Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Swimming pool pump housing repair

I have a Jacuzzi Pool pump housing that is cracked and leaking. It is made out of one of the various plastics. It is a hairline crack, but doesn't take much to leak under pressure. I have repaired it several times with JB Weld, and if I get it in the right places and thick enough it will hold for three or four months. The pump housing has been discontinued by Jacuzzi so replacing it is not an option. I could replace the whole unit, but the motor, pump, and rest of the assembly is good. It has to be "patched" from the outside as there is no apparent access to the inside in this area. Is there a product that any of you are familiar with which might work better than the JB Weld for this purpose? Anything which might adhere to the plastic housing better?
Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions,
Rick

is this just a motor with a "wet end" attached?

See if anyone in your area does plastic welding. A plastic welding tool has a heated tip that melts a stick of plastic with the surface to form a bond. They key is the plastic stick and the pump housing are compatible plastics that will bond - a polyethylene stick should be used on a polyethylene pump. The 'welder' will often melt or cut a groove along the crack to increase the bonding area for the plastic stick.

Standard epoxies don't always bond well to some plastics. At Home Depot you can find Loctite brand plastic epoxy. It's a different formulation that's designed for use with plastics. One thing though, I've problems with even that not bonding on a plastic fuel fitting.

A test patch, away from the cracked area, with the plastic epoxy will tell you if it's going to work ... or not.

If it bonds well and it doesn't chip off then give it a go. If the crack is in a place where there's no internal clearance issues you might try drilling a few small holes to let the epoxy flow to the inside of the housing. Drill the ends of the crack too. It will help prevent the crack from propagating. If you build up a bead on the inside there's far less chance that it will blow out.

Thanks for the suggestions. I just returned from Home Depot and purchased a JB product that says it's specifically for plastics. It's a putty form and what I have been using was more a thick liquid. maybe I'll be able to put it where I want it better, and at the same time a little thicker. Drilling the ends and as well through the crack is a good idea. I'll give it another go with the new stuff. The worst part of having to do it over is having to clean the area each time. It seems the product from JB I've been using sticks pretty well, just not well enough to hold the pressure after a while. I used it Monday and it was apparently a little thin as the pressure cracked it.
Wish me luck!
Rick

JB Weld is decent enough, but for a permanent repair, look into one of the structural adhesives (Scotch-Weld) from 3-M. I'm a big fan of their products right down to their tapes, and I'm sure they make an adhesive specific to your compound of plastic in that pump.