Can I save this cracked acrylic tank?

[Drools77]

Hi,

Tank had a small drop of while moving and noticed there’s a huge cracked on the top brace panel towards to the front panel even though it was dropped on the bottom. We checked every panel/corner and this is the only visible damage.

How screwed am I or am I able to save it with cementing and patching?

dims are 72 x 48 x 30
1 in acrylic.

View attachment IMG_8199.jpeg
View attachment IMG_8200.jpeg

 

[phreeflow]

That’s totally salvageable in my opinion. But wednesday13 is our acrylic expert around here. Hopefully he’ll have some advice for you

 

[wednesday13]

Bit hard to tell from the pics if it ran down into the front panel or not. That will determine the extent of repair work. If it didnt travel into the front panel ur very lucky and face a pretty easy/minimal repair. If it did run into the front panel you need to drill through the crack on end to stop it from running any further. After u drill with around a 1/4” bit you can patch over and reinforce the area. If you dont drill, the cracks can and will run under any patch work you do. Ive fixed top braces like that before just by drilling alone and running the tanks as normal. Its amazing a small hole will stop further damage. Pretty common place for them to crack at also from sharp corners/lid cutouts and people lifting the tank from the braces.

If u can make that the back of the tank theres not much worry of learning how to fix it. Its less worry some its above the water line also. Drilling out the cracks and not filling up to the brim solves ur problem. Any patch work depends on how much u want to spend basically. Looks like 1 patch should do it tho. Most acrylic shops offer scraps for cheap. Your gonna want to use a 2 part glue called weld-on #40 or a solvent glue weld-on #3 or #4.

You can patch inside the tank, outside… or both. Id do 1 large patch up under the top sheet that fixes the brace and also catches/covers the crack into the front panel with #40. You have to flip the tank to do so tho as 40 is like syrup and runs until it cures. Id still probably flip the tank on its front face at a 45 degree angle with solvent also to prevent any glue running down ur front pane.


Inspect that crack closely… look for the points/ends and hit em with the drill. Acrylic is just like wood for the most part. Any pics dead on from the front? Or from the inside looking out? Kinda looks like it turned back and didnt run down the front

 

[wednesday13]

Drill here to stop this 1st part of the crack. All the way through the material. The round hole stops it. Use a battery powered drill also. The electric/corded have too much power. Need more picture to see the rest lol

 

[danotaylor]

wednesday13 here we go again mate!

 

[wednesday13]

wednesday13 here we go again mate!

if i had a nickel for every acrylic question. Def missed that boat

 

[ken31cay]

wednesday13 here we go again mate!

I learn something new everytime wednesday13 posts about acrylic. Good stuff.

 

[Drools77]

View attachment 1554907

Drill here to stop this 1st part of the crack. All the way through the material. The round hole stops it. Use a battery powered drill also. The electric/corded have too much power. Need more picture to see the rest lol

hey thank you very much for the input!!
It did went down to the front panel, about 3/4” down.

Hopefully this provides a better picture.

 

[Drools77]

wednesday13

for the 2nd drill, would I have to drill this end of the crack on the front panel as well?

 

[wednesday13]

hey thank you very much for the input!!
It did went down to the front panel, about 3/4” down.

Hopefully this provides a better picture. View attachment 1554919

Thanks for the additional pic.. was hoping thats not what i was seeing lol… still not terrible in retrospect of dropping the tank. Its above the water line so again thats a big plus. It looks like its pretty much contained also being a round break so i dont think it will really run anywhere. Like i mentioned before id do a patch up underneath the top sheet to grab the top and the front panel at the same time. Lookin like 1/2”-3/4” material should cover up that crack/gouge on the front panel. That will be plenty strong enough to fix the large crack in the too brace section as well.


Last note is #40 glue has pretty bad fumes. If the tanks already in doors with poor ventilation id prob go with #4 solvent for the patch. Either way can work well. Have you ever used #4 solvent before? If not def. Pick up some scrap pieces from a local shop for cheap and practice a bit before doing the patch. Its not very hard but takes a cple tries to figure out how it works. You can basically use masking tape to put the patch piece on then use the #4 with a syringe applicator to inject the glue inbetween the patch and tank pieces. It will laminate/melt them together. The learning curve is how much pressure to apply. Prob going to need some clamps.