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Repairing a split in plastic water butt

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AL_n

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Aug 19, 2011, 5:44:58 AM8/19/11
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If one finds a split in one of the standard modern plastic water butts,
ubiquitous at B&Q and every garden centre, what is the best way to repair
it? I suspect the plastic is polypropelene, but I may be wrong. I wondered
about using a hot soldering iron to melt the plastc together, over the
crack, or woild it be better to use that black mastic gutter sealant stuff
sold in tubes for mastic-gun application? What do you think? Which would
make the strongest most durable repair?

TIA,

Al

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AL_n

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Aug 19, 2011, 6:54:28 AM8/19/11
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Chris Hogg <m...@privacy.net> wrote in
news:1kes47t66nrffu76l...@4ax.com:

> I have in the past 'welded' the crack from the outside with a
> soldering iron, but included in the weld a bit of stainless steel mesh
> to provide reinforcement. I trimmed small pieces of plastic off the
> inner rim of the butt to provide extra material and act as a welding
> rod. On the inside, I applied some black Unibond gutter sealing goo
> (after the butt has been well dried). Water pressure will push the goo
> further into the crack, assisting the seal. That was several years ago
> and the repair is still good, although I see another crack is
> appearing nearby (both are near the tap; obviously a point of stress).
> Be aware when using a soldering iron that the plastic melts very
> easily, and it's quite easy to make a narrow crack into a great big
> hole.

Thanks, Chriss; just the kind of guidance I needed! Where did you get the
stainless mesh from?

Al

Andy Dingley

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Aug 19, 2011, 7:15:46 AM8/19/11
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On Aug 19, 10:44 am, "AL_n" <fgdfg...@fghfghfg.com> wrote:
> If one finds a split in one of the standard modern plastic water butts,

Replace is easiest.

To fix it, you 3mm stop drill the ends of the crack to stop it
spreading further. Then you place a patch over it. I usually use a
patch of old water butt, from one that has split badly. Attach with
big pop rivets and washers. You could also use aluminium, even double-
layer beercan. For beercan I'd patch both sides. Goop under the patch
with a polysulphide mastic ("roof repair" that can be applied wet -
works much better than silicone and cheaper than PU).

Also fix why it cracked. If it was permanently stressed from sitting
heavily loaded on tooo narrow a support, then you have to fix that or
it will only happen again.

Gazz

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Aug 19, 2011, 8:21:14 AM8/19/11
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> it's quite easy to make a narrow crack into a great big
> hole.

i found that too, when i popped my first GF's cherry :)

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AL_n

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Aug 19, 2011, 8:40:40 AM8/19/11
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Chris Hogg <m...@privacy.net> wrote in
news:0sks471f7m1nk9h01...@4ax.com:

> Ah! I thought you might ask. From the waste skip at my former place of
> work, where scrap ends of such things were regularly disposed of. I'm
> not sure where you'd find it otherwise. It was mesh used in big
> industrial screens for removing oversize material from slurries;
> approximately 1 mm aperture, although many sizes were available.
> Phosphor-bronze was also used, and I imagine copper would do also if
> you can find it. A quick search on eBay for stainless steel mesh
> throws up all sorts, as always, but there are some cheap tea strainers
> that might be strippable.


Yes indeed - the tea strainer idea is a good one! Anyway, I think I have
accomplished the repair effectively, thanks to your excellent idea of using
shavings as welding rods. I reckon that if the thing springs another leak,
it won't be in the same place!

Thanks again..

Al

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Grimly Curmudgeon

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Aug 20, 2011, 7:20:24 PM8/20/11
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We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Gazz" <n...@spam.ta> saying something
like:

>
>
>> it's quite easy to make a narrow crack into a great big
>> hole.
>
>i found that too, when i popped my first GF's cherry :)

It's a common problem.

BigWallop

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Aug 20, 2011, 8:45:24 PM8/20/11
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"Grimly Curmudgeon" <grimly...@REMOVEgmail.com> wrote in message
news:d9g0579cl9ae8qpt4...@4ax.com...

That's why they call her "Liberty Bell" :-)


--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ne...@netfront.net ---

pete

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Feb 14, 2019, 8:14:06 AM2/14/19
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replying to AL_n, pete wrote:
used the gutter sealant a couple of times. Lasts 8 months or so then seems to
get brittle and fail again.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy/repairing-a-split-in-plastic-water-butt-724890-.htm


Martin Brown

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Feb 14, 2019, 10:43:42 AM2/14/19
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On 14/02/2019 13:14, pete wrote:
> replying to AL_n, pete wrote:
> used the gutter sealant a couple of times. Lasts 8 months or so then
> seems to get brittle and fail again.

One solution that works reasonably well is a patch of butyl rubber pond
liner attached to the inside after careful cleaning and drying with a
good layer of the most aggressive high tack rubber glue you can find.

Needs some overlap onto sound material to stop the crack from propagating.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Nick Odell

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Feb 14, 2019, 10:58:00 AM2/14/19
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What's the thinking about drilling a hole at each end of the crack to
stop propagation? Works with bronze cymbals!

Nick

Brian Gaff

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Feb 14, 2019, 2:17:48 PM2/14/19
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I've never had much luck. The problem occurs if the butt freezes during the
winter and the weak point pops again.
Best chuck it and get a new one.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
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FMurtz

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Feb 14, 2019, 10:39:04 PM2/14/19
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pete wrote:
> replying to AL_n, pete wrote:
> used the gutter sealant a couple of times. Lasts 8 months or so then
> seems to
> get brittle and fail again.
Most of the plastics used for water buts can be welded, research plastic
welding.

polygonum_on_google

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Feb 15, 2019, 2:43:19 AM2/15/19
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On Thursday, 14 February 2019 13:14:06 UTC, pete wrote:
> replying to AL_n, pete wrote:
> used the gutter sealant a couple of times. Lasts 8 months or so then seems to
> get brittle and fail again.
>

Eight years isn't too bad a life for a repaired water butt...

(See date of AL's post.)

Tigertom

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Aug 7, 2021, 2:31:15 PM8/7/21
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Have a look at this guy's video for an alternative: He uses an empty milk carton and a hot air gun (the kind used for stripping paint):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShmtjwtsJFk

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For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy/repairing-a-split-in-plastic-water-butt-724890-.htm

Jeff Layman

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Aug 8, 2021, 4:08:33 AM8/8/21
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On 07/08/2021 19:31, Tigertom wrote:
> Have a look at this guy's video for an alternative: He uses an empty milk carton and a hot air gun (the kind used for stripping paint):
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShmtjwtsJFk

Now that's odd. The original homeowners page does not show the youtube
link. It just has a rotating arrow with "formatting link" where the
link should be. It happens with Pale Moon and Firefox.

Any idea why the webpage isn't showing the link, but it shows in the NG
post?

--

Jeff

Brian Gaff (Sofa)

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Aug 8, 2021, 4:31:29 AM8/8/21
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Well it is a crap website seems to be generally agreed by all here, so yet
another bug to add to the date delete one and the fact that using it with a
screenreader is difficult.
Brian

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This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
bri...@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Jeff Layman" <jmla...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:seo3du$c1$1...@dont-email.me...

Tigertom

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Aug 8, 2021, 11:31:15 AM8/8/21
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I think some sites delete any kind of HTML for security reasons. It could be a disguised link to a malicious site or an attempt to infect the server hosting the conversation. You can find the link if you search YouTube for "How to mend a water butt crack or hole using a milk carton". Alternately, I repeat the link here with " Z " stuck in every now and then so the computer won't recognise it as a link. If you remove all the spaces and capital Z letters you will have the link.
www Z .youtube. Z com Z /watch?v=ShmtjwtsJFk&t=11s

Theo

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Aug 8, 2021, 11:46:34 AM8/8/21
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The HoH webpage has the link but they're trying to do fancy rendering of it
(in JS I assume):

<div class="article-link" data-article-id="3148220" data-group-id="9"
data-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShmtjwtsJFk"><i class="fas
fa-spinner fa-spin"></i>
<span class="article-link-placeholder">formatting link</span>
</div>

But it doesn't work. Which is about par for the course with HoH.

Theo

Dave W

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Aug 9, 2021, 3:22:34 PM8/9/21
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I'm not sure what's going on here. HoH shows Tigerton's posting with
the video ready to play in a small area, dated 7 Aug 4:44. The posting
on here on UK D-I-Y is dated 7 Aug 19:31. The video on HoH plays fine
in my Firefox. If you got a rotating arrow, I imagine there was some
slow link while HoH acquired the video, and the arrow would eventually
get replaced by the video I saw.
--
Dave W
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