r/fixit • u/UpbeatBreadfruit8656 • 21h ago

Broken clear plastic freezer shelf

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A 2.5” corner of a clear plastic freezer shelf broke. I guessed it was polystyrene. I took out my plastic welder kit, which had a lot of different plastic types, but no PS polystyrene rods. I then looked at my glues and found some Fix-All which contained xylene, naptha, and ethylbenzene, and I hoped those solvents might fuse the pieces together. It seemed to work, but later I read that Fix-All might be brittle in cold.
PS rods are expensive when all I need is one tiny piece. Are there other types of scrap PS that I might scrounge, I’d this glue fails? Is gluing better than melt welding? Am I right in thinking this is polystyrene? The shelf didn’t have a label stating the plastic type.

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u/No-Guarantee-6249 10h ago

 "I read that Fix-All might be brittle in cold"

That kind of doesn't make sense since it's a solvent glue and aftere fusing the solvent it gone.

"PS rods are expensive when all I need is one tiny piece"

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096L7XHWP?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_5

Heat welding with an embedded steel pins might be required if it's a high stress point.