OzSTOC

Honda ST1100 Section => Plastic, Fairings, Panniers and Top Box's 1100 => Topic started by: Rodd on June 11, 2021, 05:19:57 PM

Title: Oxidised plastic
Post by: Rodd on June 11, 2021, 05:19:57 PM
I watched a video on youtube where a guy used a heat gun to remove the oxidisation from plastic parts.
He set his heat gun to 'low'.

The handles on my panniers were grey with oxidisation and I tried the heat gun method to reduce it.
When I set my heat gun to 'low' it didn't produce enough heat to remove the oxidisation, so I had to set it to high and kept it further away.

You can 'over cook' it, so it's important to keep the gun moving, and it's best to have a steady sweep. Rather than moving the gun slowly to try to do it I found that it's better to sweep and change the colour a bit with each sweep.
Unfortunately, the sharper edges of the plastic melt first.. and I'm yet to perfect it.

Here are some pics of the two panniers. One has been done (and I painted the lock clips) and the other hasn't.
As you may notice in the photos that I haven't perfected it (cos, I didn't want to ruin the handles) but it has made an improvement. I think that I did a better job when I de-oxidised the other handle.

On reassembly I put silicon grease on the detent ball and spring, and the hinges.. and polished the plastic area behind where the handle mounts.