How to reliably restore broken threads on plastic

When repairing household appliances, you often have to deal with broken threads on the plastic housing. As a result, you have to assemble with fewer fasteners, which is naturally unreliable, or use glue, which complicates subsequent disassembly. This problem can be solved by restoring the broken thread with copper wire. This is a very simple and fast method, in which the new thread will be even stronger than the original one.

Materials and tools:

• thin copper wire;
  
• Super glue;
  
• toothpick;
  
• screwdriver;
  
• soldering iron or soldering iron.

The process of restoring threads on plastic

A thin copper wire needs to be wound around a screw or screw whose thread has broken off. It should fit between the threads. The wire is wound to the depth of the torn hole.

Then the screw or screw is placed into the hole on the plastic part and pressed with a screwdriver. Next, you need to heat it up by applying a soldering iron or directing a soldering gun. As the wire warms up, it will melt the plastic, gradually sinking into the hole.The screwdriver and screw must be held in a straight position.

As soon as the fastener lowers to the stop of the hole, you need to remove the soldering iron and wait a few seconds without removing the screwdriver so that the plastic has time to cool a little. After this, the screw is smoothly unscrewed. To prevent the soldered wire from twisting and remaining inside, it is necessary to support it by the tail protruding from the hole. Thus, the remaining spiral will serve as a thread.

After removing the screw, you need to secure the turns of wire in the hole. They will hold up well anyway, but to be safe, it’s better to glue everything. To do this, take superglue and apply it to the tip of a toothpick.

Then it is poured drop by drop into the existing gaps between the wire and the plastic of the hole.

It's okay if some of the glue gets inside the wire tube. You can pick it up with a dry toothpick. A little glue on the walls will not hurt, the main thing is that it does not flow to the bottom and thereby reduce the depth of the hole.

Having secured the thread, you need to cut off the protruding tail of the wire so that it does not interfere with the assembly of the body. This method of thread restoration is suitable for absolutely any plastic. Unlike the also common solution of gluing a screw, the fasteners can then be unscrewed and tightened many times.

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