Super Soaker Central

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I got me a 2nd hand XP 310 which is leaking from a tiny crack in the tube to the pressure indicator. Click above link for a photo. The crack is located between the two tubes so it is hardly reachable. Also, the crack is very tiny, small streams of water spray from it. It is most likely not possible to fill the crack with glue for this reason.

Any chance to get this repaired? Suggestions are welcome. Can this be repaired with some kind of tape? The cracked tube is filled with water under pressure when pumped.

If you don't mind not having a working pressure gauge, you could just cut through the pipe and plug with epoxy putty.

Welcome to SSC.

cantab's suggestion is one way to approach the problem. Don't think that sealing off the hole with epoxy putty means that you can't have a pressure gauge though; you could drill a hole in the epoxy putty and tap some pipe threads into it, allowing you to potentially attach anything, from the old pressure gauge, to a pressure gauge with actual pressure units, to another PC or pump.

I'd suggest first sanding the area and then covering that area in epoxy. That should stop the leak; if it doesn't cover it in epoxy putty. If that doesn't work, try cantab's suggestion.

Here's some specific tips for a bunch of different glues and bonding materials: http://www.sscentral.org/repairs/glue.html

If the crack is being blocked off by the pipe, just fill that whole area with epoxy or epoxy putty. Epoxy that is viscous enough should find its way around the pipe, but putty will be easier to control and prevent overflows. If you can get a closer up picture showing the crack (or exactly where it is), I'll be able to suggest something better.

Most likely, you shouldn't have to cut the tube off. However, inside the casing, it's unlikely that you'll be able to attach anything that Ben suggested due to lack of space. It wouldn't be worth the trouble IMO anyway, so if you have to cut the tube, I'd suggest cutting and plugging it up.

Because the crack is between two tubes, it is hard to photograph. Especially with my zoomless cam. Here is the best I can get:



It is just a tiny crack in a small tube, but because it is pressurized water starts spraying out.

I can reach it enough to 'paint' it with epoxy glue as suggested. I'll get some epoxy glue tomorrow at my home improvement store.

I applied a layer of epoxy glue on the cracked tube. I did two applications to make a slightly thicker layer.



Using:
Bison Epoxy 5 minute

I'll test it tomorrow.

I used to use quick setting epoxy as well, but switch to something a bit more generous later on. I suppose 7-minute or 15-minute would be good, but I currently use one about 30 minutes. Longer times give you more chances to correct any slight problems, but of course, lengthen the time that you have to worry about the project.

Epoxy putty is another option, and keeping a stick of it in the workshop is not a bad idea. Putty can best be described as sticky play-doh that turns into stone in a few minutes (after being mixed) and you can use it for all sorts of projects. The only disadvantage is that it's a bit more difficult to fix up tight spaces with since it is not viscous at all and completely depends on your hands to get it to seal whatever it needs to.

In your photo highlighting the region with the leak, it's not clear which tube the crack is in...is the pressure gauge pipe the one in the background?

Good luck with the repair.

The repair was successful. 2 layers of epoxy glue and as additional security one layer of "Pattex power tape" fixed it. No more spraying water. I also took the opportunity to lubricate the trigger and pump with silicone grease. Thanks for the tips here!