Plug (RV Water Heater)

grabcad

My RV water Heater drain plug ripped and made it so that the water tank would drain and spill the water. I took some measurements of the tank and the water plug hole and designed a new water plug for the tank. The material selection for this project boiled down to a manufacturable design that was water proof and could resist the internal temperature and pressure at the bottom of the tank and online sources the values: T = 140°FP = 0.83 PsiI ended up choosing PP for the material because of my familiarity with printing that filament with a 3D printer and because the layer lines are not an issue because the material bonds to its self. This characteristic made it difficult to find a bonder to bond the hole wall with the plug to make a water tight fit.For the bonder I initially considered J-B Weld to bond the two faces. After doing my research I found out that that would not suffice. I ended up finding a bonder called MMA - 500 which would better adhere to both the PP and PE surfaces. NOTE : I have not ordered the MMA - 500, but according to there tensile testing for shear stress resistance the bonder would be more than capable of withstanding the pressure induced at the bottom of my tank. I do not know id the bonder would work under the temperature range, because there were no sources on thermal resistance available for this bonder. The fit of the plug is sturdy as seen on picture 4 but the surrounding area would have to be cleaned up before I apply the MMA - 500. This project is not yet completed but the calculations and manufacturing of the plug design have so I will update this post later.