Kodak tank repair

[juan]

I've acquired an old Kodak 8x10 hard rubber tank and it has a big crack down one side. Any ideas about what glue would be best to try to repair it? My first thought was epoxy, but thinking further, I believe I need something thin that would run inside the crack, dissolve the rubber, and fuse the pieces back together - sort of like model airplane glue used to do to plastic. Or maybe PVC cement?

Any suggestions?
juan

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've used epoxy, and it works, but eventually I decided that since tanks are cheap and plentiful, I'd just get more tanks and used the cracked ones to hold loaded hangers before putting them into the developer or as wash tanks.

 

[bdial]

If the crack is tight, thin cyanoacrylate (aka super glue) might work well, but it won't have a solvent action on the rubber. You apply it along the crack and capillary action pulls it in. You can get the thin stuff at hobby stores, many of the consumer CA glues have thickener in them. I doubt that any solvent glues would do much with the rubber in terms of dissolving it slightly.

 

[MikeSeb]

JB Weld.

But a new tank is likely to cost less than the glue!

 

[juan]

JB Weld was my first thought, as I have some of that. I've used it to repair typewriter frames. Ha. Have you actually tried it on hard rubber?
juan

 

[AllenR]

JB Weld was my first thought, as I have some of that. I've used it to repair typewriter frames. Ha. Have you actually tried it on hard rubber?
juan

Juan,

I've used both JB Weld and CA on hard rubber tanks. Both work, although the JB Weld provides a stronger repair.

Something to kinda watch for in hard rubber tanks is deterioration of the rubber. One manifestation of this seems to be an oily sheen on the surface of the water. No amount of cleaning or flushing of the tank eliminates the problem. A chemist friend confirmed that deterioration does occur and pointed me at the link below, which provides some insight into the deterioration of hard rubber. Scroll down to the section "Vulcanized Rubber, Especially Hard Rubber (Vulcanite and Ebonite)"

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/waac/wn/wn24/wn24-1/wn24-102.html

I have a few hard rubber tanks that seem to be ok, but many more that are not usable.

 

[jim appleyard]

Epoxy works well, I've used it on my tank. If there's a ski shop near you, get a P-tex pencil. You light the end on fire and melt it into the crack. This is how gouges and scratches are mended on skis. Just do it outside as it does smell a bit.