Repairing roto-molded cooler

[Dsnow9]

Does anyone have any recommendations or experience repairing coolers. I have a pelican 70 that we must have set down hard fill of elk this week and cracked the bottom. I tried to get it covered under warranty but no dice…

 

[DouglasR]

JB weld
Some type of fiberglass repair kit

 

[Mallardsx2]

Drill a tiny hole in that flap, pull it back flush, then super glue it on a few spots to hold the flap in place.

Then smear jb weld around the crack with a business card. Fill the tiny hole you drilled too…

Call it a day and have you a beer.

 

[Dakotakid]

Drill a tiny hole in that flap, pull it back flush, then super glue it on a few spots to hold the flap in place.

Then smear jb weld around the crack with a business card. Fill the tiny hole you drilled too…

Call it a day and have you a beer.

I might use an epoxy and a patch from a plastic jug, but same.

 

[wolfpup]

Yes I am thinking some sort of fillable / expandable foam....

Drill a hole in the flap and fill it with expandable foam or similar to fill the hollow area until that flap is flush. Then I would melt the plastic on the edges and just put a cover over the whole area (maybe kydex or something) (probably secure with screws that are flush or countersunk). Then use JB weld or something to make sure all edges are flush and won't catch.
Or just mass amounts of JB Weld

 

[bullbugle307]

No experience with this, but I think I would look at some kind of foam as well.

 

[elkduds]

Can you get a patch cut from a plastic bucket behind it and epoxy?

 

[Dsnow9]

Can you get a patch cut from a plastic bucket behind it and epoxy?

I was thinking about just trying to pop the piece up flush and epoxy it or just rip out the piece and fill the entire hole with epoxy. Wasn’t sure if anyone had experience. Looks like everyone has similar ideas. I’ll look into the epoxy and jb weld I have here and see what will work the best

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Bondo or a 2 part epoxy also works.

 

[shannerdrake]

JB Weld is what duct tape wants to be when it grows up.

 

[Sagebrush1]

I fixed a hole in a kayak with resin/glass fabric. Remove that piece, refill the dented foam, sand (80ish grit) a patch maybe 3-4” larger in diameter than the hole, apply the patch, sand or paint if you want.

There are surfboard repair kits that have resin/hardener and a piece of fiberglass for pretty cheap. You can get the polyester resin that hardens with UV exposure so all you do is set it in the sun for 10 minutes and you’re set.

 

[Scott85]

they make a plastic weld kit.

 

[mtmuley]

Cut out the damaged piece. Fill the void with foam if you need to. Cut a new piece of plastic and you can "weld" it in place with a wood burning tool. mtmuley

 

[Beignet]

There are surfboard repair kits that have resin/hardener and a piece of fiberglass for pretty cheap. You can get the polyester resin that hardens with UV exposure so all you do is set it in the sun for 10 minutes and you’re set.

Solarez is the stuff. A small tube is cheap and it cures strong. Don’t even need to layer fiberglass on top as they put fibers of the stuff right in the epoxy now. If you know anyone who ties flies they probably have a UV flashlight that’ll cure it right up.

 

[Farmerj]

Plastic weld a new piece in. Somewhere on the cooler it should indicate what kind of plastic it is.

If the foam has gotten wet inside…

Check it and go get a new cooler

 

[Scott85]

Shameless plug for the best cooler brand.

 

[Slm864]

I think any kind of marine grade epoxy or boat repair as mentioned would be the way to go. If people patch holes in boats and trust the repair to stay afloat I think it can keep your ice inside.

 

[HiMtnHntr]

A bunch of good ideas here. I used JB weld plastic weld on mine. Still holding up.

 

[LuketheDog]

I was thinking about just trying to pop the piece up flush and epoxy it or just rip out the piece and fill the entire hole with epoxy. Wasn’t sure if anyone had experience. Looks like everyone has similar ideas. I’ll look into the epoxy and jb weld I have here and see what will work the best

Oooh, look how sad I am! I had so much elk in my cooler I broke it!


...If the hole needs filling under the broken flap put a little low-expansion foam in there, let it dry, then scrape off the excess. Then take a 2-part epoxy rated for plastic, HD or Lowes will have it in a double-syringe tube about the size of your finger, and spread it on evenly with a cheap plastic scraper. You can sand that smooth after it's dry or just leave it as a battle wound.

 

[Ronin75]

Interesting that I have a Pelican cooler that is now leaking, I can’t find any internal cracks. The water is coming out of the two exterior pads that the cooler sits on. The bottom interior is now starting to separate which you can feel if you push down on it. Filed a warrant request with pelican and I’m now waiting to see if the accept my claim. Might be something to keep in mind guys. I hope they stand behind their warranty.