gluing polypropylene to polypropylene

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wlai

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 20, 2009
Messages
5
I am trying to build a DIY canister out of a Rubbermaid type of container, and needed to insert a 90deg L-elbow (black with barbed fitting) into the container. Drilled a tight fitting hole and just need to glue and seal in place. Well, having trouble finding a product that can hold it in place and seal at the same time. Because of the round shape of the elbow, it wants to rotate in the round hole.

Obviously I tried GE Silicone I, but it doesn't bond to the polypro. Neither does Super/Crazy glue, as the web site said, polypro has a "oily" texture that it doesn't bond to. There are special plastic adhesive that'll do the trick, but wonder whether it'll leach toxin. Even tried soldering iron to melt the plastic a little but no go either.

I can't possibly be the only one who had run into this. Do you have a product that you've tried and worked with?

Cheers.
 
Thanks Jim. I'm going to see if can find them locally; don't have anything else to order for the moment.

Last night I tried the PVC primer/cement that is used for pipes and that's a no go as well. Who needs teflon when you got this stuff?

Thinking that I should try epoxy next. Are there epoxy that can be gotten from the big box stores that works for aquariums, or do I have to go with something aquarium formulated?
 
I recently used loctite plastic bonder to seal up a crack in a 2.5g acrylic tank I had layin around. It holds water perfect now. The packaging says its specifically designed for hard to bond plastics, including propylene and polypropylene. Got it at Lowes for like 3 dollars
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I ended up in Lowes and found this product: "Fix-It-Stick", an epoxy stick that you knead up by hand. I wasn't sure whether it was safe to use for aquarium but looking at the ingredient list it looks fine and so I bought it. Kneaded it up, sanded and cleaned the surfaces, and an hour later it's watertight and fixed in place.

Just for peace of mind, I checked on the net about its safety and found this thread: Epoxy - The Reef Tank. Looks good to me!
 
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