Sanding An Acrylic Tank

[Veil-o's]

Hello all,

So now that I have my 100 gallon TruVu. I want to know how to go about sanding this bad boy to new like. I have done some research on Nuvos polish and have looked up the grits of sand paper to use, but I am more interested in user input.

Have any of you tried Nuvos and or do you have a thread showing progress or something of that sort? Any help is appreciated.

 

[rafael707]

using any kind of sand grit wet/dry or not IME will come out bad, you reallly need finer grit, way more than 2000

novus and other polishs work partially, but IME you really need a good buffer to apply the formulas with, my harbor freight cheapo kinda wasnt cuttin it when i did it the first time around.

 

[Veil-o's]

using any kind of sand grit wet/dry or not IME will come out bad, you reallly need finer grit, way more than 2000

novus and other polishs work partially, but IME you really need a good buffer to apply the formulas with, my harbor freight cheapo kinda wasnt cuttin it when i did it the first time around.

Welp I got started. Went from 600 to 800 to 100 grit and then used Novus 2 and buffed with a mothers polishing ball drill attachment. It worked fantastic. It took me about an hour for one side, so I assume the whole project is going to be like 5-6 hours after all said and done. Kraigen Auto Parts carries the 3m wet/dry car polish paper. Worked like a charm.

 

[Wynter]

I have a 250 truvu and I cant figure out how to access the inside of the tank, the openings in the top are so small I cant reach the bottom of the tank. I would like to sand the tank to a nice scratch free polish. any ideas for me? thanks.

 

[BayArea_510]

Welp I got started. Went from 600 to 800 to 100 grit and then used Novus 2 and buffed with a mothers polishing ball drill attachment. It worked fantastic. It took me about an hour for one side, so I assume the whole project is going to be like 5-6 hours after all said and done. Kraigen Auto Parts carries the 3m wet/dry car polish paper. Worked like a charm.

how did you do it just spray tank wit water then sand with 600 then water again the 800 or what also what kind of buffer did you uses and do you buff in circles or up and down

 

[Veil-o's]

I have a 250 truvu and I cant figure out how to access the inside of the tank, the openings in the top are so small I cant reach the bottom of the tank. I would like to sand the tank to a nice scratch free polish. any ideas for me? thanks.

Sounds like it's going to be a long process. Only thing I can think of is laying the tank on it's side and trying to reach inside. The top brace should have large enough holes to reach into, otherwise I would be worried about the bigger issue you're going to have and that's reaching inside to arrange the tank.

 

[Veil-o's]

how did you do it just spray tank wit water then sand with 600 then water again the 800 or what also what kind of buffer did you uses and do you buff in circles or up and down

Pretty much. I had a bowl of water and poured it on the tank in the area of sanding. I sanded with a side to side motion using a rubber block and the 600 3m sand paper bought at Kraigen. Remember to keep the tank wet or the plastic dust will make sanding a PITA. Wipe off with a cloth when all deep scratches are removed (I had a couple that took a while). The next grit (800) I used an up and down motion. Make sure you cover the entire area that was sanded. Wipe off the white slurry with a different cloth. DO NOT MIX CLEANING CLOTHS. Finish with a side to side motion using the 1000 grit.

Novus 2 removes scratches 1000 grit or finer. You can sand all the way up to 2000 grit, but I don't really think it will make a difference if Novus is rated to remove 1000 grit already. IME Novus 3 is a waste of money. It doesn't remove deep scratches, and you don't need it to prep your surface before applying Novus 2. Just use the Novus 1 spray cleaner before applying Novus 2. After buffing and wiping off access Novus 2, use Novus 1 to polish clean with a cloth.

I am starting to think I will make a blog journal about my journey with pictures and stuff to help people out. I'm no professional at working with acrylic though, just another guy looking to get a nice tank.

 

[BayArea_510]

yes please make a journal or a video of the proscces please because this is a frequently asked question and a video would make this a sticky

 

[Ajno]

Welp I got started. Went from 600 to 800 to 100 grit and then used Novus 2 and buffed with a mothers polishing ball drill attachment. It worked fantastic. It took me about an hour for one side, so I assume the whole project is going to be like 5-6 hours after all said and done. Kraigen Auto Parts carries the 3m wet/dry car polish paper. Worked like a charm.

Thanks for sharing. I have a 75 I need to get some scratches out of and the novus by hand is not cutting it

 

[Veil-o's]

Thanks for sharing. I have a 75 I need to get some scratches out of and the novus by hand is not cutting it

No problem. I'll take some pictures probably on Thursday and go through the whole process of doing a couple sides. The front outside is done, and I am dreading the inside.