Knowing how to plastic weld a bumper becomes essential to fix minor or critical bumper crashes. You don’t need to go to the body shop anymore to repair it.
As an effective method plastic welding has become popular. It ensures better results, especially for the stressed and small area of the bumper.
Most of the time bumpers typically break in the same area and it becomes more annoying. In this situation, plastic weld comes to show its role. To repair in a small area of the bumper, the plastic weld is highly recommended.
Table of Contents
Methods To Apply Plastic Welding Kit:
Repairing a plastic bumper is a tricky job because you need to proceed to weld it after knowing the type of plastic. So, there are a few approaches you can adopt for the plastic weld. Let’s discuss some of these
First Method
You’ve to know that, plastic weld of a bumper causes discoloration. During the process, you’ll see some smoke as well. This happened after using urethane.
As the most popular material, urethane is used for different auto applications. Some people know urethane as a thermoset. It can be melded with a welder because it is made by a combination of two chemicals. To weld the bumper of such material, you must be tricky.
First of all, make the welder hot as much as you need to melt the urethane. Place the welder behind the bumper. This trick works perfectly because urethane makes lots of smoke and bubbles after turning into a liquid form.
Let it cool for a while after applying. The area will turn into solid and sticky. Not only that, it becomes stronger. Using a wireless plastic welder can make this process much easier.
It’s just like a breeze, even for the beginner to weld bumper. When you are dealing with a bumper that is made of urethane and needs repair, especially the area with V-groove damage, then the following steps can help you to do it more effectively.
- Before you use the plastic welder, prepare the area first. Take a cutter bit (Teardrop) and create a V-groove. Using any kind of hot tool for melting the V-groove is not a wise decision unless the urethane does not melt.
- Use Sandpaper (80 grit more than that) to strengthen the surface around the v-groove. It will wipe out any paint.
- Setting the temperature is another important thing you must do to use a plastic welder. Use a polyurethane welding rod after setting “R1” or “Clear”. It should be melted and clear. Perfect welding won’t create any bubbling or discoloration.
- Hold the tip perfectly for melting the rod. Melt it on the surface of the plastic focusing on v-groove. Some people heat the base material that distorts the bumper. Try to avoid it and just melt the rod. Do it only on the surface.
You won’t get the result after melting both materials. Bumper material is very much sensitive to heat. So, keep your eyes open all the time.
Use at least a 2-inch welding rod for welding the bumper into the v-groove. Don’t let the welder tip cool. Do it again and again unless you complete the weld and make sure the tip is hot. But continuous welding can overheat the bumper.
Welding on the right side of the bumper material is not the last thing. You must continue to weld the bumper from the opposite side and the area of the v-groove.
For the smooth contour, use sandpaper. After grinding perfectly it’ll make the surface smooth. Use epoxy filler after using the sandpaper for the best finish.
Second method:
Thermoplastic is another material that has been used to make a bumper. The main characteristic of this material is, it easily melted with heat. So, ultimately it’s easy to repair with the plastic weld.
- First of all, use the Insta-Weld adhesive to align the outer tear surface. Using clamps is also helpful to do that. Use a teardrop cutter bit to create a v-groove.
- Take sandpaper and use it to remove the paint around the v-groove.
- Take the airless plastic welder and set the temperature according to your welding rod. It won’t lead any discoloration when the rod is melting. Maybe you’ll see a light brown shade on the material after starting the melting process.
- Start the welding slowly and let the rod melt into the v-groove. For a better visibility, pull the welder toward. As a result, you’ll see the v-groove being filled perfectly or not. In a single time, you cannot lay down the welding rod for more than two inches. Remember, you must remove the rod before it cools down from the tip.
- Now take the welding rod again and make it hot. Go over the base material thoroughly with the hot rod. To get a better result, you can press the plastic. But it should be starting from the edge. It’ll help to mix the material. That’s how the area will be smoother.
- Wait to cool down the backside after completing the welding. The job is not complete yet. Start it again, but this time from the reverse side.
- You are done with the welding. It’s time to get a better finish. Take coarse sandpaper. Grind welded area to make it more furnished.
Conclusion:
Bumper repairing is just becoming so easy only for the perfect use of plastic welders. This is the reason most people remark about it. The plastic bumper is so vulnerable, that’s why every car owner needs to know how to plastic weld a bumper.
This review comes as a guideline for those who love to rapier their car bumper as a DIY project. Repairing the plastic part of a bumper is not a challenge anymore.
But it doesn’t mean it’s simple, because you need to understand the material and the welding process. Following this guideline that I’ve discussed earlier in this review will set your skill of plastic into another level.
