How do you repair a plastic radiator?

Answer 1

You don't, you just replace them.

Answerthey're not really made to be "repaired", easier to just replace it. it would be hard to "fix-it" but i would suggest a good epoxy to try and seal it, it's just hard to get it to stick to it.

you can weld the plastic with special tool that is like a soldering iron.you need these special rods nylon to be exact. the iron cost 60$. it's easy to say just replace it but mine cost $240 not to mention the labor ?

AnswerI repaired an outlet in a plastic radiator with a galvanized pipe nipple, available at any home improvement store. It's just a real short piece of pipe.

First I reamed out the hole where the outlet fitting was so a 1/2" pipe nipple would go in. Then I screwed the nipple in. I used the "plastic welder" the answerer above me described to put a bead of nylon around the nipple to protect from leaks, and then I fiberglassed the whole bottom of the radiator for good measure. This lasted for about nine months.

Would I do it again? Not really; even though I put a lot of anti-leaking stuff on the repair--the bead, the fiberglass--the radiator always leaked a little from the area of the repair.

Answer:

In many cases they aren't worth repairing. Pipe nipples, plastic weld, sealer, epoxy, all can be purchased, the work can be done, but why? Cheap replacements are available, for less than $50 including shipping in many cases, so who wants to spend hours doing some glue repair that *might* hold long enough for the radiator to start leaking somewhere else, when the whole thing can be thrown out and replaced with a new one in an hour or two?