We help people repair plastic
In 2018, nitrogen plastic welding became a scored part of the competition in the Collision Repair Technology segment of SkillsUSA.
This video is to promote awareness of the new segment, as well as help those who will be competing.
Always wear proper safety gear while working!
You can find the full SkillsUSA Collision Repair Technology PDF here: http://www.skillsusa-register.org/CRC/contentTECH/T/CollisionRepair.pdf.
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Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz0aBrDcAa8
Each step of CRT 10.0 is listed below:
Products Used:
Note: This is a list of the Polyvance products that can be used to make this repair. This list does not include sanders, grinders, or other common tools you will need. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call technical support at 800-633-3047.
Video Notes:
Music Credits:
English Transcript:
Hi, I'm Kurt Lammon with Polyvance. The purpose of this video is to show you the new nitrogen plastic welding portion of the plastic repair part of the collision repair technology segment of the SkillsUSA competition.
Alright, before we start using the plastic welder, there are a couple of important safety precautions we need to talk about. Number one, you want to use some safety glasses to protect your eyes from any flying plastic shards. It's recommended that you use some gloves. And also, most importantly, when you're using the nitrogen plastic welder, do not touch the metal barrel. This is very hot and could cause burns on the nitrogen welder and also on the airless plastic welder. Do not touch the metal barrels on either one of those.
For the SkillsUSA competition, we will be repairing a two-inch tear to the edge of the bumper in a high stress area using the nitrogen plastic welder. There are several tools that will be required: a straight die grinder or an angle die grinder with a 50 grit Roloc and a DA sander with 80 grit sandpaper. Plastic cleaning solution, aluminum body tape, and plastic welding rods will be supplied to the competitor.
Prior to grinding the surface, clean it with a plastic cleaning solution. Spray a heavy, wet coat, then wipe it dry with a clean cloth, turning the cloth with each wipe to expose a clean surface. Identify the plastic and select the proper welding rod for the job. For the SkillsUSA competition, the bumper will be a polypropylene blend, and a variety of polypropylene rods will be supplied. For this repair, we will use the medium-width ribbon on the backside.
Grind the backside to expose raw plastic with a die grinder or sandpaper. You may grind it flat or make a v-groove depending on what type of welding rod you decide to use. Here we are grinding a shallow v-groove so the weld can be flush on the backside. Also, grind along the edge, as we will weld a "tee" at the edge to reinforce the repair.
Use the supplied aluminum body tape on the cosmetic surface to align the damage. We will weld the backside first, so the frontside needs to be held together to keep everything in alignment and to prevent welding rod from flowing through the crack.
Start the welding process by preheating the bumper's surface and the end of the welding rod for a few seconds. Stick the rod down and apply a light pressure while continuing to direct the flow of hot nitrogen gas to the area where the rod and bumper come together. The most important thing is for both the rod and the bumper to melt at the same time as you make your pass. You are melting the upper surface of the bumper and the lower surface of the rod, fusing the two melted plastics together with the downward pressure on the rod.
Allow the hot welding rod to cool for a few minutes before continuing on the frontside. Blowing compressed air over the weld can speed the cooling process.
On the frontside, peel off the aluminum tape and grind a v-groove deep into the plastic with a die grinder. We will use the 1/8-inch round polypropylene rod to keep the width of the repair as narrow as possible. Here you can see we have ground through to expose some of the white welding rod from the backside.
Using the round polypropylene rod and the nitrogen welder, melt the filler rod and base material together. Again, it is critical that both plastics melt at the same time for proper fusion and strength. Note how the welder is directing the hot nitrogen gas at the point where the rod meets the bumper. Because the v-groove was fairly deep, we will apply a second pass of welding rod to fill the v-groove completely. Note that we are directing more heat on the rod on the second pass since the rod we just laid down is already very hot. To ease the sanding process, we will smooth the hot welding rod with a hot airless welder. Make one even, smooth stroke with the hot iron to level out the surface.
Allow the weld to cool completely to room temperature before doing any further work. After it is cool, sand it smooth with 80 grit in a DA sander to finish for the competition.
After completion, the integrity of the weld will be checked by flexing the part by hand. The repair should look professional and be able to withstand a considerable amount of force. As you can see, a nitrogen plastic weld done properly is very strong and can withstand considerable abuse.
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