Repairing a plastic bird bath crack?

I have a plastic bird bath that cracked along the bottom of the bowl - I left it out in the winter. I tried banging the cracked pieces to level them and this one broke off.

I hear this type of plastic is 'high energy'? and adhesives don't stick well to it?

Any advice on what to try to seal the cracks / hold that piece back in place? And not leak and not be toxic to birds when I fill it with water?

 

You also have other cracks propagating from that area. Throw it away and look for a new one..

 

I've never heard the phrase "high energy" in the context of plastic- a quick read suggests adhesives work better with low energy surfaces. The photos show a great deal of sun exposure, tho, so the surface has changed. I wonder if a hot glue gun might fix both the missing piece and the cracks. As Pilot Dane suggests, this thing may simply need replacing- a hot glue repair attempt can't hurt but might help.

 

We had the same problem with ours years ago. We used a silicone caulk for the repair. While it wasn't an easy task to get the piece to stay in the proper place, it did patch up the hole and kept it from leaking. We made sure it cured for a couple of days before filling it though (toxic fumes are harmful to birds, but considered safe after curing). It lasted for a couple of years, but as with anything made with plastic, it eventually became brittle, so we finally tossed it and purchased a cement one!

 

Agreed that it may be time to buy a replacement.
Also agree that it's worth trying a hot glue gun.

It looks like this was injection molded, so there may be a 3rd option - you MIGHT be able to re-melt the plastic together, either with solvent or with heat. I'd do a test where it won't be visible - e.g. the area on the inside of the cylinder between the threads, and try a soldering iron, wood-burning/etching iron, or even the hot tip of a hot-glue gun to see if the plastic melts and flows. Do a similar test with model-airplane glue
If one of these methods does work, then you hold the missing piece in place with duct-tape on the front, and melt together from the back. If you find the edges of the cracked piece form a 'valley' then you can use a hand file to remove some of the existing plastic from the bottom of the cylinder, then melt that into the cracks to strengthen them so you have 'ridges / struts'

 

Thanks. This has happened on previous bird baths.... gotta take them in for the whole winter.

Frustrrating that everything else about the bird bath is fine.

Yeah, hadn;'t heard of 'high / low energy' till looking into this issue on a previous bird bath : )

@hal_s Yes, That's what I would think - injection molding. Although I don't know much... what other options for plastic products is there? I saw a tik tok of a plastic boat being made. That's blow molding?https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdwy6DwC/?k=1
I'll try a soldering iron. Along the same lines, there's no plastic solder kits for plastics?

I just realized - there's loads of solvents in the plumbing aisle at home depot. Any idea which are for these types of plastics?

 

You can get a glass or concrete birdbath. They are not suseptible to UV like all plastics are.

 

To just make it water tight, you can you several sorts of mixed-epoxy that might work to hold the underside, but would be visible on the top

 

We had a concrete? / ceramic? bird bath a while ago but had the same cracking issue from freezing?

And yeah, I don't care how it looks. Just want to make sure what I use will stick to the plastic.

I have some 2 part epoxy in the syringes. 1 pack says works with 'some plastics'. The other doesn't mention plastic at all!

I have a squeeze tube of silicone caulk. I put some on the broken piece, will let it cure and see if it peels off easily.