas tanks, with our polypropylene gas tank repair kit, our lifetime guarantee should do the trick. Our Tech-Patches are made of a revolutionary poly material, fluorosilicone, that is impervious to gas and age resistant. Itstillruns.com is wrong about one more key fact when repairing polypropylene gas tanks. While gas will tear through MOST adhesives, there are some that are impervious to gasoline and ours is one of them. Our Surface Insensitive Adhesive is completely impervious to gasoline. It will NOT eat through it. Like our Tech-Patches, it is also age resistant and will not degrade or fall off with time. No matter how large or small your repair area is, the TPRS (Tech-Patch Repair System), will fix it without the need for any structural changes or wall thinning.
Our Tech-Patches are fully customizable to fit your repair needs. The bonds created between the Tech-Patch and your polypropylene gas tank are permanent, thanks to our patented Bonding Poly Process (Process).
There are two obstacles that are not usually considered in the repair of a gas tank. These issues are:
Gas then leaks. A repair on any gas tank, but especially plastic gas tanks needs to be able to handle the expansion and/or contraction that comes from changes in temperature. Tech-Patches expand and contract with the substrate.Tech-Patches are made of one of the chemical and weather resistant polymers made. As discussed above, a patch’s flexibility is a necessity in repairing gas tanks. Items needed for the repair of a plastic gas tank are listed below. At the bottom of the page there is a button that will take you to where you can buy a Tech-Patch Kit.
A Tech-Patch, sized to fit the problem. Patches come in sizes from 2″ x 3″ to 6″ x 24″ and can be cut to fit your problem.
A Poly Kit (or higher) which contains:SI Black, our thicker structural adhesive. Thicker to give you the control needed to apply a Tech-Patch.
Poly Prep, an adhesion promoter for polymers and poly plastics.
An Activator/Accelerator (AA), the AA is critical to the Process.
A heat gun, hair dryer or other heat source.
Glue squeegee
Sandpaper
Instructions
Choose the size of your Tech-Patch, then the type of Tech-Bond Kit. For metal gas tanks, choose a Starter Kit. For a plastic gas tank, choose a Poly Kit.
Commercial Grade XT2 Tech-Patch – two millimeters thick. Industrial Grade XT3 Tech-Patch – three millimeters thick.
by C.L. Rease
Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
You cannot repair a damaged polypropylene gas tank with epoxy or a plastic tank repair kit, because gasoline will quickly dissolve the epoxy and the leak will reappear.
Polypropylene is a thermoplastic, which means that you can use heat to melt the plastic and create a permanent repair in the polypropylene gas tank. To heat the polypropylene, you need to use a specialized tool that has a controlled heat output. This reduces the chance that you will scorch the surface of the gas tank, which will result in an ineffective repair.
Drain the gasoline from the polypropylene gas tank and remove the damaged polypropylene gas tank from the vehicle, per the vehicle's repair manual, with the mechanic's tool set.
Remove any gasoline residue from the gas tank by pouring 1 pt. of acetone into the damaged gas tank, swirling the acetone around in the gas tank and pouring the acetone into the 1-gallon plastic bucket.
Pour a small amount of acetone on a clean rag and wipe the damaged area of the polypropylene gas tank to remove gas residue from the outside surface of the gas tank.
Allow the gas tank to dry thoroughly before proceeding.
Plug in the plastic welder, turn the heat control knob to 575 degrees Fahrenheit and set the plastic welder aside to preheat.
Set the polypropylene gas tank with the damaged area facing up.
Place the speed tip against the damaged gas tank. When the surface of the damaged area starts to melt, drag the speed tip across the damaged area to tack-weld the surface of the polypropylene.
Align the speed tip with the start of the tack weld, slide a length of polypropylene filler rod into the speed tip, and push the filler rod into the melting tack weld.
Drag the plastic welder along the tack weld while pushing the polypropylene filler rod toward the surface of the gas tank.
Clip the polypropylene filler rod with the side cutters when you reach the end of the tack weld. Slide the speed tip over the cut filler rod to fuse it to the surface of the gas tank.
Lay multiple passes of filler rod if the damaged area of the polypropylene gas is wider than one width of filler rod.
Allow the welded area to cool thoroughly before you reinstall the gas tank in the vehicle.
References
Things You'll Need
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Plastic benzo -bay in great demand in the world of motorcycle racing cars and ATV enthusiasts.
A plastic gas tank can weigh less than half a comparable metal one. Seamless plastic gas tanks rarely leak and are immune to the rust and corrosion that affects metal tanks. If there are small holes or rips in the plastic fuel tank, there are some fairly easy ways to repair it.
Method one - patch the gas tank with epoxy
Drain the gas tank and let it dry. Sand the area around the hole or crack and wipe it with a cloth soaked in alcohol.
Mix 2 parts of epoxy and apply around the hole. Cut a fiberglass patch wide enough to cover the hole and seal it off.
Place a fiberglass patch around the entire diameter of the hole and press down on the epoxy to cover the fiberglass. Apply more epoxy to the area and apply your patch, press it down with something and let it dry.
After drying can be carefully sanded and painted in the color of the tank.
Buy or rent plastic welding.
Remove the plastic gas tank from the vehicle and place it in a safe place for welding. Drain the gasoline from the tank and let it dry both inside and out. Wear safety goggles, welding helmet and welding gloves.
Use a plastic welding rod made especially for this purpose and fill the crack or hole with liquefied plastic. Start at the edge and go all the way down the length of the crack or hole. Fill with plastic a little with a margin of excess, then sand it.
Let the weld cool, sand it and, if desired, paint it with paint on plastic.
If your hole is generally huge, then it’s easier to replace the plastic fuel tank on the car with a new one.
Installing a plastic patch with a soldering gun and special hot melt adhesive.
Drain the gas tank and wash it inside and out with soapy water. Lightly sand the perimeter of the area to be repaired.
Cut out a piece of plastic larger than the hole made from gas tank like material, slightly larger than the repair hole.
Heat up an electric soldering gun, apply your patch and completely go over the contour of the cut plastic with a soldering gun with special hot glue, check that the glue completely covers the edges of the patch and is well soldered to the plastic of the tank itself.
Additionally, epoxy or solvent-resistant glue can be applied along the contour to increase the reliability of the weld.
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Professional plastic repair in Moscow and regions. RemPlast renders services for the repair of plastic tanks, tanks, electroplating baths and products of any configuration, size and shape:0005
Tank repair: virtually any plastic containers and tanks can be repaired: fuel tanks, gas tanks, expansion tanks, tractor gas tanks, water and reagent tanks, watering machine tanks, diesel tanks from JCB equipment and other manufacturers, gas tanks for construction, watering and other technology. Repair of a polyethylene tank or a polypropylene container urgently (on the same day).
Container repair: it often happens that plastic containers leak, crack and begin to leak water. If this happens, we can send a specialist to the site of the breakdown and repair the problem tank as soon as possible.
We repair polyethylene water tanks, chemicals tanks, polypropylene tanks.
Repair of galvanized polypropylene baths is also part of our range of possibilities.
Septic tank repair: Modern septic tanks produce from polyethylene or polypropylene, difficulties occurs during the operation of septic tanks: leaks, holes caused by excretions of soil, squeezed out the walls of septic you need to increase the neck due to improper installation, weld the pipe into the septic tank, install a partition or other problems. Give us a call and we'll send out a repair technician to advise you on the best way to repair your car.
ABS plastic soldering: in our work we often face the need to repair plastic bumpers, motoplastics, plastic parts of cars, motorcycles, ATVs and other units. In the repair of such plastics, several technologies are used, we will determine the optimal one and correctly, taking into account the chosen technology, perform work on the restoration of parts.
