Waste tote split seam.

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Sep 23, 2016
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Hello, mu camping buddy apparently stepped on our tote and when he did he split the seam.  :'( Has anyone tried to repair a seam or weld it with polyethylene welding rod? Has anyone had success repairing their tote?  The big ones are not cheap and I would hate to have to replace it if I can make a safe, reliable repair. We have the Barker the bigger size tote. Thanks in advance to any comments.
 
A permanent repair can be done.

PE welding with either a heat gun or a soldering iron require a commercial (heat) power unit and the seam needs to be gouged so new PE can fill the seam.  Before trying it I'd suggest calling a plastic shop (after a bleach and several water rinses) would do the repair. 

PE can be glued but it needs to be flame treated first.

A tank splitting from standing on it makes me wondering how old the (plastic) tank is?

 
Bummer!  I second Alloy's suggestion of a professional repair, if you want to do it yourself I'd use a piece of Eternabond roof repair tape.  The Barker tote is made out of polyethylene and after cleaning the area with Acetone, Eternabond will bond to it.

A split seam is the same as a crack in the surrounding plastic, so the fix is the same.  First thing is to drill a hole at each end of the split to relieve the tearing stress.  Otherwise the crack will keep on spreading,

If it's a short tear, that may be enough to make the tank mechanically stable and you can apply the Eternabond.  If it's a long split, you may want to make a reinforcing patch out of sheet metal, then drill and pop rivet it in place to provide mechanical strength before applying the Eternabond.

I haven't had much luck welding thin plastic.  The temperature has to be just right ... too cold and the weld breaks off, too hot and the underlying plastic melts and you wind up with a larger hole or a thin spot.
 
Have you tried getting in contact with Barker? Ya' just never know, they may replace it for free or maybe cost of shipping. The worst they can do is tell you "no".
 
I have one that a client gave me- never use it. If you are in the DFW area you can have it
 
Hmmmm, I'm typically loathe to replace something that I (or someone) can repair.  However, in this case, given the potential results of a failed repair, I think I'd err on the side of caution and replace it.

I'd prefer not to imagine what would happen if the repair failed while lugging 20 gallons of "stuff".  :shudders:
 
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