I bought this stuff called JB KWIK made by JB WELD on the reccommendation of a friend. It comes in two tubes and you mix them together & put it on the area you want to patch up. The crack runs vertical along the entire housing for the pump and extends around to the top. The entire crack is about 16" long. The pressure is supposed to get up to 60 PSI. Is this stuff going to hold for the long haul or just be a quick fix and bust open in a few weeks??
If anyone has used this apoxy for similar usage please let me know the results. If anyone has had a problem like mine and used something else, I'd love to hear about that too.
2007-05-26 05:54:57 · 5 answers · asked by lovethatdirtywater 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
J B Weld and other epoxy agents are much higher strength than other glues, but they are just that. Glue. If you are using an epoxy type glue, it derives its adhesion strength by flowing into the small cracks on each side of the crack it will be repairing. If the crack has rough and jagged edges on each side of the crack, the adhesion will be much higher than two smooth sides.
The pressure resistance of the repair will depend on the adhesion at the sides and the span to be covered.
In general, epoxies would not be recommended for pressure repairs. They basically form a plug that will stick to the sides of the crack by flowing into the irregularities in the sides of the crack. A much more preferable method of repair would be welding, where a small part of the surrounding surface is melted by the welder. while material melted from a welding rod is then intermixed with the melted sides of the housing. Basically you are recasting a small portion of the housing where the crack used to be.
The problem with welding, is that you are adding a small portion of metal along the crack, deforming the symmetry of the housing. You gave a pretty good description of the crack, but not a perfect one. If the crack comes anywhere hear a bearing surface or a seal, that deformity will have to be corrected by building up with welding material and then filing the surface down to make a sufficient approximation of the original.
If you are absolutely determined to repair rather than replace, it should be possible to melt the original materials down and recast the entire pump body. As you can guess this last option is very, very expensive and is usually done only when trying to repair something from a classic car or motorcycle where there is no replacement.
So, your best options will be either a replacement or a welded repair. Get an estimate on what your replacement pump will be, and then take the old pump to a reputable welder. (The best way to find one is to ask a farmer or a mechanic shop for a reference.) Don't go shopping around for the cheapest welder, you get what you pay for. I would guess that a sixteen inch crack in a pump (you didn't state the size of the pump) would probably mean replace rather than repair, considering that you will probably get a warranty with the new pump.
One last thing to consider is the use of this pump. If it supplies the only source of water to your house definitely replace, you don't want it to fail at the most inconvenient moment. Which is when it WILL fail, according to Murphy's Law. If it is one of three pumps that drain spring rainfall from a corner of your yard, your inclination to take a chance will go up.
Anything can be re-manufactured or repaired, I used to do classic bike restoration, and starting with a fragment we could manufacture a large part, but the cost was prohibitive to be used on anything other than very expensive collectibles.
2007-05-26 06:57:24 · answer #1 · answered by rational.anarchist 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1
2016-12-25 23:51:04 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have used JB weld for many things. It will work to seal the crack if you clean and grind the area down to bare metal. It will not last forever. It may last a few months to a year at the most. The right way is to bring the pump to a weld shop and have them braze it to seal the leak, that would be a permanent fix. If it was me, I would come up with the money for a new pump. You can buy them at menards for less than $200.
2007-05-26 06:23:27 · answer #3 · answered by morris 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
JB Weld is great stuff and works well in many applications, but this isn't one of the more likely uses for long lasting repair expectations. Realizing that you don't want to spend the money for a new unit, I'd suggest you contact your local pump repair facility and ask about a reconditoned, rebuilt pump. They usually have them on hand and ready to go, and will sometimes even give you a trade-in on your old pump.
2007-05-26 06:55:56 · answer #4 · answered by Corky R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, JB weld will not hold. I just did the exact same thing on mine and the instant I powered it up, it blew the weld and started squirting water all over the place. I am going to try traditional welding next.
2016-05-01 11:35:00 · answer #5 · answered by Melissa 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋