acetone purity

[woodbutcher]

I bought a quart of acetone at Walmart and tried to seal a crack in the gray water tank on my travel trailer. I also used it to make a slurry from ABS chips. It made a nice slurry, but the big chunks did not dissolve. When I applied it to the tank, it did not seem to bond. It"s possible that the tank is a different material, but the 2" drain line attached to it shows "ABS Cellular" printed on the side. Anybody have experience with gray-water holding tanks? Does acetone come in different strengths?
Butch

 

[Jiles]

I don't really fully understand what you are doing but it sounds like you are trying to stop a leak???
If it were me, I would try to find a suitable source of ABS, from the tank itself. Then use ABS solvent/cement for application.
If this doesn't work, you could try JBWeld. I have used JBW for similar jobs and got good results.
To my knowledge---acetone is a STRONG Paint thinner, don't know about different strengths. All I have is pretty strong!

 

[woodbutcher]

Jiles,
I've read that acetone will bond ABS. I think I'll give JB weld a try. Thanks.
Butch

 

[jackinok]

i think if i understand your trying to disolve abs with acetone and use it as sort of a putty for patching your tank.is that correct?ive never heard of this.about the only thing ive found to patch abs is one of those boat repair kits for abs canoes ,kayaks and such sold at boat places.may be the same as what your trying to do i dont know,but thats all ive found that would stick to abs.i bet that tank is polyethylene though,sort of translucent white?if so you might try hot glue,but ive had better luck with a soldering iron melting cracks and stuff shut.

 

[bill b va]

try some MDC solvent

 

[glennster]

you could try making the slurry with all purpose cement for plastic pipe. it will bond abs, pcv, and cpvc pipe. make some fines with a belt sander to thicken the slurry.

 

[Jiles]

JB Weld is very good, if applied properly. When I use it, I thoroughly clean the surface (rough it up). With plastic this is most important because you probably won't get a good bond if the surface is "shiney"

 

[johnw (OR)]

Had one repaired one time buy a trailer repair guy, he grabbed his torch and a piece of same plastic and welded it just like brazing. Held for yrs.

 

[SteveMT]

Get a tube of plumbers goop. fixed black water tanks on two previous rvs. Layer it on. if its a major crack add a small piece of screen as reinforcement. Goop will stick to just about anything.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Repaired a bad hole on a plast gas tank with pvc cement, used a old rag for screen, tailpipe had rubed and melted a hole round 2" in the side of the tank. Took my 4 " grinder scuffed it up a bit then put the glue to it, put the rag over it more glue left it sit overnight put on more glue left it dry then did it again 3 or 4 times been bout 4 weeks now with no leaks.

 

[Lloyd In South Carolina]

If you have a hot glue gun,,, try this. Heat the start of the crack with a torch, (nothing fancy don't take much heat) when the platic puddles add from the glue gun to fill the crack. Move donwn the crack till all is sealed.

Important to control the heat, once it puddles move away.... don't apply hot glue till the work peace puddles.

This has worked for me many times.

L.

 

[Rich_WI]

(quoted from post at 11:03:18 09/08/11) I bought a quart of acetone at Walmart and tried to seal a crack in the gray water tank on my travel trailer. I also used it to make a slurry from ABS chips. It made a nice slurry, but the big chunks did not dissolve. When I applied it to the tank, it did not seem to bond. It"s possible that the tank is a different material, but the 2" drain line attached to it shows "ABS Cellular" printed on the side. Anybody have experience with gray-water holding tanks? Does acetone come in different strengths?
Butch

The bigger the chunks of ABS, the longer it takes them to dissolve in the acetone. Use a cheese grater to make them fine. Keep a lid on the container too because the acetone evaporating is what makes the ABS re-solidify.

Yes, its very possable for the tank to be different plastic than the pipes connected to it. You should never assume just because the pipes are ABS that the tank will be as well.

You shouldnt be making a paste and then putting it on the tank. You should be making a paste AND applying acetone to the tank to make that disolve as well so the paste and tank become one. You get better bonding that way.

If you are not sure if your tank is ABS you can put acetone right on the tank to see if it reacts. If it isnt ABS, the acetone will do nothing to it and you will need to try something else to repair the tank. You can always call your camper manufacture to see who makes the tank and those people will tell you what the tank is made from. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I dont know if there is more than one strength of acetone but if its disolving the ABS shavings, its strong enough to do what you want. The proof is the fact that he small shavings disolved but the bigger ones didnt. They just need more time soaking in the acetone. For the tank, you may need to stand over it applying the acetone with a small paint brush. I use a small model paint brush or one from those water color paint kits that the kids use.

 

[Hobo,NC]

napa has a repair kit are did,, works great even on a battery case...

 

[Anonymous-0]

Where did you find the ABS? I've been looking locally for white ABS and all I can find is black drain fittings. I did order some rods from Amazon but I don't have enough to build up around the cracks in a bathtub.

 

[woodbutcher]

These drain pipes are black. They attach to the gray water holding tank.
Butch

 

[woodbutcher]

Thanks, Rich. I contacted the company that makes the RV and several places that sell the same brand. None have answered my inquiries.
Butch

 

[Anonymous-0]

Acetone is a solvent for ABS plastic. I ordered some ABS rods and put them in acetone. The problem is I used too much acetone and now I have ABS the consistency of cream. I have the jar open to evaporate some of the acetone off to get it down to a paste. Meanwhile the bathtub is still cracked.

 

[Rich_WI]

(quoted from post at 06:13:13 09/10/11) Thanks, Rich. I contacted the company that makes the RV and several places that sell the same brand. None have answered my inquiries.
Butch

Call them. You need a live body to talk to you, not somebody that is more than willing to ignore your email. Also, dont ask them who makes the tank because you want to fix yours, tell them you need to buy a new tank for your camper. If they think they will get something out of it (like your hard earned money), they will talk to you. It really shouldnt take more than a couple phone calls to get the info you need. Even with it being that quick, its probably still faster to just put the acetone on the tank and see if it reacts. If it dont, its not ABS.

 

[Slowpoke]

Look in the Yellow Pages or on the net for "plastic supply". A few years ago I priced ABS at $5sq' for thin sheet.