Mustee Utilatwin thermoplastic sink repair

[kennerd]

As the title states, I have a Mustee Utilatwin thermoplastic sink in our pantry/laundry room outside of our garage.

The double sink is fantastic, and, among all its uses, it serves as the great place to throw pans, pots, etc. during large parties/BBQ's to be cleaned later.

Well, a friend overloaded one tub with a TON of commercial cooking gear and then filled it with soap and water: ends up it cracked BOTH plys of the thermoplastic.

The leak is minimal unless filled with enough water/wieght.

Can someone suggest a fix?

I'm thinking some sheet thermoplastic and epoxying a patch over both spots inside and out. Being in our laundry room, I'd prefer it to look somewhat neat and clean in the tub, opposed to a messy JB Weld Grey smear.

Replacement tub is too expensive, opposed to DIY. plus, I tiled it in, and have NO interest in ripping and replacing with a different model

Any sources for thermoplastic sheeting and adhesive?



Any suggestions wuld be appreciated.

 

[IndyGarage]

I'd use some form of epoxy.

You can buy a repair kit for hot tubs or boats that would fix it.

 

[kbs2244]

Do some working on finding a plastic welding guy.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

It is not the most beautiful looking sink so why not just use some basic epoxy and call it done. I would try to open the crack some first if you can before your epoxy sets. If you can't do that then maybe scuff up an area maybe 3/4 wide on either side of the crack to give the epoxy a good foothold.

 

[volaredon]

Do some working on finding a plastic welding guy.

yup gotta ID exactly which type of thermoplastic it is you gotta use "like material" for teh repair or it wont stick... is it PVC, CPVC, ABS, HDPE, or what?
Fiberglass is an example of a "thermoset" type plastic, and won't stick for long...

 

[Bernie Mac]

If you know anyone in the autobody biz they may be able to help as many repairs to bumpers and such need resin / epoxy. There are all types available to bond flexible and ridgid types of plastic

 

[kennerd]

I'd use some form of epoxy.

You can buy a repair kit for hot tubs or boats that would fix it.

I'll check that out.

Do some working on finding a plastic welding guy.

Ironically, my father did that years ago at his own father's shop, but it was so long ago, he wasn;t much help!

It is not the most beautiful looking sink so why not just use some basic epoxy and call it done. I would try to open the crack some first if you can before your epoxy sets. If you can't do that then maybe scuff up an area maybe 3/4 wide on either side of the crack to give the epoxy a good foothold.

It's a filthy ****** after the holidays and some house projects: I just emptied it to take the photos this morning: it's normally spotless (albiet very utlitarian-looking). Given the fact that it's in a very common area of the house, I can guarantee it's not going to fly to have a real snot-job of epoxy in there! (See pics below: we've made as efficient use of the space, and use it a lot): just want the seal/patch to look clean.

yup gotta ID exactly which type of thermoplastic it is you gotta use "like material" for teh repair or it wont stick... is it PVC, CPVC, ABS, HDPE, or what?
Fiberglass is an example of a "thermoset" type plastic, and won't stick for long...

I'm going to contact Mustee re: repairs. Per their website (no help, really):

■Produced with Mustee’s proprietary structural thermoplastic resins and innovative cellular molding process creating extreme strength & durability

If you know anyone in the autobody biz they may be able to help as many repairs to bumpers and such need resin / epoxy. There are all types available to bond flexible and ridgid types of plastic

I have a few body shops as clients: will tap them, to.

Ironically, I found a brand new one on Craigslist for $60, but I just don;t have the time to travel to get it: might ask a friend down in the area. Tax season officially kicks off for me this weekend, so the little spare time I find = family time with the kiddies.

The whole room needs a re-org, but it's been a little busy (especially since I'm tearing down and cleaning my new Snappy boxes), but pretty efficient use of a 9X11 room. (I need to find another home for the cookbooks: those are all 2-deep in there.)

 

[AZ Pete]

This might be the stuff you need.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002JKEA0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[kbs2244]

I know you said you didn’t want to replace it.
But…..
The original material for that kind of sink was concrete.
Pretty hard to hurt.
But heavy as heck.
They are pretty common free items because people think they are old fashioned and ugly.
But paint for concrete has improved a whole lot in recent years.
If this is a common enough occurrence, think about going back to a proven technology.

It just may be an award winning project.

Just build a real good, weight spreading, base.

 

[kennerd]

This might be the stuff you need.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002JKEA0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Thanks, Pete: I'll dig around and contact Mustee to find out what their super secret proprietary plastic actually consists of. From that amazon listing it states:
Does NOT work on olefin plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, TPO, and TEO.

Which is greek to me, so we'll just ask!

I know you said you didn’t want to replace it.
But…..
The original material for that kind of sink was concrete.
Pretty hard to hurt.
But heavy as heck.
They are pretty common free items because people think they are old fashioned and ugly.
But paint for concrete has improved a whole lot in recent years.
If this is a common enough occurrence, think about going back to a proven technology.

It just may be an award winning project.

Just build a real good, weight spreading, base.

Soapstone was extremely popular. I had seen a few in my search:

http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/atq/3541632931.html

And if you were quick and local: a pretty cool 3-tub soapstone that had to go back in January.

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/atq/3525035144.html

 

[silver2000]

If he sink is polyethylene epoxy's might not hold up. I think you might need one of those kits that basically melts a stick of PE onto the crack and they basically become one. Their are foreign kits on ebay for pretty short money. PE can be a real pain since most adhesives just won't stick to it.

 

[Modifieddriver]

Reading this thread made me go out and buy two cement sinks today

Here's pics of the first one. I have to pick up sink#2 next Sunday.

This one came out of a house built in 1923. Don't know exactly how old it is, but it's heavy duty!! Included was the riveted angle iron stand w/adjustable feet. Metal zinc on all edges along with cast in zinc wash board. I like it.

 

[kennerd]

Reading this thread made me go out and buy two cement sinks today

Here's pics of the first one. I have to pick up sink#2 next Sunday.

This one came out of a house built in 1923. Don't know exactly how old it is, but it's heavy duty!! Included was the riveted angle iron stand w/adjustable feet. Metal zinc on all edges along with cast in zinc wash board. I like it.

Nice find! When I lived in Charlotte it was easier to find good deals on things like this but living on the NYC metro area, everyone thinks they have a vintage piece of gold when they go to sell anything "antique or vintage".

Keep us posted on the install!

 

[kennerd]

Let's see if I can cut and paste this without incident, so it's easy to follow:

Generally speaking: new unit? I'll epoxy it first, for sh#ts and giggles, unless someone can refute what she's saying about the bonding:


Questions / Comments: I HAVE OWNED A 27F UTILATWIN FOR A NUMBER OF
YEARS AND IT HAS DEVELOPED TWO CRACKS: ONE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE RIGHT
BASIN AND ANOTHER IN THE BOTTOM PLY OF THE RIGHT BASIC UNDERNEATH. IT
WILL LEAK IF THERE IS A LOAD IN THE SINK OR A LARGER VOLUME OF WATER
IN IT. EXACTLY WHAT TYPE OF PLASTIC IS THE PROPRIETARY THERMOPLASTIC
LISTED AS THE MATERIAL IN THE DESCRIPTION ON THE WEBSITE? I WOUL
DLIKE TO REPAIR BOTH AND IF YOU COULD RECOMMEND THE PROPER TIME OF
PATCHING OR EPOXY MATERIAL, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT. AN EMAIL RESPONSE
IS FINE. REGARDS,

KEN

--------------------------------------------------------------------
response:
The model 27 is made from a polypropylene resin. To our knowledge
there is nothing that will permanently adhere to this material.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

So what is the recommended route to repair the crack? Replacement of the
entire unit?
Ken
--------------------------------------------------------------------
response:

As we do not know of any product that will repair that type of material, we
would suggest replacement of the unit.

 

[crazytrain]

You could try a plastic welder. http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/plastic-welders.html

 

[Browneyes]

Hi @Modifieddriver, I had a similar sink like yours. I was gonna change it to the new plastic one but thanks God I read this forum post. Could you or any expert tell me how to refinish the old sink like this to make it look nice? Thank you.

Reading this thread made me go out and buy two cement sinks today

Here's pics of the first one. I have to pick up sink#2 next Sunday.

This one came out of a house built in 1923. Don't know exactly how old it is, but it's heavy duty!! Included was the riveted angle iron stand w/adjustable feet. Metal zinc on all edges along with cast in zinc wash board. I like it.

 

[senlow]

response:
The model 27 is made from a polypropylene resin. To our knowledge
there is nothing that will permanently adhere to this material.


response:

As we do not know of any product that will repair that type of material, we
would suggest replacement of the unit.

Surprise, surprise, they want you to buy a new sink.

Polypropylene can be welded. You may want to contact an auto body shop. They weld bumper covers and other plastic body parts.