It is really weird that you did not have luck polishing.

I recently inherited an 80 gallon tank that had scratches on it. It was a nice set up so I wanted to try and salvage it. I did some searching on the internet and found the Janvil Company at JANVIL -The Clear Choice For Glass Scratch Removal and Plastic Polish.. They sold some materials and systems that removed scratches from glass. I decided to purchase the JV-5500-P Janvil Glass Revive System since I had a bunch of scratches. It can be ordered with either for a polisher or a drill. I figured I would give this a try since my wife has been after me about fixing the scratches that her wonderful terrier from hell has put in our sliding glass back door with his nails when he wants to go out. I could always use it on that. I looked at both of their system and decided to go with the Glass revive since I know the door is tempered glass. I think the tank is too.

I got the kit for a polisher and borrowed a Makita polisher model GV7000c that ran in the 2500 – 4700 rpm range from my neighbor. After reading the manual twice, I sat down at the tank and started to work. I figured I would work on the tank first. if I screwed something up it would be it and not the door on my house.

I first marked and taped off the scratches as instructed. After about 45 minutes in, I did not think I was getting anywhere. I called Janvil. I though this stuff should fill in the scratches. It does not. It removes scratches by feathering them out. Turns out that I needed to cracked up the speed a little and hold the polisher pad more flat against the glass. I was also using way too much water.

I planed to call it a day and my wife and I when out to Wallyworld to pick up some other stuff and grab some lunch. All through the meal, I kept thinking about it. When we got home, I immediately started back on the tank determined to get the project done. This time I started with the Janvil Quick Cut compound and the scratches seem to disappear. It was a lot less messy. I was concerned that the polished area looked hazy with tons of micro scratches. I change over to the Janvil Pro Performance polish and this hazy look disappeared. To make a long story short (I know – probably too late) I salvaged the tank and it looks great. I wish I had taken some before pics. I will post some it of the finished tank if I can get my camera pics to work on this site. I had just enough material to fix tank and the scratches in the glass door.

The trick to using this system is to read the book and follow it and be ready to wash the tank out when finished. I wash it and let is soak for a day until I was convince nothing was left behind.

In my humble opinion, The Janvil kit was well worth the money ($100). If you get stuck, the tech support is only a toll free phone call away.

I plan to give this plastic polish a try on my F-150 headlight next.