How to use a Harbor Freight Plastic Iron Item 60662

This is a review and how to use a Chicago Electric Harbor Freight Plastic Welding kit.
Repair plastic items with durable welds using these plastic welding rods. The 50 piece set includes 17 gray PVC plastic rods, 17 green PC PP rods, and 16 white PC ABS rods. Sold Separately.

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[stephendall]

I just drove 40 miles to Harbor Freight to buy a plastic welder set to repair the air dam on my truck. I was dreading having to remove it and buy a new one until I heard about this set. Saving a lot of time and money.

[Anonymous-itjw]

It may be obvious, but it is important to use a filler rod that is chemically similar to the plastic item you are welding on. He cut strips from discarded pieces of the air box to be sure that the types of plastic matched, and did a great job. The rods that come with the kit are color coded by the type of plastic they are made of, and this is explained in the instructions with the kit. Most plastic items have an icon molded into them that uses standard symbols to tell you what type of plastic the item is made from, so you can use the correct filler rod from the kit or a home-made filler strip, like he did. The triangular tip that came with the kit is very helpful in smoothing out the welds, as he demonstrated.

This was an excellent demonstration of how to weld pieces of plastic together. Thanks for making it.

[ajsironworks]

I’m a welder and I’ve never seen this So cool. Now I have options when I’m pastiche breaks too. Man you opened a whole new door for me. Good job by the way!

[penney]

No nonsence video. No dogs, no cats, no kids running everywhere. Just what I was looking for. Thanks, good job.

[new_comment]

Chiltons ref books on the shelf, this guy has my utmost respect.

[aussieguy]

impressive mate, ive been a plastic welder for 20 years. ive hot air welded, butt welded, electrostatic welded, spin welded, extrusion welded and even injection welded but ive never seen this stuff. nice job and cheers for sharing

[MrTravisAL]

One really important/helpful thing to mention is to use foil tape tightly (flush) on the backside to catch whatever may be inadvertently pushed through too far to the other side. I think this is used at 5:45 . It’s very worth noting! And used by many even for small cracks.

[knighthawk]

Had this thing for years, I use it at my small engine shop all the time, from mending plastic covers to resealing gas tanks, a good supply of plastic that I use is from gallon milk containers, I use a sharp razor blade and cut it into strips, I also clean the end of the iron on my wire wheel once it has cooled off to keep and clean tool. Great video, I subbed

[cds]

I bought mine a couple years ago. Today we are using it to repair a crack under the sink, drain pipe. Easy to use, works Great

[ronaldsteveson]

We use to do this as kids building models. Butter knife & a lighter....who knew 😁

[VistaBlueGT]

Exactly what I'm looking for, Sir. I have a Craftsman mechanics toolbox made of molded plastic and one of the hinges snapped off right at the seam. The size of the toolbox is ideal for portable jobs, and I would hate to throw it away just because of a broken hinge. I think this tool will do the trick and I'm sure I'll find many more projects to use it for. Thanks for your video and you truly are a master plastic welder.

[jamesvandyke]

I was holding my breath watching you. I use this kit all the time and works great! Thanks for showing your technique

[Cristian]

Just wow Martin! You did such a stunning job in that ram air. Now with a bit of sanding and a coat of paint it should look like factory!
All the best,
Cristian

[crazyyakov]

Thanks for a video that’s gets straight to the point. Most people just talk, talk, talk, and there’s nonsense going on in the background. But none the less, Great tool!

[Lloyd-mo]

My welding teacher in 1988 told us this would happen someday. Cool, now I can fix my motorcycle fairing without a lot of fiberglass.

[alexrowland]

Great video. Exactly what I was looking for. I had just heard of "plastic welding", and wanted to see it in action.

[dixee]

Thank you for sharing. I like how you kept your work neat and not just slop gobs of plastic onto your work. Then smoothing over the areas when you were done. Great work! 😀

[imafine]

Thanks, Martin. I’m going to get one of these welders to repair the little plastic bumper grill on my car. You’re demonstration gave me the assurance that it’s an easy job. And, it’s cheaper to buy the tool than a new part.

[himax]

Hi Martin, I need a plastic welder so your video is the first and only one I watched. You did a fantastic job. The music is perfect that you put on with it. I had a deer hit on the front of my car. Only hurt the driver side headlight breaking the mounts. I used some JB Weld. Still have some holes to fill in, pieces that were lost, so wanted a welder. Thank you so much for your video. Taking a bike ride over to H.F. then finish the job. Norman

[monkfry]

I did this for a living for quite a number of years. As in welding metals, there are a ton of different techniques, such as dielectric, hot air etc. etc.. One of the most common materials you’re likely come across is HDPE. It’s used for milk jugs, gas cans etc. and most of the time it’s stamped into the product by the recycle symbol. If you’re going to use this tool, you should look up a plastic burn test sheet online. Shave a small piece off of the plastic you want to repair and burn it. When you burn the shaving with a lighter (in well ventilated area) it’ll give off a smoke pattern to identify the correct plastic filler you need for the repair. Sometimes you’re able to weld plastics together using this method with the wrong filler material. It looks good and seems fine but when introduced to load, vibrations, time, etc., it will fail. I’m not insinuating you did that in the video. Just throwing some more info out there. It’s hard to believe you can buy this for 16$ but if it works, it works. You’ll probably save some people an expensive trip to the shop. Cool post btw.