How to fix a plastic gas tank on a lawnmower? (Quick Guide!)
Do you have a plastic tank lawnmower that needs to be fixed in quick time, so you don’t have to replace the whole lawnmower? Are you wondering how to fix a plastic gas tank on a lawnmower without going through the hassle of replacing it?
Well, look no further. You can quickly patch up a lawnmower with ease, and it won’t take a huge amount of time or strength. There’s no twisting and turning; there’s no excessive material required, you won’t need a lot of tools either.
You can get a new plastic gas tank, but it may be a hassle to go through since you’ll need proper measurements and will have to go through the process of physically going to a hardware store.
The tools you would need are a heating gun, a cleaning kit, a steel plastic pallet knife, gloves, goggles. Some of these are safety materials you should opt for because it’s better to be safe than sorry. You don’t want to end up in the ER because of the funniest mistake.
How to fix a plastic gas tank on a lawnmower?
You will first of all need to empty the tank since it has gasoline, and any spark or heat from the heating gun and other materials may start a fire, and the tank can explode in your face, which is not worth the risk.
So save your pretty face for admiration and clean the tank thoroughly and adequately. The way to be exactly sure of how you know the tank is empty is you won’t be able to smell any gasoline in the tank anymore. The tank will smell fresh and clean.
To do this, you need to empty the gasoline in a separate compartment and clean the inside with water and soap. The water can be lukewarm or warm since it’s easier to clean oils with warm water.
Use dishwasher soap
Shake the inside when filled with a bit of water while adding soap as required. Dishwasher soap is pretty much a good choice for this process.
Then you can clean the outside with tissue paper and a little bit of water or rubbing alcohol and wash the outside with dishwasher soap so that the alcohol does not spark a fire that we were initially super precautions about.
Cut out pieces of plastic
Cut out pieces of plastic; extra plastic will be required since you can open another hole in the tank to fix the existing one.
If it’s a small cut, you can let it be, but if it’s an irregular-shaped broken piece, you can cut a small shape that will be easier to fix with the new plastic.
When a new piece is cut out, you can measure the cut and cut a more significant piece of plastic for application.
The extra piece should be at least 1.5 to 2 times bigger than the broken piece. This will make sure the smaller errors made while you’re heating the plastic are eliminated, and you can save a little space for human error.
Also because if you heat plastic, it will shrink a little, and the more significant piece will still be a better fit when you heat it and put it together.
Continue application process
Continuing onto the application process, when you’re applying the plastic piece, make sure you put on heat resistance or thick gloves to ensure that your hand does not burn.
Continue to apply the extra plastic piece and heat it a little to combine itself with the broken plastic tank. This will be a little tricky since you need to melt the plastic with the right consistency and with the proper heating so that the plastic tank does not melt off.
The extra piece should be applied and heated with the heating gun at a distance and then kept there for proper combination. This will ensure a proper bond is made, so you don’t have to deal with re-application.
Once the heating is done, you can continue to mold the plastic while it’s hot with a steel pallet knife so that everything sticks together. This will apply pressure and make sure the plastic is correctly bonded.
Check the tank for any leakages and reapply if you think the bond is not strong with the previous process. This will probably help and fix your plastic tank leakage to an extend.
Epoxy for plastic lawnmower gas tank.
Epoxy is a pretty good material when it comes to fixing stuff; it can fill and create so much more and is very easy to handle if you know your stuff. The correct measurements and details will get you working with an excellent new gas tank.
Epoxy has been in trend for a few years and has been a great help to people who know how to use it. It has started small businesses, and people have made proper flooring with just the use of epoxy.
But how can you use epoxy to fix a broken gas tank? Well, to be honest with you, it can’t. You can try and fix parts or fill more significant gaps by making a mold on the outside and pouring epoxy in so the part gets covered and creates a corner or something, but it can’t fix minor cuts or holes be caused by accident.
Use materials like patches if they’re readily available in supermarkets and hardware stores, and patch your stuff up.
Conclusion.
Don’t try to overdo things since they might be a hassle to handle later. Do not hurt yourself, as the whole process will take a little around 30 mins. These things can be fixed by eventually do need replacing. Do not try to push everything to its limit and overuse it; everything will end, and try to be careful as possible.
