On May 5, 9:38*am, Frnak McKenney
wrote:
On Mon, 03 May 2010 18:48:22 -0700, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Mon, 03 May 2010 12:56:26 -0500, Frnak McKenney
wrote the following:

* *[...]

Do you have any suggestions for repairing an old-ish city-provided
"supercan"? *This is one of those large green plastic cans with
wheels, a hinged black lid, and bolted-on tubing that is designed to
be lifted by the city trash collection trucks. *I'm not certain what
kind of plastic it is, but it's thick-ish (1/8"?), flexible, and I'm
assuming it's some sort of polyethylene.

Could be polyethylene, but chances are it's polypropylene or even ABS,
totally different stuff. There'll be a three-lobed recyling emblem
cast into it somewhere that will have the number of the plastic type.
As far as repairing cracks, welding is about the surest way to do
that, HF has a kit that requires some air and the rods to go with, of
various plastic types. I've repaired an aftermarket windshield washer
tank of polypropylene using a really big soldering gun and some
shopping bags of the same color. It held afterwards for quite a
number of years until I sold the car. More like frosting a cake than
welding, though. Adhesives, unless they're specially formulated,
probably won't stick. You might be able to add a skid plate with
aluminum and pop rivets, chances are that the stuff will crack at the
holes, though. If you've had to buy the thing yourself, fix it,
otherwise call the city and get it replaced, that's what you're paying
taxes for, right? They'll recycle the old one.

Stan