Help! Need to know what 2010 Bighorn grey tank made of.

[Jill Laidlaw]

Help! Need to know what 2010 Bighorn grey tank made of. We have a leak where the tank rubbed on the angle iron frame, but need to know if it is plastic or ABS. Thanks!
Jill

 

[rhodies1]

It’s not plastic. It’s a weird product that is difficult to seal or bond materials. I know there is someone on the forum who has the right answer.

 

[2019_V22]

They're made of "Grey matter", couldn't resist.
Polyethylene Resin I believe.

Link #1
https://www.plastic-mart.com/rv-water-waste-holding-tanks/rv-holding-tanks/

Link #2
https://rotodynamics.com/polyethylene-in-rotational-molding-characteristics-and-types/

 

[travelin2]

ABS. I patched mine using nylon screen and JB Weld epoxy for plastic

Lyle

 

[taskswap]

If you wipe a small spot with acetone and its color transfers onto the rag or paper towel, it's almost certainly ABS. If the surface softens a bit but doesn't transfer color, it's probably polyethylene. There are other tests for other plastics but your tank is almost certainly one of the two so that's an easy place to start. Obviously don't dump a bottle of solvent on there. Just wipe a small area (near the top/non-structural part) with a rag for 5 seconds or so.

Another clue is how the tank is made. ABS can't be roto-molded easily, while polyethylene is harder to bond with heat. If you see "plastic welds" (melted-looking beads like how metal looks when welded) at the corners it's probably ABS. If it's very smooth especially in the corners with no seams at all, PE. Almost all roto-molded tanks are PE, and almost all oddly-shaped, welded-up tanks are ABS for this reason.

There are some other plastics and even variants of these like HDPE (usually white - your typical cutting board material). These are just simple tests and not guaranteed to be 100% accurate but they'll give you a good start.

 

[SLO]

My 2016 Bighorn grey tank is polyethylene. When mine developed a leak near the angle iron frame, I used these LDPE strips to make a repair.

https://www.amazon.com/Poly-Welder-Polyethylene-Welding-Strips/dp/B00VMGO1K6/ref=asc_df_B00VMGO1IS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697394572525&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8331178522276620010&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014232&hvtargid=pla-491938081169&mcid=9242545738a833bda6f57eeb863f4c4d&gad_source=1&th=1

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