Reattaching a brass thread insert to case plastic

[Glaurung-quena]

Every so often, I discover that one of the brass thread inserts on a palmrest, keyboard bezel, or (today) a hard drive door cover has come loose.

What is more likely to give the best results in terms of durability of the repaired part (I know nothing is going to work as well as replacing the part, but that's not always possible when dealing with 21 year old laptops):

1. put black ABS glue into the hole the brass insert came out of, press the insert back in place, let it dry (I have done this once or twice, it seems to work, but I am doubtful about durability).

ABS glue melts abs plastic, basically welding the pieces together, so I figured it was the best solution and have been using it when I absolutely cannot find a replacement part, but is there something better? Alternatives I can think of include:

2. use some other kind of glue.
3. press the insert back into place, then heat it with a soldering iron to melt the surrounding plastic.

[dcfbf]

I use the soldering iron on the insert method. It works even when the plastic around it is mostly broken off.
I fix cracked plastics with my soldering iron too.

My soldering iron is more of a heat wand than a soldering iron.

[astral]

+1 on the soldering iron, assuming the plastic is intact enough to work. In absence of that, any sort of superglue or epoxy that works well on plastics is suitable. I would especially recommend something like JB Weld if you're dealing with plastic that's going to be put under stress (ie, display hinge mounts).