Repairing My 250 Acrylic..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well
I DIY'd my repairs on my newest addition to the tank family. MY 250 I repaired with the advice of a Leading and tenured acrylic frabrication company.. here in Utah
And an Extra Special Thanks to MY Beautiful Wife Marissa for her patience and help in this project She's done most the work on the stand ... You remeber her
Also a special thanks to Oddball and Rallysman for their knowledge and experience!! ANd answering their PM's
At first the task was said to be not worth it and that I should just replace the tank? Now it is almost ready to enter the house. It holds water beautifully and is in the finishing stages ..
Process
1- I used weld on #3 to pull the separation of the front bottom and walls together.
2-I then did it again and again.. Like 3 days of this ..
3-Cut my patches (to cover the cracks that I fixed as well as the separation just incase.)
4-I mixed up the Weldon #40 as Directed
5- I finished filling with Weldon 40 the separation
6-I immediately added a nice coat of Weldon 40 to about 4? of the bottom, thus covering the base and the bottom of the face wall..
7-Immediately after.. I placed the first patch.
8-then completed step 6 on other half of face..
9-Completed step 8 for other half..
10-Placed to small patches on both sides to act as a 3 corner brace for the front (just in case)
11-let dry and then sanded down to flush
12-1.5 days later I filled it.
13-a week later (this morning) I drained it..
Now I am going to refinish it and build my stand and filter system
The Lead tech at of the acrylic company approved with amazing delight when I told him how I would perform this. And said it would be as strong as if it were new or stronger.. His main concern was vanity .. But after I explained my full plan and that the patches would either be barely or not visible at all ? He then was overly excited in telling me it would work
Sorry no Pictures as it was my first time and I was not really thinking .. Plus when working with Weldon # 40 you do not have more than a couple of seconds to get it done and get it done RIGHT!! So written will have to do
Next phase in next DIY will be my experience for the next couple days of wet sand and polishing scratches out they are not an issue but I don?t want to take any chances where pictures are concerned I would be very angry if it was cause I didn?t take the time to finish everything before moving this awesome tank into my house and placing my Monsters in it
Joey G.
P.S. I almost blew myself up with the weldon!! Do not I REPEAT DO NOT MIX IT WITH WELDON #3
DIY Repairs and refinish of acrylic tank 9/13/2006
Well today I did all the WET SANDING
Tools
>Wet/Dry sand Paper 1000/2500 or higher grit
>Rag for wipe rinsing or Ring rinse
>Small pale of water
>An hour or 3 depending on how much sanding you?ll be doing..
1-I got a 2 or 3 gallon bucket of water and utilized as well the water that was still in the bottom of the tank..
2-Dropped a 1000 grit and a 2500 grit in the water and let sit ..
3-After a few minutes I wet the inside face of the tank down and started with the 1000 grit
4-Sand section Rinse?. Sand? Rinse sand rinse? Suggestion.. As to make buffing easier and less swirl scratching sand back and forth.. Not wax on and off?
5-It is good to have a rag in your bucket for rinsing purposes.
6-completed with the 1000
7-Went over in the same process with the 2500 grit
8-Buffed a small area to see how well it worked
09/13/2006
Tomorrows chore BUFFING ACRYLIC
Buffing acrylic?
Completed 09/19/2006
Tools..
>Buffing kit from acrylic co.
-Comes with compound.
>Drill
>Arbor for buffing kit
>Time and Patience!!
>Research!!
Well this took me around 4 total days to complete. And I?ll tell you what.. I now dislike compound and refuse to use it again til I see it done by a pro?
I started and within 5 minutes I decided I was going to give it a whirl without the compound to a point as I changed the color of my tank? LOL .
Anyway if you haven?t done this the key seems to be ? Keep the wheel moving or you?ll get to re-sand areas !! Acrylic melts under even cotton wheel !!!
I started at one side of the face of my tank and worked my way to the other side.. This was done in all manner of motion. I have a limited attention span and not only get a little antsy but angry when I have to take more time than what ?I? think to complete something.. But mainly I went in an up and down motion or a circular motion with wheel turning against or with the sanding scratches not cross ways as such +? I don?t remember now and a couple of times it could have went one way or the other? I would suggest going one way the hole time.. I believe the best results are with the drill in ?forward?. I worked my way in squares.. DO NOT USE ANYTHING FASTER THAN A DRILL with this kit... I got 2 bad little deals within 2 seconds of hooking up the cotton wheel to my grinder ... As stated below.
I ended up with two blemishes that I was unwilling to go back over.. Looks pretty good to me. And the tank was mighty clear when I filled it before I buffed it. So it should look awesome when I get it filled.
Here are pics in order somewhat
In the beginning /Before Pics
After
Brace For extra support
Cover patch
Before buffing
After buffing
Picture for clarity of tank after filling
So what do ya think ?
Joey G.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well
I DIY'd my repairs on my newest addition to the tank family. MY 250 I repaired with the advice of a Leading and tenured acrylic frabrication company.. here in Utah
And an Extra Special Thanks to MY Beautiful Wife Marissa for her patience and help in this project She's done most the work on the stand ... You remeber her
Also a special thanks to Oddball and Rallysman for their knowledge and experience!! ANd answering their PM's
At first the task was said to be not worth it and that I should just replace the tank? Now it is almost ready to enter the house. It holds water beautifully and is in the finishing stages ..
Process
1- I used weld on #3 to pull the separation of the front bottom and walls together.
2-I then did it again and again.. Like 3 days of this ..
3-Cut my patches (to cover the cracks that I fixed as well as the separation just incase.)
4-I mixed up the Weldon #40 as Directed
5- I finished filling with Weldon 40 the separation
6-I immediately added a nice coat of Weldon 40 to about 4? of the bottom, thus covering the base and the bottom of the face wall..
7-Immediately after.. I placed the first patch.
8-then completed step 6 on other half of face..
9-Completed step 8 for other half..
10-Placed to small patches on both sides to act as a 3 corner brace for the front (just in case)
11-let dry and then sanded down to flush
12-1.5 days later I filled it.
13-a week later (this morning) I drained it..
Now I am going to refinish it and build my stand and filter system
The Lead tech at of the acrylic company approved with amazing delight when I told him how I would perform this. And said it would be as strong as if it were new or stronger.. His main concern was vanity .. But after I explained my full plan and that the patches would either be barely or not visible at all ? He then was overly excited in telling me it would work
Sorry no Pictures as it was my first time and I was not really thinking .. Plus when working with Weldon # 40 you do not have more than a couple of seconds to get it done and get it done RIGHT!! So written will have to do
Next phase in next DIY will be my experience for the next couple days of wet sand and polishing scratches out they are not an issue but I don?t want to take any chances where pictures are concerned I would be very angry if it was cause I didn?t take the time to finish everything before moving this awesome tank into my house and placing my Monsters in it
Joey G.
P.S. I almost blew myself up with the weldon!! Do not I REPEAT DO NOT MIX IT WITH WELDON #3
DIY Repairs and refinish of acrylic tank 9/13/2006
Well today I did all the WET SANDING
Tools
>Wet/Dry sand Paper 1000/2500 or higher grit
>Rag for wipe rinsing or Ring rinse
>Small pale of water
>An hour or 3 depending on how much sanding you?ll be doing..
1-I got a 2 or 3 gallon bucket of water and utilized as well the water that was still in the bottom of the tank..
2-Dropped a 1000 grit and a 2500 grit in the water and let sit ..
3-After a few minutes I wet the inside face of the tank down and started with the 1000 grit
4-Sand section Rinse?. Sand? Rinse sand rinse? Suggestion.. As to make buffing easier and less swirl scratching sand back and forth.. Not wax on and off?
5-It is good to have a rag in your bucket for rinsing purposes.
6-completed with the 1000
7-Went over in the same process with the 2500 grit
8-Buffed a small area to see how well it worked
09/13/2006
Tomorrows chore BUFFING ACRYLIC
Buffing acrylic?
Completed 09/19/2006
Tools..
>Buffing kit from acrylic co.
-Comes with compound.
>Drill
>Arbor for buffing kit
>Time and Patience!!
>Research!!
Well this took me around 4 total days to complete. And I?ll tell you what.. I now dislike compound and refuse to use it again til I see it done by a pro?
I started and within 5 minutes I decided I was going to give it a whirl without the compound to a point as I changed the color of my tank? LOL .
Anyway if you haven?t done this the key seems to be ? Keep the wheel moving or you?ll get to re-sand areas !! Acrylic melts under even cotton wheel !!!
I started at one side of the face of my tank and worked my way to the other side.. This was done in all manner of motion. I have a limited attention span and not only get a little antsy but angry when I have to take more time than what ?I? think to complete something.. But mainly I went in an up and down motion or a circular motion with wheel turning against or with the sanding scratches not cross ways as such +? I don?t remember now and a couple of times it could have went one way or the other? I would suggest going one way the hole time.. I believe the best results are with the drill in ?forward?. I worked my way in squares.. DO NOT USE ANYTHING FASTER THAN A DRILL with this kit... I got 2 bad little deals within 2 seconds of hooking up the cotton wheel to my grinder ... As stated below.
I ended up with two blemishes that I was unwilling to go back over.. Looks pretty good to me. And the tank was mighty clear when I filled it before I buffed it. So it should look awesome when I get it filled.
Here are pics in order somewhat
In the beginning /Before Pics
After
Brace For extra support
Cover patch
Before buffing
After buffing
Picture for clarity of tank after filling
So what do ya think ?
Joey G.