I have a light fitting that on replacing the florescent tubes tow small
pieces of hard plastic broke off rendering the light useless. What
adhesive, if any, would be suitable to glue them back into place please?

John Towill wrote:
I have a light fitting that on replacing the florescent tubes tow small
pieces of hard plastic broke off rendering the light useless. What
adhesive, if any, would be suitable to glue them back into place please?

It almost entirely depends on the plastic and you may find it rather
difficult to identify unless it has one of those pointy triangle
plastic type markers.

If it's polythene or polypropylene then it's difficult to stick, you
need glue specifically for the plastic and it requires the surfaces to
be 'prepared' with something that treats the surface so the glue
sticks (that's chemically 'prepared' not just roughened).

If you're lucky and it's polystyrene, PVC or ABS then you can stick it
with standard plastic pipe cement or any old 'hard plastic' glue. This
will 'solvent weld' it and give a good strong joint.

--
Chris Green
·

John Towill formulated the question :
I have a light fitting that on replacing the florescent tubes tow small
pieces of hard plastic broke off rendering the light useless. What adhesive,
if any, would be suitable to glue them back into place please?

Assuming it is the lampholder at the end which has broken, you used to
be able to buy replacements. You just need the name of the manufacturer
of the fitting.

On 29/08/2020 13:23, Chris Green wrote:
John Towill wrote:
I have a light fitting that on replacing the florescent tubes tow small
pieces of hard plastic broke off rendering the light useless. What
adhesive, if any, would be suitable to glue them back into place please?

It almost entirely depends on the plastic and you may find it rather
difficult to identify unless it has one of those pointy triangle
plastic type markers.

If it's polythene or polypropylene then it's difficult to stick, you
need glue specifically for the plastic and it requires the surfaces to
be 'prepared' with something that treats the surface so the glue
sticks (that's chemically 'prepared' not just roughened).

If you're lucky and it's polystyrene, PVC or ABS then you can stick it
with standard plastic pipe cement or any old 'hard plastic' glue. This
will 'solvent weld' it and give a good strong joint.


Fluorescent end fittings seem to be made from some highly filled plastic
formulated to take the temperature, which then embrittle and fracture.
Not easy to repair. Epoxy is good because you can bulk up the thickness.

Which pieces exactly, have broken off?
Brian

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"John Towill" wrote in message
...
I have a light fitting that on replacing the florescent tubes tow small
pieces of hard plastic broke off rendering the light useless. What
adhesive, if any, would be suitable to glue them back into place please?

Yes if these bits are the only damage and the rest is not into crumbling
territory, then araldite, not the rapid the normal stuff, and maybe mixed
with some powdered glass fibre dust? My guess, though is that the whole
thing is now very brittle and likely springing it about to put another tube
in will mean sooner rather than later, a nasty failure of one end or the
other.
Brian

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Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 29/08/2020 13:23, Chris Green wrote:
John Towill wrote:
I have a light fitting that on replacing the florescent tubes tow small
pieces of hard plastic broke off rendering the light useless. What
adhesive, if any, would be suitable to glue them back into place please?

It almost entirely depends on the plastic and you may find it rather
difficult to identify unless it has one of those pointy triangle
plastic type markers.

If it's polythene or polypropylene then it's difficult to stick, you
need glue specifically for the plastic and it requires the surfaces to
be 'prepared' with something that treats the surface so the glue
sticks (that's chemically 'prepared' not just roughened).

If you're lucky and it's polystyrene, PVC or ABS then you can stick it
with standard plastic pipe cement or any old 'hard plastic' glue. This
will 'solvent weld' it and give a good strong joint.


Fluorescent end fittings seem to be made from some highly filled plastic
formulated to take the temperature, which then embrittle and fracture. Not
easy to repair. Epoxy is good because you can bulk up the thickness.

Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote :
Which pieces exactly, have broken off?
Brian

I would guess at the two hooks, which latch into the metal spine of the
fitting.

On 29/08/2020 19:11, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote :
Which pieces exactly, have broken off?
*Brian

I would guess at the two hooks, which latch into the metal spine of the
fitting.
correct. Sadly it is Chinese, so finding the manufacturer will be
difficult if not impossible. Ifd only I was a sailor I could use this
Chinese junk!

On 29/08/2020 12:48, John Towill wrote:
I have a light fitting that on replacing the florescent tubes tow small
pieces ofÂ* hard plastic broke off rendering the light useless. What
adhesive, if any, would be suitable to glue them back into place please?

There is probably nothing that can repair that sort of embrittled
plastic and provide the strength it needs to be a retaining clip.
Your least worst option is probably to reassemble and glue it together
with epoxy. Accepting that next time around it is scrap.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Sunday, 30 August 2020 08:00:41 UTC+1, John Towill wrote:
On 29/08/2020 19:11, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote :

Which pieces exactly, have broken off?
Â*Brian

I would guess at the two hooks, which latch into the metal spine of the
fitting.
correct. Sadly it is Chinese, so finding the manufacturer will be
difficult if not impossible. Ifd only I was a sailor I could use this
Chinese junk!

One way to fix such things is to add 2 hose clips to hold the tube, then the connectors only need to push on to the tube. A cable tie is another option, cruder but is less visible.


NT