Will glass stick to EPDM liquid rubber?

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AllAlaskan

Gambusia
MFK Member
Nov 22, 2012
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Mat-Su, Alaska, USA
I am trying to work out bugs and issues with my design for a large tank and I was thinking about using either EPDM liquid rubber or Pond armor. I know Silicone will stick to Pond Armor but not liquid rubber. So I am wondering if I were to take sand paper and scuff up the glass on the outside edges could I just use the EPDM as the "glue" compound to stick the glass in place while it is still soft and sticky? I haven't heard of any one trying this so I was just curios if any one on here knows if this has been done?

I can get a 5 gallon bucket of white EPDM liquid rubber for $272 (not including shipping) vs $319 for 1.5 gallons of Pond Armor and I am trying to figure out if I should just go with the pond armor or the EPDM liquid rubber. Both will most likely have to be shipped to Alaska as I can not find either locally.
 
EPDM is the stuff used to bond windshields on a car in place. Only thing I would worry about is keeping it submerged constantly, where as a material designed for pond use is made to be kept wet. I wouldn't chose this place to save $100, go with what is known to work
 
AllAlaskan said:
The stuff I am talking about is used on roofs as a water proofing membrane but I do see your point.
They do claim it is fish safe and can also be used as a pond coating as well.


http://www.advancedrubbercoatings.com/site/1584080/page/759980

Click to expand...

It will probably work ........ but do you want to risk a probably on 100's of gallons of water in the house ?
Maybe try a scaled down test and leave it sitting for a month and see what happens.

If they list it as pond friendly then I'm sure you're fine.

Nothing really "bonds" to glass but I'm sure it should set up a sealed edge just fine if that is what it is designed to do.

Like I said its the same basic stuff used to seal car windshields in a different form, so it should seal up to glass ok.
 
I am actually building an office out in my large two car garage and that is where the tank is going, so it wouldn't be IN the house per say :P
I didn't know that is what they used to seal in car windshields though. I may just go with the pond armor though since it is "harder" then the
liquid rubber. I was just wondering if the glass would stick to it and seal. Then I could use that as the glass sealer as well but it may be a
major PIA to try to stick that in place while the rest of the tank is wet also. And from what I read once you mix the catalyst you need to work
as quickly as possible and cant be saved like paint and thickens noticeably in the can after an hour.
 
how big of a tank are you planning? You dont need a lot of pond armor to get the required thickness. I just did my 180 gallon plywood tank with just the quart kit. but it was a major pain working with that stuff, it hardens up to fast and then you have wasted material. Mix very little at a time and dont use a foam roller of anything foam as it will fall apart and be stuck in the pond armor, you have to use a bondo spreader first to get it spread out and then a nap roller or brush, If your not worried about the color of the inside I would go with the liquid rubber, easier not as messy. I went pond armour because I wanted the blue color. kinda regret it now
 
Well, I am still trying to decide my exact measurements but I am thinking most likely around 8x3x2ft possibly 8x4x2. In reality trying to decide if I want to have to clean a 4 ft wide tank lol.
 
You should be able to get a pretty decent seal from EPDM. If I recall correctly, there are a few that have used it with success.
 
Thats good to know, I have heard of people having issues with silicone sticking to it so I started thinking "why not use the rubber itself?", problem solved.
 
There are at least two builds on here where EPDM was used. I know one used EPDM or something similar as a gasket material to seal the tank. I would check out the plywood tank sticky and do some more searching. Once you find the good ones, you'll have all the info you need.
 
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