My 10 year old car had a couple of its ABS plastic climate control knobs break from material fatigue. I haven’t been able to find replacements for a reasonable price, so I made little reinforcing plates out of aluminum. I need to glue these to the underside of the knobs, where they can slip over the shaft that opens vents, etc. What kind of adhesive will stick to both aluminum and ABS plastic? The aluminum is flat, but the plastic is slightly irregular, so the adhesive must be gap-filling.
I’ve got liquid nails construction adhesive, but I don’t know if that will melt ABS plastic. I have epoxy, but I’m not sure if that will stick to plastic. I have gorilla glue, which might be fine with ABS plastic, but I don’t know.
Can anyone steer me in the right direction? Thanks.
Replies
Liquid Nails won't work... Gorilla Glue might, but I'd look at a good hardware store or HD. Locktite has a line of specialized 2 part epoxies specifically for hard to bond plastics like ABS.
auto stores sell those sticks of epoxy - ya know the kind you cut a slice off and kneed it together - - I've had good success using that for knob repairs...
Gorilla will not stick.
Epoxy does not stick great to plastics, but will stick very well to metal, and to itself. That means that if you can rough up the plastic or drill some shallow holes to create good 'bite', the epoxy will hold. Sometimes you can put small screws into the plastic for epoxy to bite on. Depends upon how much space you have to work with.
I have also had success melting in bits of serrated paper clips to reinforce plastic using a soldering iron. Surprisingly strong. Makes me a hero to my 4-year-old when I fix his plastic toys, though it's the expensive car parts that make the technique really pay. This sort of thing could also provide some bite for the epoxy.
They sell a special epoxy that bonds chemically with some plastics, though it seems to work better with PVC, and not so well with whatever they use for most interior car parts.
There is also an isocyanurate (super glue) that is formulated for plastics (plastic surgery?), but it has not proven to be very strong, and has no gap-filling ability.
Edited 10/4/2004 1:48 pm ET by csnow
J-B Weld...works on anything.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Glatt
Methacrylate will bond nearly anything to anything including nylon. Never used "JB Weld" (Sphere's suggestion) but it's probably easier to find, sounds like an epoxy.
WSJ
looks like somthin I used to sniff..till I got those tubes stuck in my nose..LOL
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Edited 10/4/2004 7:23 pm ET by SPHERE
Thanks everyone! It looks like epoxy seems to be the common theme here. The knob does have a slightly irregular surface inside, so that will help to hold the epoxy. I'll also rough it up some first.
I've got some leftover epoxy from building a kayak, and also some fumed silica I can use to thicken the epoxy. That's probably the route I'll take.
Thanks again for the advice.
A good epoxy like JB Weld will work. Comes in both black and white. Its like putty and does not run at all. No silica necessary. Bonds very well to both plastic and aluminum. Clean the aluminum first with a degreaser, like Brake kleen. Even better if you drill a few small holes in the aluminum so it has something more to bite on.