Does anyone have any experiance removing the bracing on a tank, i have a 180 i need to repair and need the bracing on the top and bottom off to replace the glass, ive used a long razor blade,( the extendable ones) and cut the silcone from inside and out and it still won't move i just pick the tank up when i try to break in free, any sugestions??
questions on breaking apart a tank
- Thread starter kildragon6
- Start date
You can use a thin guitar string to get in between glass pieces. There is also something similar used for cutting the sealant out to get car windscreens out. My guess is that it's a bit more expensive than guitar string though.
Holy crap! Don't use a heat gun. Glass permanantly heat stresses and it is entirely invisible. If you hit the stress temperature, there is no undoing it. The glass could fracture upon cooling or it could fracture any time after the tank is filled.
Keep working at it with the razor blade even if your fingers are bleeding stubs. If you must use a solvent, Ace Hardware and some other retailers sell a caulk remover that will help. Benzine, toluline, and gasoline will each break it down too (none are very pretty to work with).
Keep working at it with the razor blade even if your fingers are bleeding stubs. If you must use a solvent, Ace Hardware and some other retailers sell a caulk remover that will help. Benzine, toluline, and gasoline will each break it down too (none are very pretty to work with).
so heat gun is a bad idea ?? and how would gasoline work, i don't want to taint the plastic or glass with it, its impossible to get completly out, altho i agree it probly would break it down... hmmmmm
Heat gun sounds bad to me as well.
I have tried to remove the rims with out breaking them 3 times on different repair jobs and never once was I successful.
On my last repair job I needed to replace the entire front sheet on my 125g. So I used a saw blade and cut the bottom plastic rim off just on the front side. And then put a small cut on the top rim on the ends so that i could bend it up out of the way to slide the new panel in place. I chose not to cut the top rim free because I needed to retain the center brace.
Remember these plastic rims do not add any significant reenforcement to the structure of the tank. The only important part is the cross brace.
So that is my suggestion. I have the tank back together now and it is filled and everything is fine. Or has been for a couple of months anyway. If some pics of these cuts would help just ask.
I have tried to remove the rims with out breaking them 3 times on different repair jobs and never once was I successful.
On my last repair job I needed to replace the entire front sheet on my 125g. So I used a saw blade and cut the bottom plastic rim off just on the front side. And then put a small cut on the top rim on the ends so that i could bend it up out of the way to slide the new panel in place. I chose not to cut the top rim free because I needed to retain the center brace.
Remember these plastic rims do not add any significant reenforcement to the structure of the tank. The only important part is the cross brace.
So that is my suggestion. I have the tank back together now and it is filled and everything is fine. Or has been for a couple of months anyway. If some pics of these cuts would help just ask.