plastic welding
 

who has done some plastic welding and what is a good kit.

I bought a bmw 330ci that the PO ripped part of the front bumper cover off of.
some of the tabs are broken and I was told they can be plastic welded.
I was thinking I would get the stuff to do it myself since It is going to cost about 150-175 to get it done. then I would have the tools for future use.

I have the HF kit. Had some decent results with it. Just have to make sure you are using the right rod for what you are repairing.


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was just looking at that one. for $50 seems like you cant go wrong. thing with some HF stuff is they tend to over rate power of things, like their impact wrenches.
their welder said it goes to 800 degrees, my concern is does it.

how strong are the welds?
I think I am going to have to "make" new tabs since there are gone.
I will post a pic later.

Leister are good hot air welding guns, not the cheapest but they are what the pros use.I have used one for about a decade at least.

Watch this guy. He's great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9R0cIav_fI

Leister and Wegener welders are good tools.

Most hot-air welders die due to lack of good handling. Turn on the air before turning on the heating element. Turn off the heating element and let it cool before turning off the air.

The HF tools are almost cheap enough to be disposable. If you go that route, buy a couple replacement heating elements with the welder (just to make sure you can get replacement elements).

Identifying the base plastic and finding the right rod is truly the trick.

I would try epoxies before trying to weld that thing. I tried welding a simple crack in a bumper - a BMW nonetheless-

Turned out looking like **** and it didn't hold. Save the effort- that thing likely won't like heat too much. grind it from the back and reattach using epoxy or something similar.

PS bumper repair guys use adhesives to fix 'em as well.

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Yesterday I tried a UV activated gap filler(the manufacturer state that it is not an adhesive) bought from Home Depot for about $9 and it fastened a metal insert(antenna connection) back into a rubber base.Epoxy, hot glue, no-nails type adhesives all failed to hold. Just saying, although it is not a substitute for hot air welding which we use to adhere PVC fabric to PVC fabric

I used the HF plastic welder at one of the shops I was at. It took some getting used to and finding the correct rod was a pain. I got smart and just cut strips fron an old bumper of the same brand. I did an Audi TT bumper that turned out great. Fixed the tabs and a huge tear.

Customer just spent a ton on the car and brought it back to us a few weeks later after his wife parked it on a parking lot curb. He didn't want to buy another bumper.