Acrylic help

[cdemaria87]

One step forward 2 steps back. I am working on sanding out the scratches on an old acrylic tank I made several years ago. I noticed when I was spraying one corner with the water bottle the water was getting in between the 2 pieces of acrylic. I decided to check the other corner and it is pretty much entirely detached now. I used #4 when I put this together several years ago and it held water for about 3 years without a problem so I do not know what happened.

I was thinking of setting it on its corner and coating it with #4 and clamping it and then running a bead of #40 on the side of it. Will this work or is this tank toast? I don't want to finish refinishing the entire thing only to find out it wont hold water.

Thanks

[cdemaria87]

Any thoughts?

[thegrun]

I would certainly give it a try, but be sure to test it outside before bringing it inside to set up. How big is the tank?

[cdemaria87]

Originally Posted by thegrun

I would certainly give it a try, but be sure to test it outside before bringing it inside to set up. How big is the tank?

48"l x 36"w x 18"h

Its already inside... I have it in the basement and it isn't really easy to get back out so.......... not a huge deal if it leaks some as the basement is unfinished but hope not to have to clean up the mess... Just wanted to know people's thoughts as I think I should finish the sanding (using a palm sander) before I redo the joints but this is going to take several hours and don't want to waste the time if this isn't going to work... thank you for your thoughts. I was leaning the same way so I guess I will give it a shot....

[JUNBUG361]

Good luck on the experiment/trial

[Synden]

I would certainly try that first, but I would be prepared to do a bigger patch with some sheets of acrylic to sandwich around the problem spot.
If that doesnt work, you pretty much SOL though. GL

[albano]

Not an acrylic expert, but if it were mine I'd reseal it and I'd add 3/4" triangular pieces in each inside corner seam (4 side to side, 4 sides to bottom and 4 sides to top)

[cdemaria87]

I will definitely do the triangular pieces if I can get them.

Some progress of the sanding.

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[JUNBUG361]

Coming along good

[cdemaria87]

Originally Posted by albano

Not an acrylic expert, but if it were mine I'd reseal it and I'd add 3/4" triangular pieces in each inside corner seam (4 side to side, 4 sides to bottom and 4 sides to top)

Well I finished the sanding and it looks a lot better. Not perfect but better...

So I looked into the triangular pieces and they are fairly expensive and I believe when I built this tank originally I went over the joints with weld-on 16 (I know now that you are not supposed to do that) so there is a small bump along the corners that will not allow a piece to lay flat. After a lot of reading I am concerned that trying to reseal the corners with weld on 3 or 4 may not make a great seal. I thought that I could use a couple of scrap pieces about 3 or 4" long to reinforce the corners and put some #4 on the old joints. I think this will be structurally sound but question if it will be water tight.

Could I put something else in the corners to ensure that it is water tight?

Thinking something like acetone, MEK, weld-on 4... mixed with acrylic shavings then pouring it in the corner about half inch deep. Would this be similar to putting the triangular pieces in the corners? Also thought about using PVC cement and doing the same thing (again, solely for water tightness not structural).

I am guessing none of this will be too aesthetically pleasing but at this point I want to save this tank and not too worried about how good the corners look.

Any thoughts?

[cdemaria87]

Bump

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