Polypropylene Gas Tank Repair- It CAN Be Done

When you google polypropylene gas tank repair, google gives you a snippet from itstillruns.com that claims that polypropylene gas tanks cannot repaired. That statement is false. That snippet is categorically untrue. Itstillruns.com is just a blog site, paid for by ads all over the place. Anyone can submit a blog page on it and we question Google’s newest search algorithm, if their first returned result is a falsehood. But I digress. The good news is that YES YOU CAN, repair a polypropylene gas tank. First let us run through the reasons that the suggestion on itstillruns.com, are a bad idea.

Itstillruns.com says to fix a hole in your polypropylene gas tank, you are to melt the plastic back together. But there are SEVERAL MAJOR PROBLEMS with this. First of all, by stretching the remaining plastic out, you are thinning it. The areas of stretched plastic are going to thin and more accident prone. It will not have the same strength as the rest of the tank. Naturally this weakened area suffers from wall thinning, which could result in catastrophic failure. Furthermore, depending on the size of the area to be repaired, you can drastically change the entire shape of your gas tank, which could lead to obvious function and reinstallation problems. There are yet more hazardous problems, with the novice itstillruns.com blog/ad pop up page, but the severity of the first two, eliminates the need to even mention them.

Our Performance Guarantee

If you need further convincing, that you CAN repair polypropylene gas tanks, with our polypropylene gas tank repair kit, our lifetime guarantee should do the trick. Our Tech-Patches are made of a revolutionary poly material, fluorosilicone, that is impervious to gas and age resistant. Itstillruns.com is wrong about one more key fact when repairing polypropylene gas tanks. While gas will tear through MOST adhesives, there are some that are impervious to gasoline and ours is one of them. Our Surface Insensitive Adhesive is completely impervious to gasoline. It will NOT eat through it. Like our Tech-Patches, it is also age resistant and will not degrade or fall off with time. No matter how large or small your repair area is, the TPRS (Tech-Patch Repair System), will fix it without the need for any structural changes or wall thinning. Our Tech-Patches are fully customizable to fit your repair needs. The bonds created between the Tech-Patch and your polypropylene gas tank are permanent, thanks to our patented Bonding Poly Process (Process).

Commonly Overlooked Polypropylene Gas Tank Repair Obstacles

Instructional videos at the bottom of the page.

There are two obstacles that are not usually considered in the repair of a gas tank. These issues are:

1. The first we have already covered and that is gas will eventually eat through most adhesives. Gas, oil, nor any hydrocarbon will not have any effect of our SI Structural Adhesives … ever. We have an ongoing lab test where bonds have been immersed in gasoline for a number of years. Bonds have retained 100% strength.
2. Gas tanks, especially plastic gas tanks, expand and contract. Cured adhesives do not expand or contract. When gas tanks expand, cured adhesives crack. Gas then leaks. A repair on any gas tank, but especially plastic gas tanks needs to be able to handle the expansion and/or contraction that comes from changes in temperature. Tech-Patches expand and contract with the substrate.
   

There is a video at the bottom of the page showing how to apply a Tech-Patch to a plastic gas can. Since 2017, when the video was shot, that plastic gas can has been put in the sun on a hot day a couple dozen times. Of course, the tank ballooned. Since Tech-Patches are bonded on, the patch expanded and contracted with the temperature. Not a drop of gasoline has leaked … ever. Since Tech-Patches are bonded on with our patented Polymer Bonding Process, they are permanent.

Polypropylene Gas Tank problems:

There are three possible problems with polypropylene gas tanks.

• Pin hole leaks
• A crack in the tank
• A hole in the tank.

Issues of Concern:

Whenever there is a crack in a plastic or metal gas can, you need to drill a hole at each end of the crack to prevent that crack from widening. If you do not drill a hole at each end, the crack will lengthen and leakage will result.

Steps For Repairing a Polypropylene Gas Tank

1. Surface preparation is critical.
2. If the problem is a crack drill a small hole at each end of the crack.
3. Aggressively rough the surface with medium grit sandpaper. 
4. Clean the surface with any cleaner that will not leave a residue.
5. Wipe the surface with a soft cloth.
6. Saturate the prepped area with the Poly Prep.  Let the Poly Prep dry. Once a poly is primed with Tech-Bond’s Poly Prep, that poly is primed forever.
7. Spray the prepped area with the Activator/Accelerator (AA). Let the AA dry. Once sprayed with AA, you have an hour of work time.
8. Warm the prepped surface with a heat gun or hair dryer.  Warm until the surface is just below hot, approximately 120 degrees F. 
9. Liberally apply SI Black to the matte side of the Tech-Patch except for diagonal corners. Make sure edges of the crack of hole will be covered with the SI adhesive
10. Grab the adhesive free diagonal corners, apply tension and press onto the problem area of the tank. Grab will be quick.
11. Press the edges of the Tech-Patch down with our fingers.
12. CRITICAL. Use the glue squeegee to apply pressure on the Tech-Patch from the center out.
13. Glue down the corners with the SI Black.
14. Apply a bead of SI Black to the perimeter to the perimeter of the patch. Spray with AA.
15. Visually inspect the Tech-Patch for problems.

Customizable Kits

A Tech-Patch, sized to fit the problem. Patches come in sizes from 2″ x 3″ to 6″ x 24″ and can be cut to fit your problem.
A Poly Kit (or higher) which contains:SI Black, our thicker structural adhesive. Thicker to give you the control needed to apply a Tech-Patch.
Poly Prep, an adhesion promoter for polymers and poly plastics.
An Activator/Accelerator (AA), the AA is critical to the Process.
A heat gun, hair dryer or other heat source.
Glue squeegee
Sandpaper
Instructions