Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

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Harold_V
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by Harold_V »

BadDog wrote: Thu Aug 02, 2018 12:03 pm My single remaining frustration is the primer bulbs that die each season without fail. And there appear to be none available that don't. I bought a pack of 10, but they don't fit quite right and leak.
Hmmm. I have a chain saw and leaf blower, both Stihl, each of which is equipped with those little primer bulbs. I've owned the chain saw for about ten years, and the blower for at least two. Never had a moment of trouble with either of them. I also never run gas that contains ethanol.

Just sayin'!

H
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liveaboard
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by liveaboard »

Everyone here says "Buy a Stihl!"
Old guys say it in Portuguese, and while I don't speak that language, I understand.

But Stihl costs 3x what the other machines cost. I simply can't afford it. If I was working professionally with those tools, the choice would be clear.

So I bought the cheap ones, and I find that most of the machines are really ok, if you can deal with the weak points.
I had to change a few bearings, a simple and cheap job for people like us; but others would have kept going as the bearings spun and destroyed the housings.
As I said, the fuel grommets and lines.
The engines are all great; after 10 years and something like 250 hours, the strimmer still starts and runs as strong as ever.
Manufacturing has progressed a lot, and even cheapo machines are made a lot better than they used to be. The parts that used to fail [pistons, cylinders, seals] seem to be well made.
I suspect the cost of these parts is so low now that there's no profit in making bad ones.

I haven't had the primer bulb problem; I don't know if ethanol is mixed into the gasoline here, but I don't think so.
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BadDog
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by BadDog »

Harold_V wrote: Fri Aug 03, 2018 1:26 am Hmmm. I have a chain saw and leaf blower, both Stihl, each of which is equipped with those little primer bulbs. I've owned the chain saw for about ten years, and the blower for at least two. Never had a moment of trouble with either of them. I also never run gas that contains ethanol.
Agreed. But PHX AZ summer "inversion zone" air quality issues in the valley make it nearly impossible to find ethanol free fuel unless you buy it in those little quart bottles at 10x the price. If I could just find good bulbs in bulk I would be much better off, doesn't take long to change.
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Harold_V
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by Harold_V »

I hadn't thought of the local requirements for fuel. Most stations here in Lewis County sell ethanol laced fuel, but there's the odd station or two that do not. Fortunately for me, they are located such that I drive by at least one of them every time I travel to the "big city", so I keep on hand a generous supply of plain old lead free gasoline. I understand your dilemma.

H
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John Hasler
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by John Hasler »

Neoprene, which seems like a likely material for those bulbs, is rated "excellent" for resistance to both ethanol and gasoline. Buna-N, another likely material, is rated excellent for gasoline but fair for ethanol. According to Cole-Parmer it may soften, swell, and lose strength. This might not be problematic where buna-N is used in a seal (some designs actually rely on the swelling of seal materials in gasoline) but it would do in your bulbs. Try to find neoprene bulbs.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by SteveHGraham »

That's good information to have. One of the spring clamps is not getting it done, however. I pulled the hose off easily with my fingers. An adjustable clamp will at least be tight, and unlike a spring clamp, it won't give me grief when I try to get tools on it to remove it.

I'm not too impressed with the tubing. It seems pretty slack for the application.

My dad had a yacht which was jam-packed with hoses. Back when I had to maintain it, I used many, many adjustable clamps, and I never had a problem apart from old clamps snapping. People who worked on the boat before I did must have installed them too tight. If they are inferior, it seems that the risk is sometimes outweighed by the convenience and potential for a better grip. When you're 30 miles from land on the Bahama Banks, you have to have something that works right now, and boy, is it nice having a clamp you can apply or remove without taking the hose off. Nothing is worse than lying on your back in a 130-degree engine room, on a rocking boat, trying to wiggle a stiff hose onto or off of a pipe.

The worst hose clamps I ever saw were on a motorcycle. They had some kind of crimp on them. If you had to work on the hose, you could cut the crimp off. Then you had no clamp. It looks like they make a tool for putting them on. I don't know if it works for getting them off. I do know that people who manufacture motorcycles don't worry about whether you can fit the tool onto the clamp after the bike is assembled. It's usually pretty easy to get a nut driver or screwdriver onto a worm clamp.
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by BadDog »

John Hasler wrote: Fri Aug 03, 2018 8:03 am Try to find neoprene bulbs.
Thanks. I don't recall the material that was stated for the bulbs I've been getting, but I'll file that away for future use.

Steve: If the hose is hard or a too large for the nipple, or if the nipple doesn't have a barbed end, then spring clamps are unlikely to work. If you just pulled the hose off with a spring clamp on, then one or more of those likely apply. But I complete understand the aversion to using them in areas where service is somewhat frequent or hard to get to, particularly if both. Mechanical clamps do have their own advantages to consider.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by SteveHGraham »

I am wondering if there is a better grade of hose out there.
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John Hasler
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by John Hasler »

A layer or two of yellow teflon tape often works wonders.
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BadDog
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by BadDog »

I forget the name, but McMaster sells those small fuel lines (and a range of sizes) in a material that is (and stays) soft and flexible. I bought something like 2' and replumbed all mine years ago due to the OEM just disintegrating. Haven't had any trouble at all since. From memory, it's a yellowish cream tubing. I just did some google research and found a lot of solid suggestions about the material, but I don't think it was neoprene.
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BadDog
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by BadDog »

Looks like the hose I got was "Tygon".

Also regarding clamps, I don't think I've ever seen anything except spring clamps for that tiny tubing. That's what's been holding mine.
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liveaboard
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Re: Glue for Plastic in Gasoline Tank

Post by liveaboard »

3 wraps of a non corroding wire [copper galvanized steel, or stainless], pull and twist.

That's what I do when I don't have the right clamp, and it works so well that sometimes I wonder why I even bother with the right clamp.

If the hose is soft and the pressure negligible, I even use thin ty-wraps; 3 times around is the trick, then you get good and even constriction.
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