Steel stands?

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David R

David R

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MFK Member
Apr 26, 2005
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I've just had a steel stand made for my 630L tank, its made from 30mm box section and has eight legs. It is 70cm wide and 90cm high. It appears to have a very slight twist in it, on the level concrete floor in the room where its going one corner leg is about 5mm off the ground. I got two of my flatmates (who are only around 60kg) to stand on the diagonally opposite corners and it levels itself out easily with that much weight (probably less than 1/10th the weight of the full tank).
Is this normal, or something to I should be concerned about? Will the weight of the tank and water sort out the slight unevenness or will it put enough pressure on the tank to stress and crack it? The tank is made from 12mm glass and is well braced.
:confused: :irked: :(
 
Are you sure the floor is level? Maybe try the stand in another spot to see if it is the floor or the stand. It isn't uncommon for metal to distort from welding. You should also check if a leg is too short, or the stank is out of square. If the floor is level, and the legs are all perfect, I would have to imagine that when the weight is on it, it should push evenly on all the legs. This meaning that the weight will twist the stand to where it should be, not the stand twisting the tank.
 
I have a 75 gallon tank with a metal stand and when I bought the stand almost all of the LFS stock look like it's uneven and wobbles, but I bought one anyways and as soon as the tank is filled with water all legs were on the floor and does not wobble anymore...so far so good my tank seem to have no crack or leak.....
 
I would guess it is a little of both. Do you have any level adjustments on the legs?
 
David R;1553587; said:
Adjustments? Do you mean shims packed under the legs? I'm not sure how else you could 'adjust' welded steel.
Click to expand...

Threaded feet would be possible.
 
True, I guess thats why I work in retail instead of as an engineer. ;)

No, nothing as high-tech as that, I'm just going to use some steel offcuts of various thicknesses to shim it where its needed.

I was going to put either 15mm or 17mm plywood on top of the steel, then 10mm polystyrene. Will 10mm be enough or should I go for thicker?

Sorry to all the yanks for the metric measurements, I loathe imperial and all the stupid fractions that come with it, and I think its time you moved out of the dark ages. ;)
 
David R;1554098; said:
True, I guess thats why I work in retail instead of as an engineer. ;)

No, nothing as high-tech as that, I'm just going to use some steel offcuts of various thicknesses to shim it where its needed.

I was going to put either 15mm or 17mm plywood on top of the steel, then 10mm polystyrene. Will 10mm be enough or should I go for thicker?

Sorry to all the yanks for the metric measurements, I loathe imperial and all the stupid fractions that come with it, and I think its time you moved out of the dark ages. ;)
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Thats funny...but,hey...I guess you are right. Ok, so lets see here. 10mm is like 3/8 inch. The tank is...:irked:...about 170 gallons.;) Should be all right. If you could go a step thicker, it can't hurt.

Also, this is hard to explain, but if the top is twisted and you shim the legs to where it sits level unloaded, it will twist the tank and stand when the weight is put on it. Maybe you can try putting the tank on the stand empty, and see if there is any wobble between the tank and stand. If there isn't, then see if there is wobble between the stand and floor with the tank on. This should give you an idea where the imperfection is.
 
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