Seams on Acrylic tank?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
The tank has been sitting in the back yard full for three days now and no sign of leaking from the separated area. Both seperations are on the same seem the larger being 6 and a half inches starting from the very top and the second is an inch an a half starting two inches from the bottom. All the other seems appear flawless to me.

Is the general consensus to fill the seperation with adhesive? And after that adhere an acrylic strip down the length of the affected side on the seem? I've never worked with acrylic before so on the dummys 1-10 scale what am i looking at for difficulty?

I may drop by some of the LFS's to see if they have dealt with acrylic problems, maybe they know a source for the supplies.
 
Hard to be 100% sure w/o actually seeing it in person but it looks like it could be separating. I recently repaired a wet/dry filter seam that was definitely separating. Dirt had gotten into the gap and I could inject water into it as well as stick paper in it (which is what I had to do to clean all the dirt out).

First see if it's actually separating by sticking a thin piece of paper in the gap or water. Try the paper first because if it gets wet it'll be hard to pull the paper back out without tearing it.

Get some Weld On 3 and a needle applicator. You should be able to find it locally. Almost every town has a plastic or sign shop. Turn the tank so the seam is horizontal. Clean the gap with water and then alcohol. Then try to wedge the gap open and give it some time to dry. Slowly inject some Weld On 3 as close to the gap as possible and let capillary action draw it in. It takes a lot less Weld On 3 than you think, especially when you apply pressure to the seam. You don't want it to run out when the gap is compressed.

Turn the tank around so you can put some weight on the seam or leave it in position and clamp it. Wait a few days then test fill it with water.
 
Can I even get weld on in Canada? Talked to a few glass places and they've never heard of it. Any recommendations on a site i can order it from that will ship to Canada?
 
polish;4124298; said:
You may be able to inject Weld On right into those spots to re adhere the panels. If that doesn't work I'd just patch it with strips of Acrylic and Weld On.
Click to expand...

I had the exact same situation on my 360 acrylic. I injected the thin (water thin) Weld On right into the joint. It sort of wicked it's way into the joint like it new what to do? It worked great!
 
Illbuyourcatfish;4124655; said:
Can I even get weld on in Canada? Talked to a few glass places and they've never heard of it. Any recommendations on a site i can order it from that will ship to Canada?
Click to expand...

Glass places wouldn't know what this stuff is. Any plastic fabricator shop would have some for sure.
 
Illbuyourcatfish;4124496; said:
The tank has been sitting in the back yard full for three days now and no sign of leaking from the separated area. Both seperations are on the same seem the larger being 6 and a half inches starting from the very top and the second is an inch an a half starting two inches from the bottom. All the other seems appear flawless to me.

Is the general consensus to fill the seperation with adhesive? And after that adhere an acrylic strip down the length of the affected side on the seem? I've never worked with acrylic before so on the dummys 1-10 scale what am i looking at for difficulty?

I may drop by some of the LFS's to see if they have dealt with acrylic problems, maybe they know a source for the supplies.
Click to expand...

Yes try to repair this.

Tip the tank so the Weld On will gravity feed into the crack. It will suck right in and dry in seconds. If done right the Weld On will fill the gap and make it invisible. It should wick all the way into every part of the crack.

There is absolutely no difficulty. The thin Weld On has the viscosity of water might even be thinner? Get the applicator with the long thin needle tip. The tip looks like a 2 inch long metal pipe about the thickness of a hair. Put that tip just above the crack and squeeze the Weld On into the crack. Fill the crack all the way up. Try not to drip the weld on on to the acrylic anywhere but the crack or it will leave a mark. You also don't want to spill it over the edge or it will run down that panel and leave a drip mark and look like crap.

Personally, I don't think you need the additional acrylic strip added to that joint.

Good luck!
 
Awsome guys, i was worried I'd have to toss the tank, I'm going to order the weld on and give it a go! Thanks for making somebodys day Egon!
 
Illbuyourcatfish;4125209; said:
Awsome guys, i was worried I'd have to toss the tank, I'm going to order the weld on and give it a go! Thanks for making somebodys day Egon!
Click to expand...

Glad I could help! :)
 
Alright the weld on was ordered yesterday, tank has remained full for quite a awhile now, no leaking. I contacted the original owner about the seperation and got this reply

"what do you mean? The white bit on the side? That's been there since the first day i set the tank up, had it full for three years like that"

I dont like like taking chances though, so it gets fixed before coming in the house!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom