Best way to fix a Pond Leak

I have one of those premolded plastic ponds you see in Lowes. It has a
small crack in it. How is the best way to patch it. I have tried
liner patch along with silicone but that seems to disinigrate in a few
years. Any other better ways to patch it that adheres to the molded
plastic and thaws and heats along with the pond so it does not seperate
from the pond?

Thanks
Rick

If it takes a few years to start leaking again I would have to assume
you probably have your moneys worth out of that preform already. But I
like you am not too eager to pich something away either.......There is
"NO" and I repeat, there is NO adhesives or sealants which will stick
to these preforms long term..no matter what a manufacturer or other
ponder may say..........The Plastics Manufufacturing Council will even
point out this fact......NO Suitable adhesives nor sealants for these
type materials. The materials in use are either Polyethylene (PE) or
Polyproplyene (PP) material. The only fix for them is:

Use a hot air type plastic welder. The material needs to be heated ,
deoxidized by heat and mew material laid in on the hole or crack etc
by use of a plastic welder. Now that may sound hi tech, but you can
get a basic hot air plastic welding gun at Harbor Freight for under
$40.00 You can also get the correct type mateiral PE, PP, PVC. ABS etc
filler rods at Harbor Freight or online, or simply look for a material
with letters on it which are the same letters as what material your
using, as its been industry standard for the most part to have the
type material an item is molded out of also engraved on the mold. Look
at some larger pieces of items that have been molded, and you will
probably find the PE ., or PP etc letters somewhere on them. You can
then use this as filler material if you cut it into thin strips and
use it for filler material. You will also need an air compressor,
don;t have to be large and fancy, just a decent supply of compressed
air at approximately 1 to 2 psi..............It may take a bit of
practice to be able to weld or lay a bead of repair material on the
leak or hole etc, but its certainly doable. Is it for
everyone...can't really say as if you have to buy the welder and a air
compressor your already talking more than a new preform....if you have
to pay someone else to do it, then you have to figure out those costs
as well. I obtained 6 or 7 preform ponds from Walmart who had cut
them in half with a knife and threw them in a dumpster. I hot air
welded each and every one of them back together, had one with a small
pin hole leak, and after I fixed that I had quite a few preforms to
play with which I have put into use last year and they have been
trouble free........

McCourt preforms (typically sold at Lowes) has minute bubbles of
nitrogen in their preformed ponds to make them lighter and more
pliable.......they are more of a problem to weld up but still doable.

You may just be better off replacing the preform, and figuring out
what caused the hole or crack, to eliminate the problem later on with
a new preform. You can always take it back to Lowes if you have the
receipt as Mc Court and a lot of other preforms have a long warranty
against "defects" and try having it replaced that way if it was not a
problem caused by install or during use and it was a manuf.
defect.....

Have fun,...but installing any temp patch knowing full well its gonna
leak again is not a good way to have anything as its going to fail at
the most inoportune time eventually........



On 9 Jun 2005 11:59:53 -0700, wrote:

===I have one of those premolded plastic ponds you see in Lowes. It has a
===small crack in it. How is the best way to patch it. I have tried
===liner patch along with silicone but that seems to disinigrate in a few
===years. Any other better ways to patch it that adheres to the molded
===plastic and thaws and heats along with the pond so it does not seperate
===from the pond?
===
===Thanks
===Rick


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }(((((o

That is the info that I needed. Perfect! Thanks

Rick

This is how my father fixes plastic wine barrels !!!

~Roy~ wrote:
If it takes a few years to start leaking again I would have to assume
you probably have your moneys worth out of that preform already. But I
like you am not too eager to pich something away either.......There is
"NO" and I repeat, there is NO adhesives or sealants which will stick
to these preforms long term..no matter what a manufacturer or other
ponder may say..........The Plastics Manufufacturing Council will even
point out this fact......NO Suitable adhesives nor sealants for these
type materials. The materials in use are either Polyethylene (PE) or
Polyproplyene (PP) material. The only fix for them is:

Use a hot air type plastic welder. The material needs to be heated ,
deoxidized by heat and mew material laid in on the hole or crack etc
by use of a plastic welder. Now that may sound hi tech, but you can
get a basic hot air plastic welding gun at Harbor Freight for under
$40.00 You can also get the correct type mateiral PE, PP, PVC. ABS etc
filler rods at Harbor Freight or online, or simply look for a material
with letters on it which are the same letters as what material your
using, as its been industry standard for the most part to have the
type material an item is molded out of also engraved on the mold. Look
at some larger pieces of items that have been molded, and you will
probably find the PE ., or PP etc letters somewhere on them. You can
then use this as filler material if you cut it into thin strips and
use it for filler material. You will also need an air compressor,
don;t have to be large and fancy, just a decent supply of compressed
air at approximately 1 to 2 psi..............It may take a bit of
practice to be able to weld or lay a bead of repair material on the
leak or hole etc, but its certainly doable. Is it for
everyone...can't really say as if you have to buy the welder and a air
compressor your already talking more than a new preform....if you have
to pay someone else to do it, then you have to figure out those costs
as well. I obtained 6 or 7 preform ponds from Walmart who had cut
them in half with a knife and threw them in a dumpster. I hot air
welded each and every one of them back together, had one with a small
pin hole leak, and after I fixed that I had quite a few preforms to
play with which I have put into use last year and they have been
trouble free........

McCourt preforms (typically sold at Lowes) has minute bubbles of
nitrogen in their preformed ponds to make them lighter and more
pliable.......they are more of a problem to weld up but still doable.

You may just be better off replacing the preform, and figuring out
what caused the hole or crack, to eliminate the problem later on with
a new preform. You can always take it back to Lowes if you have the
receipt as Mc Court and a lot of other preforms have a long warranty
against "defects" and try having it replaced that way if it was not a
problem caused by install or during use and it was a manuf.
defect.....

Have fun,...but installing any temp patch knowing full well its gonna
leak again is not a good way to have anything as its going to fail at
the most inoportune time eventually........



On 9 Jun 2005 11:59:53 -0700, wrote:


===I have one of those premolded plastic ponds you see in Lowes. It has a
===small crack in it. How is the best way to patch it. I have tried
===liner patch along with silicone but that seems to disinigrate in a few
===years. Any other better ways to patch it that adheres to the molded
===plastic and thaws and heats along with the pond so it does not seperate
===from the pond?
===
===Thanks
===Rick



==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }(((((o

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have one of those premolded plastic ponds you see in Lowes. It has a
small crack in it. How is the best way to patch it. I have tried
liner patch along with silicone but that seems to disinigrate in a few
years. Any other better ways to patch it that adheres to the molded
plastic and thaws and heats along with the pond so it does not seperate
from the pond?

Thanks
Rick

Couldn't you just line it with pond rubber?

A

Couple of years back I had a worst pond leak problem a friend of mine told me the way How to fix a leaking pond he suggested me to use pondpro2000 to fix that leak and that really worked for me www.pondpro2000.com/why_pondpro.html