what would you say is the best? Ive looked at alot of different plywood builds on here for awhile and its got me interested. But of course there are as many different sealants as there are tanks. What would you say is the best in your experience, and has proven to be just right for tank building?
plywood tank sealants
- Thread starter Wretched5705
- Start date
Wretched5705;3562030; said:
Outdoors on a nice day with a respirator, I like epoxy paints like Sweetwater. The solvents are nasty but the stuff flows out well and applies pretty much like an oil based paint. My understanding is that these are not recommended for wetting out fiberglass mat, cloth or roving so probably best suited for smaller tanks.
Ten years ago or more these were often used on larger builds, at least up to 8' x 2' x 2' (~230 gallons), without fiberglass but I'm not sure how well they have held up or if it's a good idea in general.
Indoors and/or when fiberglass is needed I like a 100% epoxy resin. They don't work as easy as an epoxy paint but I'd like to try something like West Systems with the 207 hardener which is supposed to be easier to work with and excellent for wetting out fiberglass.
I have not liked polyester the few times I have worked with it but to be clear I have only worked with the less expensive general layup polyester resins. I would be interested to see what some of the nicer vinyl ester and isophthalic resins are like to work with. Alas, I can only offer speculation.
I have also been very intrigued by some of the catalyzed polyurea or polyurea blends. The big strike against these is that the cured finish has a very low surface energy so standard silicone products do not stick. This can be a problem when sealing plumbing that enters the tank, attaching glass and/or backgrounds. All of these problems are not without solution so the remaining big strike against polyurea is cost.
Of course some of the single-component elastomeric compounds have been getting a lot of attention on this forum recently and with good reason. Inexpensive, readily available and no mixing. Again, I have no experience with them.