glass panel blowout after over two years?

[rocketeer]

I walked around the back of my tank today and smelled silicon. Inspecting the joints, one looks like it's becoming unglued. There is no water leak yet. So I put some 36 inch clamps on it.

Am I crazy? I'm sure this is occuring. It's a 240 gal made from 1/2 inch glass 8' long by 2' by 2'. It was glued around Sept. '06.

Anobody have any ideas about how to secure this without breaking it down?

Jack

[RayAllen]

It can and has happened on newer and older tanks. Anything but breaking the tank down is just delaying what will eventually happen. I would be extremely nervous not properly fixing it. There are companies that will reseal for you. Good Luck with what ever you decide to do.

[Crazyeyes]

If you still have the clamps on you can try to euro brace the bottom and top of the tank if it doesn't have canopy or stand is in the way of placing a euro brace in. Another solution is to silicon a small sheet of glass on the top of the tank on the left side to give better support, to re leave pressure on that side. That's the best ideas that I have, hope it helps.

[rocketeer]

It's funny. There is only one glue joint that is coming apart, all the way from top to bottom. The adjacent joints all look unstrained. It's as if the end panel was cut too small. I'm considering emptying it out, cleaning it up, and gluing in a 2 or 3 inch wide piece of 1/2 inch glass long enough to reach from top to bottom as shown. 3/4 glass would be better if I can find it. Comments?

Jack

[Bill S]

Glueing a patch will PROBABLY work fine. But, I'd hate to see you lose the whole thing. While it won't look as nice, I'd put the patch on the back - to give it a staggered effect. That would hold better.

[thedude]

Sounds to me like your tank might not be level. Realistically, the only reason a tank is going to leak is if the tank isn't perfectly level and the pressure isn't distributed evenly. In your case imagine the tank sloping slightly towards the corner that split and it could be your culprit.

John

[coffey]

The dude is right the tank has to sit on a flat plain. Level does not matter It has to be flat.
When empty I take a credit card and run it along the bottom if you have a gap larger than the card you need to shim it tight to the glass. The glass will stretch to conform to the surface it is setting on, if larger than 1/8 inch it could cause problems.

[rocketeer]

Old thread... Tank is still holding. I haven't done anything to it yet. Just wondering...

Does anybody have any opinions about using epoxee puty to back up that seam instead of using a piece of gl***** Does it bond well to gl***** I may be able to repair this without emptying the tank.

Jack

[hobogato]

what about using a piece of angle iron or aluminum vertical on the outside of that corner?

[rocketeer]

Yeah, ok. What would you use to bond it?

Jack

[Kristy]

Every time I see this thread, I get nervous... tick tock tick tock... six months! I think I'd be having panic attacks by now!

[hobogato]

i think if you rough up the inside of the angle iron (actually, i think aluminum would be better) and then use a good coating of silicon I, that should work.

[txav8r]

Look into an aviation sealer called B1/2 made by ProSeal. It's listed as afuel tank sealer but we used it to seal in windows in big airplanes. It has a lot of lead in it but it should't matter as its going to be on the outsie of the tank. I can get you enough for what you need if you want. Let me know if you need more info.

[rocketeer]

Sorry to worry you Kristy. Bet you didn't know that reefkeeping was a thrill-seeking sport. Lots of adrenaline.

I found some aluminum angle stock that I like. It has a pretty sharp internal fillet radius and is about 1 1/2 inch.

Jack, is that Proseal 719 b1/2? Bonds to aluminum and gl***** Is it available locally? Can you use a thick layer like silicon if the parts don't match up exactly?

Jack

[txav8r]

You an get it at a few places in town. One of the cheaper places is Falcon Crest locate on Gulfdale or Vandale.
You can use it to fill voids without a problem.
My personal rule of thumb for ProSeal is "the bigger the glob, the better the job"

[rocketeer]

Cool, thanks.

Jack

[rocketeer]

I heard that silicon doesn't bond too well to aluminum and epoxy will fail if the aluminum is allowed to oxidize at all before bonding.

Allen at Falcon Crest said he doesn't have the Proseal but he sold me something from National sealants and Lubricants. The label has Falcon Crest on it. Then it says:

WS-8020 B1/2
AMS-S-8802 Class B1/2
AMS 3276 Class B1/2

He says it bonds to aluminum and glass. It's in an injector kit that mixes the material in the tube before using it.

What do you think? Should I use it?

[txav8r]

Jack
That's an alternate for the same thing. It will bond well to glass and aluminum.
Mix it VERY well and wear gloves. It is very hard to get off of your skin.
MEK is about the only thing that will cut it.
Call me if you have any questions.
Jack

[rocketeer]

Man, are you on here all of the time?

Thanks for the advice.

Jack

[txav8r]

9-5 monday thru friday. lol