fixing print tank lid? Glue chaulk? Duct tape?

[Nick Zentena]

The lid for my Jobo print tank has a beaker inside that's held in place by three little fingers. Well one finger has broken off. The beaker now falls off sometimes when I wash. Worse it's damages the prints.

So does anybody have an ideas for fixing this? I can live with the beaker being a permanent part of the lid. Of course I need to get this fixed yesterday.

 

[Donald Miller]

Since Krazy Glue type adhesives don't always adhere that well to plastics, I would opt for an epoxy (two part) adhesive.

 

[rogueish]

Conap Easypoxy K-230 kit is a two part epoxy that is quite resistant to most chemicals. 3M Scotch-Weld is also another good one. 5-minute epoxy by Devcon is pretty good but I find it doesn't hold up to stress. Tends to be very rigid and will not stand any flexing.

 

[Nick Zentena]

I'm just back from Home Depot. They had one epoxy that was rated for plastic but not for water. They had one rated for marine use but it didn't mention plastic. So I just bought something called Goop marine contact glue. From reading the label I think it'll fail eventually and need to be redone. OTOH the tube is big enough I can redo it every week for the rest of my life.

Thanks

 

[Ed Sukach]

Yes, the "beaker" can be installed permanently - I'd try a small dab of Crazy Glue in an unimportant place first to see if it dissolved the plastic. This. though, would dedicate the lid for print use only. The "beaker" must be replaced with the "cone", and spindle to work with film reels.
You might want to consider replacing the lid. I'm nearly sure that JOBO sells them as replacement parts.

 

[Nick Zentena]

Jobo does sell replacement lids but I'm not sure it makes sense dollar wise. Almost cheaper to buy a brand new 8x10 tank then to buy the lid. Worse I don't really need anything from B&H right now. I don't think we have a local distributor for Jobo products anymore which means I'd have to mail order it from the US.

I think I used too much glue. Hopefully I didn't gum up the works.

 

[rogueish]

The number failure cause of adhesives is "too much". Just a little on both sides, let it dry to tacky (some let it dry completely) then assemble. Too much adhesive actually weakens the bond.

 

[Loose Gravel]

Call Jobo and ask them what the right glue is.

http://www.jobo-usa.com/contact.htm

It is good to match the glue to the material. I glued my paterson tank with ABS pipe cement and it was stronger than ever, but I don't know that the Jobo thing you write about is ABS or XYZ. If you do use super glue, use the thick one. It bridges gaps better.

 

[titrisol]

5 minute epoxy works in most plastics subjected to chemicals
I use it in glass an d bakelite, HDPE, PVC and even teflon.
As long as the epoxy glue is not subject to temps above 60C for long time it works real well

 

[Nick Zentena]

The tube I got wasn't the best designed for putting little amounts in tight spots. I went from nothing coming out to oops too much. Most of it squeezed out when I put the parts together. The glue line isn't too thick. I'm just hoping some of the glue that dripped out didn't go some place it shouldn't have.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Glue

Nick-I had a ZoneVI washer that started to separate on me. You realize how much outward pressue is on those outside walls? My solution was a permanent one. There is a product at marine stores called marine-tex. You carry this stuff onboard when your hull is leaking! Believe me it hardens like steel-it can be sanded and shaped. So what's not to like? Most expoxies fade in time-as I also applied some marine epoxy when I did this. The Marine-tex is stable-the expoxies are fading after 16 months.
Regards Peter

 

[Nick Zentena]

Seems to have worked okay. Some of the excess glue managed to land in the area the red rubber stopper seats and I had a leak until I peeled off the excess glue. Of course I didn't notice this when I tested with water.

Thanks everybody