Repairing leaking watering can

[How much?]

If you're feeling lucky and have a soldering iron try using it to weld the joint, dear Liza dear Liza :-)

[Aberdeenplotter]

technical difference between welding and soldering. Solder melts and sticks to the surfaces being soldered. Welding melts the two adjoining surfaces and along with the welding rod/wire the three melted materials melt together and solidify as the materials cool. Solder is difficult to get to adhere to materials that aren't clean. It's usual to try to "tin" the surfaces first. That is to get a coating of solder on the surfaces which will then melt and mix with the hot solder when that is applied. The surfaces being tinned have to be really clean and sometimes a flux needs to be used in addition to the solder.

[How much?]

Er, the can is plastic... the use of the soldering iron is to melt the plastic along the crack thereby forming a 'weld'
It can work with certain plastics, not all, polypropylene is a no no...

Anyway, even if it was metal there is no reason why it can not be soldered, in fact I think my galvanized can is soldered. So there!

[Potstubsdustbins]

Your both making mistakes as to what is soldering or welding and the processes used.

If you require more information, lessons in soft and hard soldering, gas welding and lead burning can be purchased right here.

Always on the make. Potty

[Aberdeenplotter]

never crossed my mind the watering can was plastic . Best try "welding" with the soldering iron from both sides of the material because if the crack remains on one side it will split again.

Agreed there is no reason why metal cannot be soldered but as stated in my earlier post the surfaceswill require to be tinnnedand will have to be really clean and sometimes a flux needs to be used in addition to the solder before a soldered joint will hold.

May your watering can never leak will be my New Years toast to you.

[veggiechicken]

My only experience of "melting" plastic was when I was about 9 and had had a fight with my brother He knocked off my plastic NHS specs and they broke across the bridge. My father held them in the gas flame thinking he could melt them and stick them back together. Up they went in flames! I struggled through the next few days with my specs held together with a matchstick and lot of elastoplast
I was a lot more selfconscious then than I am now

[Potstubsdustbins]

Agreed there is no reason why metal cannot be soldered but as stated in my earlier post the surfaceswill require to be tinnnedand will have to be really clean and sometimes a flux needs to be used in addition to the solder before a soldered joint will hold.

May your watering can never leak will be my New Years toast to you.

About the only thing right there is about cleaning. Depends on what your soldering as to whether you need to tin the surfaces. And you Always must use a flux. That is always, flux prevents oxidisation during the process, oxidisation is dirt, dirt equals joint failure whne soldering.

Potty

[Aberdeenplotter]

About the only thing right there is about cleaning. Depends on what your soldering as to whether you need to tin the surfaces. And you Always must use a flux. That is always, flux prevents oxidisation during the process, oxidisation is dirt, dirt equals joint failure whne soldering.

Potty

Potty, It may well be that a better soldered connection can be obtained by use of flux because flux prevents oxidisation and indeed in the plumbing industry it may well be an absolute requirement but we are talking about a simple repair to a watering can here.

If cleaned and tinned, most metals will bond together with solder and if the surfaces are clean then solder will hold without flux. I know that from having done it. My soldered joints may well fail earlier than they would have done had I used flux but as I type they are still sound.

[Potstubsdustbins]

AP I dont want to argue the point but without flux the required chemical changes just don't happen. Many people think that soldering is a way of sticking two metals together where as if done correctly there is a chemical change to the solder as well as a mechanical bond.

During the process tiny amounts of the parent metal are melted and flow with the filler solder. This would seem strange as it is widely excepted that the solder melts well below the melting point of the parent metal and to the naked eye this is so.

However the example I was given when learning to solder was table salt. Table salt melts at 1488`F but will dissolve in water at room temperature. Its a similar process in soldering when done by the pro.

Potty

[Aberdeenplotter]

Potty, I'm not going to argue the point either save to say my DIY soldering repair was to plug a leak, not join two pieces of metal together and as said earlier it worked.

[How much?]

it's frightening how me simply suggesting using a soldering iron can almost start world war 3 , I wish i had never mentioned it :-(

I much prefer gardening than arguing ...

[veggiechicken]

Don't worry, How much? - they're not arguing - just discussing the finer points of welding or is it soldering This is how we learn on here - and rarely do 2 people do anything the same way either. Ask a question like "when should I plant out my garlic" and you'll have as many variables as you can think of!
Its all in good fun

[Aberdeenplotter]

it's frightening how me simply suggesting using a soldering iron can almost start world war 3 , I wish i had never mentioned it :-(

I much prefer gardening than arguing ...

As VC says don't worry about it. Potty and I have had an exchange of ideas nowt more than that. Potty rightly saying if a job is to be done it should be done properly. Me saying it can be done more simply by bodging .

I'm from an age when a leak in a car radiator could be cured by adding oatmeal or the white of an egg. A mechanic would throw its hands up at that and Potty as a professional has simply thrown his hands up.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Don't worry how much, you'll know for sure if AP gets in an argumentative mood. Or worse still the redoubtable VC.

Potty

[Madasafish]

I repaired my plastic watering can using Leak Fix.. rather like Plastic Padding. I also used it to repair my leaking plastic 45 gallon drum in the greenhouse. Repairs last for years..

It's also good for repairing leaking pipes, broken pipes and broken plastic anything..

Ideal for bodgers..