Repairing cracked trays

Marco Buonocore · Jul 28, 2016

I've got more than a few trays that are cracked in the corner. What do you think the best way of repairing them would be? Some sort of epoxy?

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BrianShaw · Jul 28, 2016

If replacement isn't an option, I'd try JB Weld epoxy. Prepare the surface carefully and follow the directions.

Ian Grant · Jul 28, 2016

I've used Super glue, however it's also a sign the material is ageing and it's time to replace the older trays. Epoxy doesn't seem to work well.

Ian

gone · Jul 28, 2016

Epoxy should work fine.

This has always been one of my pet peeves. Poorly designed and cheaply made photography trays. For the money they charge, you should get something a lot better than what they sell. Those corners need to be built thicker and reinforced because that's where the stress is when you pick them up when they're full of heavy chemicals. Some of my new ones cracked like that at the corners just from moving them around when they were empty!

I finally got disgusted and bought some storage trays from Walmart for small money to use for this purpose. They're made from a better, more flexible plastic. That old style hard plastic will crack and break very easily, especially as it ages. The old style, porcelain lined metal trays should last a lifetime.

Ian Grant · Jul 28, 2016

I found Epoxy repairs don't last long, the slight flexing of the trays means it separates from the plastic.

Ian

Paul Howell · Jul 28, 2016

I have a set of 16X20 trays that I don't use very often, one developed a crack, I used fiberglass kit from the auto store, has help up over the years, but likely more expensive than buying new small trays.

Hexavalent · Jul 28, 2016

Methylene chloride works on most plastic trays. It will have to clamped/secured while drying.

Mark Tate · Jul 28, 2016

Any epoxy will do, 5 minute epoxy glue works ok and I have used that my self just fine, anything else is really not worth it unless you just can not replace the tray at all, once they start to crack like that they are really at the end of there life cycle.

Rick A · Jul 28, 2016

If the trays are polystyrene, then maybe a dab of modelers cement.

AgX · Jul 28, 2016

Depends on the material. Hard-PVC and Polystyrene can be glued either with appropriate solvent-cements or Epoxy-cement.
I would not use super-glue (Cyanacrylate), but technically it would work too.

But due to the great strain put on the corner in any case I would make a bent reenforcement-piece from plastic and cement it at the back of that fracture.

Solvent cements soften the material. Best a lot of force is brought to the parts to get them in good contact. At corners as in your photo that might not be possible, Here epoxy-cement has an advantage,

DREW WILEY · Jul 28, 2016

If it's a poly- plastic it simply can't be glued; you have to heat-weld it. Only cheap trays made from solvent-susceptible material like styrene or ABS
will glue. But you might be able to temporarily seal a crack with a marine caulk. Just be certain its fully cured before putting the tray into use.

megzdad81 · Jul 28, 2016

just fixed one of mine with slo-set superglue--working great on an old (i.e., higher quality) Paterson tray

AgX · Jul 28, 2016

DREW WILEY said:
If it's a poly- plastic it simply can't be glued; you have to heat-weld it. Only cheap trays made from solvent-susceptible material like styrene or ABS
will glue..

"Poly-" is a prefeix used on many plastics and could be used on all.
It does not say anything about whether and how a plastic can be glued.

CMoore · Jul 28, 2016

Go to your local Hardware/Home Depot Store...buy a $5.00 tube of High Temp/Motor/Oil Resistant Caulk. Use that, let dry 24 hours.

Marco Buonocore · Jul 28, 2016

Lots of advice! I will pick one and give it a shot. My trays always break in the same place (pictured). Perhaps my tray rocking skills need honing.

BrianShaw · Jul 28, 2016

Your technique may be fine. It is likely that you are proving that the trays have a finite lifespan!

MattKing · Jul 28, 2016

Marco Buonocore said:
Lots of advice! I will pick one and give it a shot. My trays always break in the same place (pictured). Perhaps my tray rocking skills need honing.

I think that this is great evidence that you actually use your trays - a lot!

One trick I use for smaller prints is to put my 11x14 trays inside larger Paterson 12x16 trays. The outer tray catches spills, and the whole package is easier to agitate than a single tray.

AgX · Jul 29, 2016

Marco Buonocore said:
Lots of advice! I will pick one and give it a shot. My trays always break in the same place (pictured).

Then you may consider cementing "bandages" as I hinted at to all your trays to stop them from cracking in the first place.

DREW WILEY · Jul 29, 2016

I know a thing or two about this stuff. We sell around a million dollars a year of adhesives here, including to the marine trade. Testing whether a plastic is a true chemically-resistant poly and gluable is easy. Just rub some acetone on it and see if it hazes. If it does, its susceptible and will glue
with something appropriate like PVC pipe cement, Duco, etc. But things like polyethylene or polypropylene won't glue; and that's exactly why many
glues are sold in containers made from those very kinds of plastic! In my own darkroom I have trays made of numerous kinds of plastic, some gluable, some not, in addition to stainless tray, and acrylic trays I've made myself using solvent cements. If you want an epoxy a good common product would be PC-11 marine epoxy. It's a hardware store item widely available in small amounts, white, and holds up well in water.

Repairing cracked trays

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