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I have a Bosch handheld vacuum cleaner that works fabulously well. Today, however, a tiny plastic part that holds the dust container in place broke off during normal operation. The cleaner is two years old now, so I don't have warranty anymore; the only option would be to buy a replacement dust container, which costs quite a lot.
Therefore, I would like to fix the problem myself, if possible.

The locking mechanism works like shown below; basically, there's a button on the top of the dust container that is connected to an L-shaped piece of plastic, and hold into place by a small spring. If you press the button, the L-shaped part moves up, unlocking the dust container from the handset. I've employed my world-class illustration skills to bring you this sketch of the way it works: enter image description here

The L-shaped piece of plastic broke, and now looks like a sad lowercase "l": enter image description here

I was wondering whether I could glue the pieces back together, and if so, what kind of glue I would need to use. I could imagine this part bearing quite a lot of force, given it transfers movement from the handle to the rest of the vacuum cleaner.

EDIT
On community request, I'm rephrasing the actual questions:

  • Can a part like the one pictured here be glued, given the forces that apply on it during normal operation?
  • Which glue would I need to use to do so?
  • Is there a better way to fix the device?
Moritz Friedrich
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2 Answers2

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Gluing plastic is difficult - more or less so depending on the plastic type.

I'd be inclined to drill holes for 4 metal pins on both halves, to have something to carry the stress that broke it the first time. I'd probably default to a slow curing epoxy, as they are usually stronger than the "quick cure" or 5-minute types. Figure out in advance how you will clamp it, or if you'll need to remove it to clamp it. With epoxy you don't have to make the holes for the pins very precise, as the epoxy will fill around them and harden in place.

If the three grooves on top don't slot into some other part, you could partly fill them with epoxy and additional reenforcing materials (metal, fibreglass, or carbon-fiber) for additional strength of the repair attempt.

With some plastics, if you can sort out the proper solvent you can solvent-weld the plastic (basically melting a thin layer of plastic at the joint) but that's difficult to depend on when you have to guess what the plastic is in the first place.

A better way to fix the device would be to get a new part to replace the broken one from Bosch, but odds are that they don't sell just that part.

isherwood
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Ecnerwal
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I think it depends a lot on why it broke. If something broke it, that's one thing. For example, if you used excessive force removing the dust container, or accidentally struck something with it. Then repair might be reasonable -- even if the plastic was weaker than it should have been, perhaps it's strong enough for normal use.

But if the plastic snapped of its own accord, consider that it may have weakened / degraded with age. If so, it's weaker throughout, not just at the point where it snapped. In that case, any repair attempt will fail, because the plastic around the break is just as brittle as the plastic at the breaking point. Gluing will just move the point of greatest stress over into the next bit of weak plastic.

In that case, it could still work if you follow the suggestion (from another answer) to reinforce the plastic with metal rods or similar, through the entire area of higher stress.

(It's also possible that the plastic was weakened in just that one area, by fatigue from repeated flexing. In that case, the plastic immediately around the break may also be weakened, but the rest of it might be fine.)

Glenn Willen
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