# Super Glue and Baking Soda



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

Worked on an ATV earlier this week and the ABS plastic was cracked up in several places. An old guy taught me a trick to repairing ABS plastic using super glue and baking soda several years ago. It works really well and the technique has started to make its way to You Tube recently, so I thought I would share it with people that have not seen it before.

Super Glue works great on a lot of repairs, but it takes a long time to actually set up. If you take super glue and "dust" it with baking soda, the chemical reaction sets the glue almost instantly. I repeat... *INSTANTLY*. There is no moving/adjusting the part afterward, so you better have what your gluing where you need it when you apply the baking soda.

It will set much stronger/harder than Super Glue alone. It also sets to the point where you can actually work it with a file to shape a part if you need to fabricate something (missing piece) and you can drill it, if necessary, to make a repair. I've actually used this technique to make those little plastic cable inserts that goes in the end of the throttle lever to take up the cable slop at the z-bend. The ones that both Briggs and Kohler use on their carbs, but neither one actually sells. Glued up a crack in one of those cheap plastic Tecumseh float bowls and it's still holding up to the gasoline after 2 years. I've even used it to repair cracks in those expensive formed rubber intake hoses/boots used on high $$$ commercial zero-turns, the ones that are $100 for a 2" x 8" formed hose. I've tested this technique on several different types of material (aluminum, brass, rubber) and it always seems to work. Give it a try and you'll be amazed. Here's a link to You Tube to see what I mean....


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## andyvh1959 (Jul 1, 2015)

Now I'll have to try that. My experience with Super Glue is that it's not so "super" for anything that is subjected to any forces. Maybe ok for gluing up a broken ceramic knik-knak item, but not for anything I actually use. 

ABS plastic can easily be thermal welded using a 1500 watt soldering iron. I have repaired many motorcycle fairing parts made of ABS by plastic welding the issue with a soldering iron and ABS filler rods I buy at Harbor Freight Tools. Also, Acetone melts ABS, just like the ABS cement for ABS plumbing. I have a glass jar with a slurry of ABS plastic pieces dissolved in acetone. After I complete a ABS weld, I sometimes pour in, or push in with popsicle sticks, the slurry into the repair area. After it sets I can prep it for painting if needed.


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## LouNY (Dec 15, 2016)

Interesting, thanks


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## EdF (Sep 15, 2014)

Thanks Bob, for the outstanding post! I will try this in the future. One thing I've noticed is the regular super glue foams/expands while setting up. Makes a mess. Didn't do that years ago.


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## Bob Williams (Sep 7, 2020)

Fascinating. I wish I had known about that years ago when I broke The plastic supports on my old pickup marker lights. I tried several types of glues and even plastic welding, but they broke off again trying to install. Wound up buying all replacement markers to get truck back on the road. This forum is invaluable for us ignorant folks trying to repair old stuff.


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## andyvh1959 (Jul 1, 2015)

For ABS, when in a pinch, grab your wife's nail polish remover, its basically Acetone. And it features a nice little brush in the bottle. Most plastics feature a symbol system to identify the plastic type, like polypropelene, or polystyrene:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_identification_code

https://www.acmeplastics.com/content/your-guide-to-plastic-recycling-symbols/


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

If your plastic is polypropylene, then acetone works really great too. Just practice on a test part first to get the knack for repair or to fuse the parts together similar to plastic sonic weld. 

I worked for a plastics assembly company. For the gas tanks, they took the plastic halves and used a wipe ball of fuzz dipped in acetone and applied to the one case half. Then immediately took the top half and pressed and held for 1-min. Worked extremely well and the end of line tester did a 5psi pressure test for holding for 10 seconds.


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