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I have an expensive trash can whose plastic hinge cracked. Is there any way to restore it to its former strength? In my experience, epoxies do not stand the test of time for this sort of thing, especially with plastics. I was thinking that there is probably some way to weld the pieces together. Has anyone here done this?
UPDATE: Following Chris' advice, I used a soldering iron to melt the pieces together. I also sunk a piece of wire into the joint for added strength. We'll see how it holds up!
There are a number of kits available for plastic welding - you will need to identify the specific type of plastic, though.
You can take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_welding for more information on the different types - though for a trash can, you're probably looking for something heat-based, probably using a large soldering iron.
You might want to contact the manufacturer of the can.
I recently had a plastic part break on my simplehuman trash can, and called them to see how much a replacement part would cost. To my surprise, they sent me the part for free, despite the fact that the can was 8 or 9 years old.
