Frequently Asked Questions
How long have you been in this business?
We have been in the plastic welding business for 28 years now, starting as a Trimline Systems franchisee in 1995. Prior to this we had 21 years experience in the plastics processing industry.
Do you weld plastics?
We specialise in plastic welding repairs to car door mirrors, headlamps and motorcycle fairings etc.
See Plastic Welding
We also regularly fix broken, split and cracked plastics in the industrial, insurance, agricultural, construction, marine and domestic sectors e.g. diesel fuel and water tanks, household
items, farm, garden and industrial machinery.
Can all plastics be welded?
There are two types of plastics i.e. thermoplastics and thermosets. Thermoplastics will melt when heated but thermosets will not. Melting is essential for plastic welding so only thermoplastics can be welded.
Most modern everyday plastics are usually thermoplastics and can be welded. Any plastics which operate at an elevated temperature (e.g. plastic parts on a car radiator and engine) are normally thermosets, because they wont melt or distort, so this type of plastic can't be welded.
However, many thermoplastic materials are cross-linked during the manufacture process and this makes them behave like a thermoset. This means they can't be repaired by plastic welding. Examples of cross-linked thermoplastic polyethylene products are some (not all) canoes, boats, kayaks and some plastic fuel tanks.
Do you repair cracked car bumpers?
We do not do plastic welding repairs to modern car bumpers because the plastic materials used are made from blends of differenet plastics or have talc or glass fibres added to the plastic during manufacture. Years ago when car bumpers were made from virgin plastics like PP or ABS with no additives then plastic welding repairs were possible. However Body Shops can usually use hot staples to repair car bumpers but Smartfix does not use this technique.
Do you repair cracked and broken motorcycle fairings and can you paint them?
We regularly repair bike fairings ranging from a single crack to badly broken panels and fixing lugs.
We don't offer a painting service as our expertise is in plastic welding. Therefore you will be able to see the high standard of our repairs before any refinishing materials are applied. We do sand down the repair ready for refinishing.
Can you repair plastic water, heating oil and diesel tanks?
If the tank is made from a thermoplastic material and if we can access the damaged area then a repair should be possible. We do not repair cross-linked plastic tanks.
We regularly repair split, cracked, leaking diesel fuel tanks on construction plant, tractors and other agricultural vehicles. We do not repair plastic petrol tanks.
Click here to see Recent Plastic Welding Repairs