found the leak in My Max IV

[john1edwards]

I found at least one leak, I found a 4 inch cut in the bottom inner side. I used a harbor freight plstic weld kit to try to fix it. I guess will see how it goes.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Can you share your experience with plastic welding? I would like to buy a wrld kit and want to learn more. Was it easy to weld the crack with this kit? Thanks.

[john1edwards]

I used the kit to fix a boat seat. its not hard but I don't think I melted enough in to fix it. the other problem is that 6x6 does lots of flexing. but will let you know.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thanks.

[john1edwards]

So far its slowed down the leak.

[john1edwards]

Well my plastic weld broke.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Try, try again. (Did it break outright or over many rides?)

[Mike]

And did the weld break or did the HDPE break next to the weld?

I would re-weld it and then epoxy over it. Member thebuggyman1 used this epoxy: Epoxy by the Leading Epoxy Manufacturer | WEST SYSTEM Epoxy with good results in his Max II Bigfoot build: http://www.6x6world.com/forums/max-a...-tall-tub.html

[john1edwards]

And did the weld break or did the HDPE break next to the weld?

I would re-weld it and then epoxy over it. Member thebuggyman1 used this epoxy: Epoxy by the Leading Epoxy Manufacturer | WEST SYSTEM Epoxy with good results in his Max II Bigfoot build: http://www.6x6world.com/forums/max-a...-tall-tub.html

Mike I have boats and use that west system 610 epoxy alot.

[john1edwards]

Try, try again. (Did it break outright or over many rides?)

I rode it a few times before it broke. some of the weld held. I welded it again. maybe I didn't have it hot enough.

[tonyk72]

I used an aluminum wire screen and scraps of poly to do my repairs. I took the screen and melted it into the poly all around the crack using a soldering iron. Then I took very thin layers of poly salvaged from potting containers and melted/pressed them into the wire mesh using a heat gun and an auto body dolly. I probably used about 4-5 layers of poly to complete the repair. The weld held up after pounding it with a rubber mallet and pretty hard riding. To make it pretty, I sanded the rough spots and lightly melted the roughness with a heat gun to give it smooth appearance. Prior attempts to fix without the wire mesh failed miserably.
Here a some pics of the damage and work in progress attached....

[john1edwards]

I used an aluminum wire screen and scraps of poly to do my repairs. I took the screen and melted it into the poly all around the crack using a soldering iron. Then I took very thin layers of poly salvaged from potting containers and melted/pressed them into the wire mesh using a heat gun and an auto body dolly. I probably used about 4-5 layers of poly to complete the repair. The weld held up after pounding it with a rubber mallet and pretty hard riding. To make it pretty, I sanded the rough spots and lightly melted the roughness with a heat gun to give it smooth appearance. Prior attempts to fix without the wire mesh failed miserably.
Here a some pics of the damage and work in progress attached....

Thanks for posting the pictures. I just bought and put on some g flex west system epoxy. I will let you know how it works.

[john1edwards]

So far that epoxy has been holding up I am going to run it over thanks giving. will keep posted

[john1edwards]

I rode a bunch this week and beat on my machine and the epoxy is still holding.