Has anyone ever glued back together an acrylic tank?

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burbon44s

Candiru
MFK Member
May 13, 2012
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milwaukee
Ive got a chance to pick up a 960 gal acrylic tank. But i have to cut it up in order to get it out the store and in my basement. Any ideas? Remember I've got to put it back together.
Any certain saw blade? Just cut the glue ? I'm not sure if it would seal back up

Any ideas would b great
Thanks

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Acrylic tanks are not glued (siliconed). They're chemically bonded with a bonding agent like Weld-On. You must polish the sawed surfaces and float in weld-on to reunite the seams. Not an easy task to do. Especially to ensure no air bubbles are introduced during the floating.
 
Floating is like a wicking effect. It's accomplished by a jig setup to introduce the bonding agent at a clamped seam. The bonding agent is introduced at a warmed side of the seam. Heat wicks the bonding agent into and through the seam. A cold side opposite the warm slows the wicking and allows the bonding agent to pool within the seam. The longer the bonding agent is allowed to pool within the seam, the stronger the chemical bond is made.
 
The saw will require a wet diamond saw blade (white colored saw blade specific for plastics/acrylics). The cutting must be cooled to prevent crazing, splintering, and cracking of the acrylic. A pneumatic saw is preferable to prevent damage to an electric saw or electrocution to whoever is using it.
 
Makes sense.
Should i try to cut out the old bonding point or should i make new cuts?
What did u mean about a jig? Would that make the bond square?

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Rebonding is beyond me. Better to contact an acrylic manufacturing company for advice.

A jig is needed to hold the connecting panels at a uniform gap (for the float) and to properly hold the heated and chilled piping.
 
Oddball is it that complicated because of the size of the tank and thickness of the acrylic? I've seen 150gallon tanks made and there was never a need for cooling and heating but that was only 1/2" acrylic as opposed to 1-1 1/2" which I could understand the temperature variation to aid the wicking process at heavier thicknesses. Just curious.


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I've assembled smaller acrylic tanks without having to focus on floating in the weld-on. I would think that the thickness required for a ~1,000gal tank would require a precise float to merge thick acrylic enough (no air bubbles) to hold that much pressure safely for the long-term.
 
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