Stuart bought some Araldite Standard epoxy resin last December and it’s time to buy some more but the price has increased by about 25% - not good news !
He doesn’t need it for metal (he’ll weld the items) nor for wood (he’ll screw or use wood glue) but for plastic and other odd jobs, for the past 40 years it’s always been Araldite.
Do any of you fellas out there recommend an epoxy that is as good as (if not better) than Araldite or must he bite the bullet and pay the extra.
Thanks, guys 
Have you checked Action, fraction of the price of the Brico sheds?
Stuart does use some of their DIY stuff but we’re not sure what they’ve got in the glue department. Thanks for the head-up.
Action usually has a range of resin-based adhesive. Here’s their version of standard Araldite.
Does it need to be resin-based? For plastics I would normally use superglue (Cyanoacrylate) - or for polystyrene a styrene-specific glue.
An unfortunate habit of failing under low temperatures.
As can standard araldite. I’ve fixed broken plastic shelves from fridge and freezer with metal epoxy pâte which works much better than standard epoxy. You can’t just use it within the joint though, you have to surround the joint, but it works really well
The only successful repair I’ve managed for freezer drawers uses nuts and bolts - or other metal inserts (threaded rods, nails, bolts etc) ‘welded’into place using heat from a soldering iron or similar. If you know of an adhesive that works for freezers on the wide variety of plastics used please tell me!
Thank you everyone for your input. Pattex is a brand that Stuart has used but not that particular article. In the past he has used West System bought from Amazon in the UK and just looking now, I see that it’s available on Amazon.fr so he’ll have a look at that over the next day or two. He said the problem is that he’s too set in his ways. The old way of doing things has never let him down but perhaps he needs to update ideas on certain things. But thanks again to you all - he appreciates your input. It’s always good to bounce ideas off different people.
try amazon.de. Other German DIY sites can have excellent choice and pricing and many ship to France at very moderate cost and duty free.
Or it may still work out (given F costs) if you get it shipped from amazon.co.uk (if they will). I can’t remember if Screwfix still has an order-in-France option. If in UK I’d check Toolstation I think, as well.
Personally I’d be wary of switching away from Araldite as it has its reputation for a reason.
Never been impressed with any Pattex product.
The other brand I like is Sika but more mastic type stuff so probably not what you’re looking for.
Here’s a repair done on a fridge shelf. You don’t so much glue the broken ends together as wrap around and over as much of the break as possible as in the photo. It binds very well to the plastic. I’ve used it on freezer plastic drawers as well before with similar results.
Here’s the stuff I use.
My wife broke the ice cube tray, not repairable, cost of a new one is crazy but I expect thats the route we’ll go. The clear plastic is polycarbonate?
Not sure what it is exactly. It’s quite brittle.
By design me thinks, healthy trade in plastic fridge part replacements
Can’t find a generic one on the various espares sites?
If fridges are anything like dishwashers, there’s a lot of commonality between various brands as most are built in the same 2-3 factories.
Yes its all the hotpoint group.
Grab a model number from the fridge and let Google do the rest.*
*Other browsers are available.
Alteady found one 2nd hand, but new from e spares etc over €50. We have a stand alone ice machine so it can wait.
If you want to repair plastic then the adhesive needs to be flexible, or strong enough to hold the joint rigid. I’d probably suggest using reinforcing pieces of plastic either side to bridge across the joint, rather than a heavy layer of adhesive.
Cyano is good for very rigid joint strength but inherently hard and brittle.
They do make some more flexible versions these days
Loctite powerflex 3 as an example.
