Second thoughts on Sani-Tred

[inert1a]

Im currently in the middle of building my 720 plywood tank. my original plan was to use 1" think acrylic for the viewing panel and was going to use sani-tred for waterproofing, and for attaching the window. i noticed a couple of red flags while thoroughly reading the included instructions.

1. The instructions clearly state, that sani tred will not make a great bond to PVC, Vinyl, or any Plastic. they said to use their 2 port epoxy primer to "help Hold" the sani tred, but that does not instill confidence.

2. The instructions also state that it is not recommend to wait long periods of time, and to cover all areas in one day. this presents a problem as i was planning to seal the tank, then once fully cured tackle the window. i cant see any conceivable way to add the window while the rest of the tank is not fully cured.

there are a few threads here and there mentioning sani tred, but most are several if not at least 10 years old. Any one have more recent experience? Ive looked at other options such as Max ACR epoxy which may be the route i end up going, but then ill need to figure out a way to adhere the acrylic window as i am not aware of any sure fire silicon product that will adhere well to acrylic. any input is welcome!

thanks,

*Edit*
i will have a build thread once i reach the required number of posts to add pictures.

 

[stempy]

There's probably a reason threads don't exist with long term or in this case short term results. Just use something tried and proven like max car to begin with...as for adhering the window I forget what I used but if you click my build thread link in my signature you can find what I used and my tank is over 5 years old now and still looks like new.

 

[inert1a]

Stempy,

Ive read your build thread numerous times lol. great looking tank!

 

[wednesday13]

There is a long standing member here with a tank sealed with sanitred.... he used no silicone at all to adhere the window.... Adhere/attach ur window 1st to ur structure then simply paint the Sanitred over a portion of the inside window to seal it up. The sanitred will close in the small gap in between ur ply and acrylic. Also sand the acrylic a bit to help with adhesion...

If u end up using the max acr and acrylic... also sand ur acrylic where the silicone will go to help it bite in for a good seal. silicone brands that work well on acrylic are "gold label aquarium and pond sealer", dow corning 795, 3m5200, and a good silicone like RTV will work better than GE brand.

ive personally used gold label aquarium and pond sealer and its by far the best silicone available for plastics/acrylic. it is hard to find and expensive tho ranging from $17-25 a tube... ive also used 3m5200 on acrylic with success and its a bit cheaper around $11-13 a tube. Ive yet to use dow corning myself but a few other members have had sucess with it.

 

[inert1a]

There is a long standing member here with a tank sealed with sanitred.... he used no silicone at all to adhere the window.... Adhere/attach ur window 1st to ur structure then simply paint the Sanitred over a portion of the inside window to seal it up. The sanitred will close in the small gap in between ur ply and acrylic. Also sand the acrylic a bit to help with adhesion...

If u end up using the max acr and acrylic... also sand ur acrylic where the silicone will go to help it bite in for a good seal. silicone brands that work well on acrylic are "gold label aquarium and pond sealer", dow corning 795, 3m5200, and a good silicone like RTV will work better than GE brand.

ive personally used gold label aquarium and pond sealer and its by far the best silicone available for plastics/acrylic. it is hard to find and expensive tho ranging from $17-25 a tube... ive also used 3m5200 on acrylic with success and its a bit cheaper around $11-13 a tube. Ive yet to use dow corning myself but a few other members have had sucess with it.

awesome, thanks for the info!

 

[wannadivesteve]

I read stempy's excellent build thread just a couple days ago and I think he used dow corning 795 (better read his thread to double check it). I looked it up and a lot of boaters use it to attach acrylic to fiberglass and gel coat apparently.

I think it's made to work with plastics better than the regular silicone products, it does seem to have a longer recommended cure time if I recall correctly. I may try it with the build I intend to use Max ACR on.

 

[inert1a]

Ive looked into gold label pond seal before but the price is pretty step. i believe gold label is actually a polyurethane sealant. i wonder if other polyurethane sealants could be applied with similar results. i know loctite makes a product called pl s30 which is a poly based sealant for roof flashing. its significantly cheaper.

 

[wednesday13]

Ive looked into gold label pond seal before but the price is pretty step. i believe gold label is actually a polyurethane sealant. i wonder if other polyurethane sealants could be applied with similar results. i know loctite makes a product called pl s30 which is a poly based sealant for roof flashing. its significantly cheaper.

There is a member here ITHURTZ (sp?) who used the loctite pls30 before with sucess on glass window to pondliner seal and also frp paneling joined at the seams. I picked up a few tubes myself a long while ago to try but never opened them lol...

Ive put up a cple pondliner/acrylic window tanks with sucess but plan to do fiberglass/resin on my current build. Many things work to seal a tank. How long will it last is the question.

Your frame/structure looks very good so far. If you choose the sanitred no sealant will be needed. use the primer they offer to help it bond straight to ur acrylic window then seal er up.

If you go with the max ACR some sanding of ur window and a reg. style good brand 100% silicone will work just fine to seal it. silicone bonds very well to resin\epoxy and u have to account for the water pressure forcing the window to seal it also. its more of a gasket on a diy build opposed to providing structural support and great adhesion like on a glass build.

I had a 1400 pondliner/acrylic window tank up for almost 2 years and the window was never an issue. the pond liner failed before my seal with 3m5200. the silicone could easily be peeled off with ur fingers but held great with a bit of adhesion and the water pressure alone. Acrylic to pondliner is a much weaker seal then acrylic to resin.

 

[inert1a]

thank you for the information!