Subject: [Shop-talk] Repairing plastic - weld or glue?

From: Jim Stone <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:43:31 -0500 FILETIME=[8B70DDA0:01CE244B]

The plastic catch that holds the door closed on my refrigerator recently
broke.  While it isn't necessary to the question I am about to ask, there are
photos and more details about the broken part here:
http://forum.appliancepartspros.com/refrigerator-freezer-repair/519815-broken
-door-catch.html#post803233

GE, in their infinite wisdom, doesn't sell a replacement catch alone; you have
to buy a new door seal.  Nor to they even sell just one side alone (it is a
side-by-side fridge); you have to buy both sides for $225!  That is a heck of
a lot of money to spend for a small piece of plastic.  So, I would like to try
to repair this one before shelling out for the replacement pieces.  I have
never had much luck gluing plastic, even with glues said to be made for it.
And, the fact that this piece is under stress every time the door opens and
closes (let alone the fact that it failed under such stress) doesn't give me
much confidence in glue.  Still, if there is a glue or solvent that someone
here knows of and thinks I should try, I am all ears.

My other option is to purchase a plastic welder, something like this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-
96464.html  I have been interested in buying one of these for a while, and
buying a $50 tool I can use again vs. paying $225 is a no-brainer, if this has
a good chance of working.  Does anyone here have experience with one of these
or a competitor's product?  What are the odds of my being able to join the two
pieces together well enough to stand up to repeated openings and closings?

Thanks.
Jim
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From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2013 08:36:36 -0400 7.0.1|January 17, 2006) at 03/19/2013 08:36:39, Serialize complete at 03/19/2013 08:36:39

Jim,

If you have a place close to you (there are a few around, I know of one in 
NYC) but you can go in to a hacker space and use their 3D printer.  They 
print in ABS and PLA plastics. 

I'm sure for a few "club Montes" (the unofficial soda of hacker spaces) 
you can even get a regular there scan it and print it for you.  They can 
even change the design to make it beefier.  (and you can get a copy of the 
file to print out more later.

I'm thinking of buying a 3D printer myself, but I can't find one that 
meets my needs.

Failing that, I'd love to hear how that plastic welder works.  I've seen 
it many times and have been tempted myself.

Eric P
"Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational 
being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." Ralph 
Waldo Emerson 
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