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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

5200 and HDPE

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Sid
Navigator

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129 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/19/2005 : 17:59:56

Is 5200 the best adhesive for bonding HDPE to fiberglass gelcoat? If not, what are my options? I have a repair needed for an out of production item (not on a C25)that requires bonding these two together.
Thanks,
Sid

77 C25 SK #21

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Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2005 : 23:00:53

5200 is a hard setting sealant and while it may bond items together there are better choices. Epoxy for one. Lock tite make one called Hysol . Its an epoxy adhesive . We use this on aircraft parts so just take it from there.

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atgep
Master Marine Consultant

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1009 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2005 : 04:33:27

HDPE is a difficult item to glue to. A chemical bond is impossible without heat-fusion with another plastic item. The best you can hope for is a good mechanical bond. This will require a fairly rough surface on the HDPE. I would guess that any of the polyurethane sealants would be a good choice. Just remember to use something that is UV resistant. I have never used it without using some type of mechanical fastners as well. You could always take a couple of scraps and do a test.

Hope this helps.

Tom.

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andy
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USA
228 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2005 : 12:36:41

I have a lot of experience with HDPE in petroleum industry related applications. The only way you can bond it is by fusing it with high heat, that is, welding it. I doubt you will be sucessful bonding it with any type of adhesive, unless something has been developed recently. HDPE is a wonderful material for marine use, but you can't bond it, you'd better bolt it.

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Sid
Navigator

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129 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2005 : 13:11:24

Thanks for the tips. I have a older Sealand Marine Traveler head in a Casita travel trailer that has a cracked holding tank top. The head mounts directly to the holding tank and the tank to the shower pan. The tank is no longer in production (replaced by a rotomolded tank that will not fit the shower pan). My plan was to cut out the damaged area and cover entire top of tank with 3/4 HDPE bonded to the old fibergass top. I had wanted to avoid bolt heads on top of the tank for ease of cleaning. If I can find the appropriate bolts, maybe I can countersink them and fill the holes with caulk.
Thanks again,
Sid

Edited by - Sid on 04/20/2005 13:46:35

At Ease
Admiral

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672 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2005 : 13:52:08

The only time you want to use 5200 is if you never ever want to separate the items you are putting together.

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 04/21/2005 : 00:32:42

Nothing sticks to HDPE, not even Epoxy. You have to heat weld it. It is chemically inert with very long molecular chain length, which is why it is the material that many automobile gas tanks are being made of. It resists most acids - battery cases are made out of it, I believe. Anyway, trying to repair a crack in an HDPE tank is hopeless without the right tools, i.e. the proper welding kit and filler rods for the particular grade of HDPE you have (there are many). You will probably end up having to replace the part anyway; I wouldn't spend too much time, effort, and $$$ trying to "fix" it. Consumer goods made of HDPE aren't designed to be repaired-they are disposable, like most everything else seems to be, these days.

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Sid
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129 Posts

Response Posted - 04/21/2005 : 12:38:14

The tank is fiberglass, not HDPE, and replacement is not an option due to no longer being in production (the tank and shower pan)and based on the shape of the tank, a fiberglass repair isn't possible.

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Todd Frye
Navigator

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USA
222 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2005 : 11:30:24

On several of my HDPE projects, (rail brackets) I have drilled and tapped this material. I have found this gives me a cleaner installation. Another .02 worth.

Todd Frye

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jackfuller
1st Mate

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USA
29 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2005 : 09:45:00

I met someone who is successfully working on an adhesive for HDPE for Dow. If you want more info, I'll try to contact him. Probably best to email me off line and I'll post any successes.
Jack Fuller
jackfuller@direcway.com

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.