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| The lid in question |
All went well for a few years. The main weakness with these is the peg onto which the spring latch grips, which can break if the lid is slammed carelessly. The mating spring catch is also consumable but is available as a spare part; on the early bins the peg is moulded in one piece with the whole lid frame, which is in turn hot-welded to the stainless steel outer. Thus, a broken peg means a new lid assembly which is a significant proportion of the cost of a new bin. These days I think that the peg is made separately and in any case there are third-party suppliers offering replacements in clip form, which will also fit the old style lid. However, as befits this mad household, my family were unwilling to break the bin in the conventional fashion. We waited until something was jammed over the peg and then tried to close the lid - when it wouldn't close, it was forced until it did, in the process twisting the lid and breaking the hinge at one end. The lid is supported by quite a strong spring acting on the hinge axis, The hinge can't be dismantled without removing the lid frame from the steel, which means breaking off all the moulded weld points and re-fixing the frame after repair with another method. So, I was faced with either buying a new lid assembly or repairing the existing hinge in situ against the spring pressure.
The form of the lid is like a plastic plate with the back edge rolled into a half-tube, inside which is the hinge pin (full-length axle joining both sides). The plastic had cracked so that the plate was separated from the remaining part of the half-tube attached to the spring.
Firstly I allowed the lid to open fully so that the spring was in its least stressed position. This allowed the two broken parts to be aligned and glued, but the joint was not nearly strong enough to cope with the spring force when the lid was being closed; so I clamped the joint in position and used epoxy glue (Araldite) both to join the pieces and to fix a short steel pin over the break at each end (along the edge of the plate/tube). Shortened panel pins were ideal for this, strengthening the joint without projecting on either side of the joint - if they did it would interfere with either the hinge action or the next phase of repair.
I looked for a length of steel or plastic pipe of the same diameter as the 'rolled half-tube' section. As it happened I had just replaced a shower curtain rail because the plastic coating had disintegrated; under it was a plain mild steel tube (a bit rusty) of 1" diameter. However, this was a little small for what I had in mind, which was to cut and shape a section to fit over the plastic rolled half-tube. When glued in place all along the length, it would sheath and essentially replace the function of the plastic half-tube and support the broken part completely. As it was all I could find, I cut the steel tube to length, de-rusted it and used emery paper to give it a brushed appearance like the bin surface, then cut it down its length in two places to give a part-cylinder. Then I needed to gradually open up the cylinder to a larger radius, until I could clip it firmly over the plastic tube. I then coated the whole inside of it with polyurethane glue (Gorilla Glue), wiped the plastic tube with water to speed the cure, and clipped it into place over the plastic tube. I clamped it in various places and left it overnight to cure, and when ready I tested the action with complete success.
The only remaining job was to give the bare brushed steel a coat of polyurethane laquer to protect it from the horrid bin contents, and to make it look like part of the original equipment.
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| It's bin mended! |
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