On Thu, 20 May 2021 19:05:04 +0100, newshound wrote:

On 20/05/2021 18:33, Chris Bacon wrote:
On 20/05/2021 17:52, David wrote:
http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/
File:Broken_side_caravan_front_locker.jpg

Eurgh. I'd *guess* it's some sort of foamed PVC. Floplast 250 sticks
that as well as ABS. You could experiment with some acetone, e.g. nail
varnish remover if you know anyone that uses such stuff, you could get
some on a clean rag and see if it dissolves any of the material when
you rub it on. If it does, solvent cement would be useful (the MEK in
it is rather more aggressive than acetone), but you still have the
issue of what to bond to it (maybe a ring doughnut shaped piece of
stuff). More of the same sort of material, or ABS.

However, is it either of those two plastics is the question!

Do you think it would be foamed at 3mm? I'd be more inclined to suspect
PE or PP, unfortunately.

But I agree with the rest. Given the geometry, after solvent testing it
would not be hard to do a little trial somewhere away from the damaged
area.

I can't really figure out the problem from those images but, if there is
space behind, it might be possible to shape a piece of thin aluminium to
back up the whole damaged area. Then, if you attach that using pop
rivets from the front it's sometimes possible to make a fairly
inconspicuous repair even on polyethylene. (I have a heavy duty
wheelbarrow that I repaired that way). If you sandwich Sylglas tape
between the plate and the original that should give you quite a strong
repair.

The problem is that on one side the locking rod came out of the hole when
unlocking (design issue) and then went through the plastic when locking.

You should be able to see most of an off-round hole (to allow the fixing
to be adjusted) with shattered plastic below.

On the good side you can see a round metal guide clamped to the plastic by
two bolts so you can't see the hole.

The metal guide for the broken side isn't visible in the picture.

Looking at the whole thing - a very large sheet of black plastic with
various bends, lumps and bumps, I assume that this was probably made by
vacuum moulding a flat piece of plastic when warm and pliable but this is
just a guess.

My main concern with pop rivets and the like is not fouling anything, but
there does look to be some leeway, especially if the rivet heads are on
the inside. The main issue is access as I'm trying to work from within a
bulge so getting at the inside part may be tricky.

If I run out of time short term I plan to cut up a plastic container, cut
the hole, and duct tape it into place so that at least the end of the
locking rod is supported and pointing in roughly the right direction.

Thanks to all for the help so far.

Cheers


Dave R



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