Repair of pvc pond films

Adhesive for polypropylene pipes

Polypropylene pipelines are easy to install, but only if the work technique is observed. In properly installed systems, the joints in which are created with the use of an adhesive component, leaks do not occur for 30 years or more.

Transparent glue

However, some formulations are designed for communication with cold water, because the high temperature affects their properties.

Specifications

The polypropylene adhesive and the plastic parts to be joined are similar in composition. The connecting substance is used in the installation and repair of water supply networks and sewerage systems. The connection of plastic parts occurs at the molecular level. This allows for tight seams.

To improve performance, the following is added to the polypropylene pipe adhesive:

methacrylate, which provides temperature resistance;
a special attachment that increases the strength and density of joints, which is important for systems operating under high pressure and in which there is a risk of water hammer;
Styrene butadiene rubber for increased flexibility.

Adhesives differ in composition and interaction with plastic. Manufacturers produce thermosetting adhesives. They are based on epoxy, polyester or oligomeric resins. They begin to harden when exposed to temperature or due to a special hardener.

Adhesive sealant

Thermoplastic compounds are also produced. They are based on rubber resins. When heated, they become liquid, which allows you to fill all the voids. However, they cannot be used for bonding pipelines moving a high temperature environment.

Manufacturers produce one-component and multi-component polypropylene adhesives. The first type of substances is a ready-made formulation. The second option is resin and hardener kits.

They may also contain filler. All components must be mixed immediately before use.

Manufacturers

Adhesives for polypropylene pipes are produced in a thick, liquid and semi-liquid state. Domestic and foreign products are available:

• Liquid Nails LN 915 is a light semi-liquid special adhesive. The main component is synthetic rubber. The composition can withstand temperatures from -30 ° C to + 60 ° C and is used together with a gun, as it is produced in cartridges.
• Moment is a multifunctional one-component adhesive sealant. The elastic substance is based on a rubber polymer. The semi-liquid formulation hardens at room temperature and is sold in tubes.
• Dow Corning 7091 is a permanent joint sealant. The one-component product can be used at temperatures between -55 ° C and + 180 ° C. The composition withstands the effects of aggressive environments.
• Cosmoplast 500 is a popular one-component adhesive. The liquid substance dries quickly and has a transparent structure.
• WEICON Easy-Mix PE-PP is a two-component adhesive. The universal connector is based on methyl acrylate. The composition has good adhesion.

During application and preparation of products, the recommendations from the instructions must be strictly followed. Any substance allows you not to use special welding equipment. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the consumption of energy resources during the installation of communications.

Welding polyethylene with a hot object

Welding the film using an electric soldering iron: a - type of seam; b - an electric soldering iron device for welding a film.

The most convenient way to do this is with a metal roller with a heating device inside. But to make such a device at home, you need to have a sufficiently high qualification of an electrician.

Therefore, folk ingenuity has found a completely satisfactory replacement for such an instrument - an ordinary iron. Since polyethylene film of different grades melts at different temperatures, no specific recommendations for the temperature regime of welding cannot be given.

The heating temperature of the welding iron will have to be determined by trial and error. If the temperature of the iron is insufficient, the film will not boil, but if the iron is heated too much, the seam will be “overcooked”, weak, and the film on the sides of the seam will easily break. The only thing that can be advised initially is that the iron should not be too hot.

The soldering technology itself is very simple. To make the seam neat and even, it is better to weld on a flat wooden surface. The edges of the film should be placed on this surface with a slight overlap (0.5-1 cm). On this overlap, you need to draw with the spout or edge of the heated iron. The passage should be no more than a second in one place, otherwise you will lose the film.

PVC film can be recognized by the yellowish tint of the roll edge.

But with this method of soldering, there is one very important negative point: the heated plastic film very often sticks to the iron. To prevent this from happening, it is better to cover the polyethylene seam with a thin sheet of cellophane before soldering, and then go over it with an iron.

The strength of the seam can be checked by simply pulling the sealed pieces in different directions. If the seam diverges, it means that the quality of the soldering is unsatisfactory, and you need to repeat everything from the very beginning. Some craftsmen perform this soldering not with an iron, but with a red-hot knife blade, claiming that it is more convenient for them. But this is already a matter of taste.

We glue the film at home

There are different situations when it becomes necessary to glue the polyethylene film. This can be preparing a greenhouse for the summer season or sheltering the rafters during roof repairs. Often, polyethylene is glued to perform production tasks or when performing construction work. The polyethylene film can be glued directly at the installation site, or gluing is done in advance.

A process such as gluing depends on which surface you want to glue with a polymer material. The order of performance of work in each case will be different. Let's analyze the principles of gluing the film for various tasks.

Between themselves

You can glue 2 polyethylene sheets together with the use of BF-2 glue. The procedure is quite simple and can be done by hand at home. Before applying the adhesive, the bonding surfaces must be prepared.

• The surfaces in the area of ​​adhesion are cleaned with a detergent solution in case of severe contamination. After cleaning, the film is wiped dry and degreased - this can be done with a solution of industrial alcohol or acetone.
• A thin layer of adhesive is evenly applied to the prepared surface. Glue "BF-2" tends to dry quickly, so both parts to be glued must be quickly combined with each other.
• After combining the two surfaces, it is necessary that the adhesive composition is completely polymerized and solidified. To do this, he will need at least 24 hours. Only after the specified time, the glued product can be used.

A similar procedure for preparing the work surface and applying glue is used for other similar adhesives.

In the process of performing work, it is necessary to observe precautions - use personal protective equipment and work in a well-ventilated area.When gluing large surfaces for the convenience of work, a large amount of glue is used, placed in a cartridge

To metal

To adhere polyethylene to metal, do the following:

• the metal surface is cleaned with a metal brush, and then with coarse-grained sandpaper, then it is degreased with acetone or a solution of technical alcohol;
• the metal surface is carefully and evenly heated with a blowtorch to a temperature of 110-150 ° C;
• the plastic film is pressed against the heated metal and rolled with a rubber roller.

Tight pressing of the material ensures melting of the polymer, and after it cools down, good adhesion to a rough metal surface is obtained.

To concrete

Polypropylene in the form of insulation can also be glued to a concrete surface. For this you need:

• clean the concrete surface, level with putty, prime;
• apply the adhesive evenly to the other side of the polypropylene sheet where there is no foil layer;
• wait a little according to the instructions for the glue, when the glue soaks into the material;
• apply insulation to the concrete surface and press down well.

Other options

Using glue, polyethylene can be glued to paper or secured to fabric. But, in addition to adhesives, you can glue the polymer material using an iron:

• polyethylene sheets are folded together;
• a sheet of foil or plain paper is applied on top;
• stepping back from the edge of 1 cm, a meter ruler is applied;
• with a hot iron along the free edge on the border with the ruler, several iron movements are carried out;
• the ruler and paper are removed, the resulting seam is allowed to cool completely at room temperature.

Under the action of a hot iron, the polyethylene melts, and a strong seam is formed. By the same principle, you can connect the film with a soldering iron. The difference is that instead of a hot iron, a heated soldering iron tip is drawn along the ruler. The result is a thin weld line.

You can also solder the polymer film with a fire flame. This will require:

• fold 2 pieces of film together;
• clamp the edges of the film into blocks of fire-resistant material;
• bring the material to the flame of a gas burner;
• tangentially draw the free edge of the plastic film over the flame, movements should be fast;
• remove the refractory bars, allow the seam to cool naturally.

As a result of welding, a strong seam is obtained, in appearance resembling a roller.

Types of adhesives

The variety of plastics used in everyday life corresponds to an equally wide variety of manufactured compositions and methods of their use.

How to glue plastic

To dissolve the surface layer of a material, it is necessary to break the chemical bonds between the molecules. For this, special substances are used, strong solvents. Each solvent is suitable for its own group of plastics, and it may not even leave a trace on material from another group. Each adhesive is based on such a solvent. In addition, the composition may include:

• a hardener to help dry it;
• filler - dissolved molecules of the substance for which the glue is intended.

One of the strongest solvents is dichloroethane. It is used to bond polystyrene and plexiglass.

Dichloroethane

Depending on the method of application, the funds are divided into several groups:

• liquid;
• contact;
• reactionary;
• hot melt adhesives.

Liquid

Liquids are widespread in everyday life, they are easily and simply used at home for gluing plastic with a porous structure. They are available in both organic solvent and water based. They are applied to surfaces that are pressed against each other for a time sufficient for the base to evaporate. After that, the adhesive layer hardens, forming a connecting seam. A typical example is PVA glue, they can glue at home, not only linoleum, but also wood.

Contact

Bonding takes place in two stages:

• the surfaces to be glued are lubricated with a thin layer, which dissolves the surface layer of the plastic, softening it and facilitating contact with another surface;
• after a few minutes, the parts are pressed against each other with force, the softened layers are mixed, the solvent evaporates and a seam is formed.

Moment for plastic

This is how Moment, BF-2 and others work. They can be used to glue polystyrene and other plastics at home. They contain toxic substances, so you need to work in a well-ventilated area and do not allow drops to get on the skin or mucous membranes.

Reactionary

One-component reactive agents dissolve the material to be bonded very quickly and harden just as quickly. These are such well-known brands as Secunda, Superglue and their analogues. The seam is strong and tough.

Two-component components consist, respectively, of two components stored separately from each other:

• hardener;
• fixer.

Two-component adhesive

The components are mixed immediately before use and applied to surfaces where the mixture hardens to form a compound. The base is epoxy or polyester resins. The seam at home is very durable. A characteristic feature is that full hardening takes a long time, and the seam gradually increases both strength and fragility.

Hot melt adhesives

This group includes substances that show their properties when heated to 110-120 ° C. For use, a special glue gun with a heating element is required. Differs in the accuracy of application. In addition to plastic, they can glue wood, fabric, paper at home.

Can polyethylene be glued?

When installing waterproofing or greenhouses, it is often necessary to glue several pieces of polyethylene together in order to obtain a film of the desired size. But how to glue the plastic wrap, and is it possible to do it at home?

The question is not as simple as it seems initially. It is also known from the school chemistry course: the higher the polarity of the polymer material, the better it lends itself to gluing. The polyethylene molecule written in chemical symbols is very similar to a long chain, consisting of the same units - CH2-. This uniformity suggests that electric charges are evenly distributed inside the polyethylene molecule, i.e. it is non-polar. Therefore, polyethylene sticks together very poorly.

Welding of a polymer film: a - using an electric soldering iron; b - with the help of an electric iron runner; c - with an open flame.

Very often, adhesive mixtures are used for gluing polymeric materials, which are prepared from the same materials (or similar to them), dissolved in a suitable solvent. But this will not work with polyethylene - it practically does not dissolve in organic solvents.

Some polymers can be glued just because they have a rough surface. In this case, the glue solution fills the irregularities and, freezing, clings to them, tightly gluing the pieces of material together. But this cannot be done with polyethylene, since it has a perfectly smooth surface.

Therefore, if we talk specifically about the gluing process, then it is almost impossible to glue the plastic wrap at home. And in the industrial sector it has never been glued.

But although pieces of polyethylene cannot be glued, they can be welded, or, more precisely, soldered, which has been successfully done for many years in industry, having developed many methods of such welding. But of this many methods, there are only two that can be applied at home.

Open flame welding of polyethylene

To verify polyethylene in this way you will need:

• metal or ceramic bars;
• welding tool (it can be a gas torch, blowtorch, spirit lamp, and in the absence of these, you can use a torch or even ordinary matches).

Electrical schematic diagram of connecting the "iron" to the network: 1 - constant wire-wound resistor; 2 - metal case; 3 - sting-ridge; 4 - textolite handle; 5 - stand.

The edges of the films to be welded must be fixed with metal or ceramic bars (wooden ones are not suitable for this purpose). It is necessary to fix it in such a way that a narrow strip of film (3-5 mm, no more) is visible from under them at the welding site. The bars are needed not only for fixing the film, but mainly in order to quickly remove heat from the films being welded, otherwise they, instead of melting, will burn out entirely.

Next, you need to draw along the remaining open edge with a flame. The speed of the flame will also have to be selected empirically, especially since it will be different not only for each grade of polyethylene, but for each tool too. If the operation is performed correctly, then upon its completion a dense roll forms, firmly connecting the two edges of the plastic film.

As an alternative to welding, when setting up greenhouses and greenhouses, two pieces of plastic sheeting can be stitched together. To do this, two pieces of film are overlapped on top of each other. The overlap should be 2-2.5 cm. Then an ordinary medical plaster is glued to the overlap on both sides. It will not hold on well, but this is not scary, the main thing is that the strips of the plaster lie exactly in the place of the overlap one above the other.

Then, over the overlap, make two seams with large stitches. In this case, pieces of film are fastened with stitched threads, and the plaster, having a more durable structure of the material, prevents the threads from tearing the polyethylene. However, this method is not suitable for waterproofing, since the joints will allow moisture to pass through.

If there is a need to glue the film to some other material, then you will have to look for a transparent film from another material, which adheres better, and for which there are special adhesives on sale. Alternatively, it can be a polyvinyl chloride film.

Connect the plastic wrap in the described ways or look for something new, it's up to you. The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment, because if something cannot be done today, this does not mean at all that it cannot be done tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Good luck to you!

How to glue polypropylene pipes

For the connection process you will need:

• PVC pipe;
• pipe cutter;
• adhesive agent;
• a special gun for easy application of glue produced in tubes;
• brush (natural bristle) for applying the mass, packaged in cans.

Stages of work:

• Marks of the desired length are made on the pipe.
• The pipes are cut according to the marks with a pipe cutter.
• The edges are roughened with sandpaper for better adhesion.
• Mark with a marker to what distance the connection will take place.
• Degrease the ends with acetone or alcohol.
• Apply a thin layer of adhesive evenly.
• The connection is made according to the marks.
• If surplus appears, then they are removed.
• Wait until it dries completely (about a day).
• Check - pressurized water supply.

When working, it is necessary to maintain the operating temperature of 5–35 degrees.

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In case of emergency repair, you will need to turn off the water supply, since the flow will not fully correct the problem. After that, the leakage site is dried, cleaned and degreased.

Fine sandpaper is used for cleaning to roughen the plane so that adhesion passes better. Further, the adhesive is evenly distributed and a sealing tape is applied in a spiral. Water is filled into the system after the repair joint has dried.

In the process of work, indistinctness may arise:

• Bad sizing.Occurs due to the application of the adhesive solution not on the entire plane or the application was uneven.
• Non-gluing. Occurs due to overexposure of the adhesive layer without connection.
• The softness of the connection. It is possible that during the commissioning of the product, the pipes did not wait for complete drying, or the temperature regime was not observed during operation.
• The porosity of the connection. It occurs when air appears in the adhesive layer, which indicates poor preliminary mixing.

Emergency measures for the repair of heating pipes and water supply

As a rule, the main causes of emergencies are errors with the technology of pipeline assembly or selection of components, as well as the term and conditions of their operation. Be that as it may, it is necessary to start repairing the leak immediately after its detection, otherwise, due to the pressure, the crack will only increase.

Polypropylene pipes allow you to start emergency repairs without any delay and preparation, using the tools at hand. For example, to work with steel pipes, you need a grinder or a copper press pliers to remove the damaged section and cut a new section. And in the case of polypropylene, you only need regular epoxy glue.

Of course, professional plumbers always have special tools in stock, as well as silicone, FUM tape and suitable glue for HDPE pipes.

You can close the leak like this:

1. First, shut off the water supply to the pipeline and dry it. It is impossible to work with a pipe under pressure, since they cannot be connected absolutely tightly, and the glue cannot fully dry out.
2. Next, the surface is treated with alcohol or acetone to clean and degrease, and then go through with fine sandpaper.
3. In general, gluing can be done by any method, however, spiral winding of the sealing tape is considered the most reliable.
4. Silicone can be used only as a temporary measure and only for pipes that are not under high pressure.
5. The type of glue for pipes should be chosen based on their operating conditions. A neutral sealant is suitable for any environment, but an acidic sealant will not be able to resist in contact with acids. At the same time, you should not strive to choose the most expensive one - an affordable glue designed for specific conditions will be enough.
6. The glue is evenly applied to the pipe with a gun. The edges of the crack must be spread apart so that the adhesive can be distributed from the inside of the pipe. It is better to knock out a piece of an old pipe with a partner.
7. After 12 hours, the glue line is completely dry, so that a test run of the water can be performed. However, this must be done gradually so that the seam does not deform from a water hammer.

Before using a two-component epoxy adhesive, it must first be prepared according to the instructions.

You need to glue the cracked polypropylene (as it seems to me) panel in the trunk, and also glue something to it. Adhesives, of course, do not take any - in any case, all those that I have seen and tried.

What affects the reliability of gluing

A number of conditions affect the reliability of the seam. All of them are important, and non-observance of any one can lead to the fact that the glued at home will fall off, despite the observance of all the others. So:

Compliance of product material and adhesive.
Correspondence of the type of adhesive to the amount of forces that the connection will experience

The direction of action of these efforts is no less important. So, compounds that give rigid seams are not suitable for repairs, for example, shoes - after all, the sole during operation will bend and twist, despite the fact that the tensile force will be small

At the same time, with this composition, you can successfully glue, say, a hook to the glass, and hang tens of kilograms on it.
Compliance with application technology. Everything is important here - and how many seconds or minutes the surfaces need to be squeezed, and how to degrease them, and how much to keep the parts pressed against each other.All this depends on the properties of a particular pair of "plastic-glue", is described in detail in the instructions and must be followed verbatim. A second deviation in the holding time or premature use of the product may result in secondary damage.
The mechanical part of the process. It is important to thoroughly clean the surface from dust and roughen it. In addition, the direction of pressing the parts against each other should be perpendicular to the surfaces to be glued. It is impossible to allow mutual displacement of parts after pressing - this will also lead to failure.

Gluing plastic tightly is not so easy. Careful adherence to simple rules by a home craftsman will allow you to get strong and durable connections. The main thing is not to forget about safety precautions: do not inhale the vapors of the adhesive and do not allow it to get into food, on the skin or mucous membranes. If accidentally swallowed, you should immediately consult a doctor, be sure to take a tube with you.