What glue/ epoxy for HDPE plastic?

FlaMtnBkr

FlaMtnBkr

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Oct 20, 2004
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Not sure this is the right place but thought someone might know.

What glue can I use to repair a cracked plastic piece that is made of HDPE plastic?

I bought some 2 part epoxy thinking that would do the job and then I read the back and it says that is the one thing not to use it on. HDPE is kind of waxy and causes water to bead really well (its what most 5 gallon buckets are made of) so I guess its hard to bond to.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Ryan
 
Polyethylene, polypropylene and polybutylene and their variations (HDPE, UHMW, LLDPE, MDPE and much more) are the polyolefins, and all tend to be somewhat waxy. Polymethylene is not really a plastic, it is just plain old wax.

They are hard to bond to because they have a low surface energy. Other things that are hard to bond to, such as EPDM have good surface energy, but tend to leach things like paraffin processing aids. The polyolefins aren't leaching wax, they are wax.

3M has a CA that is supposed to work after priming with an oxidizer to improve surface energy, but I have found it to be hit and miss. There are some hot melts specifically designed to bond to polyethylene that are better than nothing, but not great.

In industry, people address this problem with welding. Very common approaches are ultrasonic welding, spin welding and plain old fashioned heat gun welding.

So, the short answer is, you can use anything you want to repair a cracked PE part, but it is probably not going to hold very long.
 
My plastics friend said that if you could invent an adhesive for polyethylene you'd be an instant millionare !!
 
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