washing machine soap drawer white plastic - glue

xxxxxxxx

Front of drawer broken off from the 3 soap trays .  Tried super glue, did not work. 

I will next try araldite epoxy.  What do you think? 

grumbler

Epoxy is good for porous material only. I am surprised that superglue didn't work. Does it not dissolve the plastic and not stick to it? If it does, but isn't strong enough, try glueing a strip of thin strong fabric over the crack.

Some plastics are almost impossible to glue. Sometimes 'welding' them with a fine soldering iron with controlled temperature is the only way.

Did you try to find a spare part?

xxxxxxxx

The plastic did not appear to melt at all. There is no crack, there are tiny clips that have broken off. I am not gluing the clips, I am trying to glue the parts together where they touch, in another place, there are two areas about 5mm x 6mm where the curved faces of each part have a little flat area where they meet.  All that happened was the super glued faces became sticky in that area, they just came apart after a couple of hours standing. 

Ebay replacements are £8 for the drawer "front only" (i.e. not the whole drawer assembly) - which might work, depends if the drawer receptacles for the clips on the "drawer front" are broken or not.   I'd prefer to buy a second hand complete unit for less money.  

GDB2222

For best results with superglue you should clean the surfaces with alcohol, eg meths. Also bear in mind it has no gap filling ability.  

I’m surprised that araldite doesn’t work. 

Jeepers_Creepers

A photo would help, but I suspect we are talking about some very small contact areas, so any adhesive would have to be super-strong. 

Superglue doesn't melt surfaces, but does rely on a very good matting surface - no gaps as said above, . The correct solvent adhesive would melt the surfaces, and would then weld them together, but even then it won't be as strong as the original.

I'd suggest, then, that a successful repair will come to whether you can glue more than just the clips together. Ie, could you use a 'filling' adhesive to bond the drawer front to the actual drawer over a larger area than just the clips? Obviously the the front won't detach any more, but is this important? 

If you can fill these gaps, then key up the surfaces using a wire brush or sandpaper, and then you can try using something like Stixall, epoxy adhesive, or even hot glue! 

Mind you, to buy any of these will not be much less than a new drawer, from what you say.

davemorton

I cant picture the part you are wanting to glue, but if it is not a good mating surface, have you tried superglue and baking soda? 

twopenny

Bathroom sealant might help. The problem being that you are pulling on the outside of the drawer.
I've just done a fix of the bottle shelf cover in the fridge with bathroom sealant plus discreetly used duct tape to reinforce. That's a damp much used area.
So far, so good.
But I did have those things in my garage.
Personally I'd try one more time then get a new one. It's only ever going to be an irritation and probably cheaper than buying lots of stuff.
I tried epoxy resin on a bird bath. It gives out with the wet.

greyteam1959

No way is any sort of glue going to fix it 
Get online & source a new part.

531063

worth a try with JB Weld

FaceHead

greyteam1959 said:

No way is any sort of glue going to fix it 
Get online & source a new part.

I agree that no gluing of the broken parts back together is going to be half as good as the original, and the original has failed. 

A new part is the most straightforward option, and likely to be more cost effective than going through every glue in your local DIY shop.

The only repair option I think might have a decent lifespan would some sort of plate over the break, and gluing the two halves to the plate as well as back together - radically increasing the contact area. Depending on what sort of break it is (a photo would help) this might not be practical, bringing us back to replacement.

FaceHead

greyteam1959 said:

No way is any sort of glue going to fix it 
Get online & source a new part.

I agree that no gluing of the broken parts back together is going to be half as good as the original, and the original has failed. 

A new part is the most straightforward option, and likely to be more cost effective than going through every glue in your local DIY shop.

The only repair option I think might have a decent lifespan would some sort of plate over the break, and gluing the two halves to the plate as well as back together - radically increasing the contact area. Depending on what sort of break it is (a photo would help) this might not be practical, bringing us back to replacement.