Weld-on #40 to fix crack in eurobrace acrylic

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Thanks for chiming in Wednesday, i have been reading a lot of posts by you as to how to use this stuff. Drilling the tiny hole at the end of it is the first thing that I did, what size hole would be recommended though? I feel like I didn't get the hole to align completely in the middle with the crack (it's on the tail end of course, I just mean the crack is a tiny bit to one side of the circumstance of the hole as opposed to the middle). I used the smallest bit i owned, not even a mm I'd say, would you change the size/ drill a tiny bit more to align the crack with the centre of the circle? I do not have the means currently to house my fish for the 3 days it would take to fully cure + the ensuing cycle time, but if you are confident I am not in any immediate danger of bursting seals then I will find a someone to house them in the near future. I will put clamps down along the crack for now just in case, I think if anything it will just make me feel better. Any tips on applying the wo40 for patches? First i will apply it to the 1/8th pieces to double them up, if i have enough acrylic left maybe even triple them up. Otherwise, I will try to find someone to take the rays comfortably and then do a complete drain and go from there. This is flipping scary, now I have to trust someone else with my rays. Any other advice you can offer?

P.s. I've read a few of your posts saying how tank mfg don't make them as good as they used to, and considering the brace is 1/4" thick when it should likely be at least 1/2" do you still maintain that since the hole is drilled it is not any more detrimental to the pressure on the other seals considering the tank may have not had enough support to begin with? If you can attribute a % of certainty to this it would make me feel a great deal less stressed, i know nothing in life is 100% but you know your stuff so if you are confident that I can take some time with this (assuming the hole is the proper size and allignment) when considering the thin brace then I will take my time to do it 100% right rather than rush for the fear of having my seams burst and a pond in my living room. Let me know if you want more pictures.

Thanks for everyone's help.

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Def. No need to panic, this is all part of the hobby imo. Good news is ur aware of the problem and want to learn how to solve it. If your not certain you hit the head of the crack just step up the bit until you are. I usually use 1/8"-1/4" bits or whatever i have on hand...Not easy to get it first try every time, better to drill 2 holes even, then to miss it. Just keep an eye on it, no biggie...No, 1/4" material for the top brace isnt quite up to par, but its lasted some time already im sure lol... alot of top braces are broken when moving tanks since theres nowhere to hold onto. I use suction cup handels on my tanks for moving but i didnt learn that overnight, smashed many fingers and damaged a couple tanks first... i wouldnt give my fish away to someone to hold but thats just me. Just take ur time on a temp setup and go from there, these projects dont happen overnight. Kiddie pools r very affordable especially in winter. Ive used hard shelled rubbermaid type pools/ponds, metal frame pools and even the blow up free standing pools with no issues. I have a 8' blow up pool on hand just for these types of emergencies, only $35. Ill get u some pics of the 180 with cracked brace i have and a super cheap temp pond.

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180 with cracked top brace. The drilled hole area is dirty lol sorry... u can tell its been this way for a long time now. Running for 5yrs like this.

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Mfk style ghetto temp tank...$35

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You took a lot of weight off my shoulders, thank you. When I get home I will make certain that I hit the head of the crack, i drilled it close but from what I am reading am I to understand that the circular hole that you drill has to be interupted by the crack? As in the crack ends with the hole, and not just close enough to it so when it does spread it hits the hole? My issue here is the crack is through and through on the top of the brace, but at the bottom it only cracks half the thickness of the brace after about 3", should I be Drilling at the spot that it stops being the fill thickness of the brace or will it naturally fill out? Don't want it to go in a different direction. I agree on finding a temp home for my guys with me, going to work on that asap. Maybe an excuse to get another cheap setup i can turn into saltwater someday. Anyway, does the crack on your 180 have any spread do it, as in is it just a crack you can see or can you see a gap near the mouth of the crack so to speak? Thank you for your patience with my lack of technical vocabulary in this matter lol.

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Glad to help...i know fish panic very well lol...the crack pictured above on the 180 goes all the way through the 1/2" material from right to left kinda at a slight diagonal. The hole was drilled at a slight angle to match the crack drilled all the way through. Yes, u are correct, the circle shape of the drill hole stops the crack from running. Kinda like a dam or barrier lol..u can see in my pics i caught it just in time before it hit the side piece of material. It was originally a 2" crack i let go for a year undrilled. If you dont stop it... its possible the crack will run down the sides also and thats a bigger issue.
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I guess I was paranoid about the hole i drilled. It seems to hit it right on, i feel like eventually the bottom half of the crack on the in side of the brace will even out with that hole, only thing I'm unsure about is the size of hole, is guess 1/8th but idk maybe smaller. So there is zero reason or benefit keeping a clamp on it? And right at the corner rounding it sort of gaps/opens I'd say a bit less than a mm. Is that a concern? Hope the tank is level and not twisting or something. It should be...

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davenmandy said:
I guess I was paranoid about the hole i drilled. It seems to hit it right on, i feel like eventually the bottom half of the crack on the in side of the brace will even out with that hole, only thing I'm unsure about is the size of hole, is guess 1/8th but idk maybe smaller. So there is zero reason or benefit keeping a clamp on it? And right at the corner rounding it sort of gaps/opens I'd say a bit less than a mm. Is that a concern? Hope the tank is level and not twisting or something. It should be...

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Any pics? Not sure i understand the corner rounding gap ur talkin about. As for the clamp...if it helps u sleep at night it wont hurt anything. You prob dont need it. Sounds like the hole u drilled is fine, just keep an eye on it and drill again a bit larger if for some reason it tries to run. Something you could do while the tank is full is drop on a top frame/trim in wood or metal to support it even if the entire top braces fail. This is overkill of course, just some food for thought.
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The pic in my first one shows the corner of the eurobrace and the crack running out. Well the corner in which it is cracked, the two pieces so to speak have a small less than 1 mm gap, as in you can fit something between the crack there as opposed to just being able to feel it with your fingers. Just not sure if any separation is bad or to be expected. I am intrigued by metal trim, what would you use? I was thinking using tie downs but a nice metal one would work as well. I have a 3 piece wooden "topper" i put on matching the stand so you wouldn't even see it.

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When I start the patch, what do I do about the actual corner that the crack started from? Like there will be a patch top and bottom, but what about the rounded corner? Reason I ask is because I know that cut and corner is really important for the structural integrity of your brace/tank, if it's not a certain circumference it will craze and crack eventually. So I apply a really light coat of wo40 to that corner and leave it? Any tips on dealing with the wo40 itself? Could only find the pint kit. How do I compensate for the brace bowing upwards?

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So the hole i drilled is showing some crazing opposite side of the crack. 2-3 small stress crazing at the top of the brace. Think i should drill a slightly bigger hole?

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