Center brace seperated!

Laura and Jim will be hosting the May meeting this Saturday the 12th and it will be the usual of food, drinks, raffle and fun.
 
Doors will be open at 6:00 pm for social talk and the meeting will start at 7:00.  Parking gets a little tight and the city says you can't park on 4th but there is a parking lot a block away.   Meeting is usually held in the backyard so feel free to bring your favorite lawn chair, weather permitting of course.

If you need address/directions, contact a club member.

Best if you park at Mini Mall (where the spaghetti establishment use to be)
 
You will get to see his new frag tank set up in the making.
 
Hope to see you there!

•    About the Club
•    MCMAC 2009
•    Constitution
•    Bylaws

[Guest]

Welcome, Guest.
Please login or register.

1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever

Login with username, password and session length

[angelscrx]

Ok so I was working on quieting the durso again and I noticed that my center brace has seperated from the back.  I know what it is designed to do so this really scares me.  I figure I can get some clamps and glue it back on but what glue do I want to use for glass?  Thanks

[The Apprentice]

Clamp it tonight if posible Angel if you real worried and have no clamps tie a roap around it to hold the center in You will probably be ok As for the glue Your tank is glass i went and looked at ny center brace and the glass is just siliconed to the platic frame and all the plastic seems to be melted in place Hope some one can give you a better idea...Hang in there   :roll: ...Jeff

Ok so I was working on quieting the durso again and I noticed that my center brace has seperated from the back.  I know what it is designed to do so this really scares me.  I figure I can get some clamps and glue it back on but what glue do I want to use for glass?  Thanks

[angelscrx]

Thanks it was suggested at Rick's wedding to make a Stainless steel center brace.  I put a 2" pvc pipe from the wall to the edge of the tank and manged to get the glass to not bow as much.  Will work with Rick on the SS center brace.  Thanks

[i1justin]

why not a glass center brace? it is very strong in the direction it would be pulled and wont cast any shadows, i have done this with smaller glass tanks and just used an no toxic based for water apps type epoxy worked well.
Either way good luck
Justin

[angelscrx]

The center brace I currently have is glass and I was looking for either a fix to the brace separation or a glue for glass.  What typ of epoxy do you use (name and place that sells it)?  Thanks Justin.

[Les]

If anybody can find a type of epoxy that will hold up to that amount of pull strength then please let us all know. I am not aware of anything that strong that will bond to glass and the plastic wrap of Angels tank that will hold up to that kind of pressure. (Tinsel strength)

[i1justin]

i didnt say if it could hold to up to that force i have used it on glass 55 aquariums i said on smaller tanks so no promises.i used just basic marine goop which hardens solid not flexible like silicone and it worked between the glass and the plastic rim. i used the goop and held the tanks together with a clamp for about a week and have never had problems since, i will try to get a picture of this later this week, no promises on 155 pressure though.
Justin

[angelscrx]

Where did you buy the marine goop?  

If silicone was holding it in place why won't silicone hold it now?  If it came with a glass center brace but the glass center brace won't hold it together then why make it that way?  The has to be something that will work!  The pvc brace is holding fine but will get with Rick this weekend and see what we can build to fix this as soon as possible!  Thanks all.

[angelscrx]

I got the clamps Les suggested so I guess I have to drian the tank to get them on.  I would like to glue the center brace on while I am at it but I am thinking I should wait until I get with Rick?  Any suggestions?

[Les]

Angel,
I hope you got a bar clamp. Harbor Freight has them for about $7.99 or so. Measure the width of the tank (front to back) and purchase a clamp an inch or two longer. It will go over the outside of the tank frame. Yes, you can re-glue the center brace at this time. Give it a few days for curing and then try it without the clamp.

[angelscrx]

Well I was hoping the plactic clamps with the plastic springs would work.   I figured I could hook a bunch of them together to stretch across the tank and that way squeeze it together.  What do you think?  :?


Nah just kidding Les, I got the bar clamps for $10.99 and they will stick out quite a bit.  They didn't have the middle sizes and the smaller ones would have been too small.  Anyway any names on the stuff I need to use instead of silicone?  Thanks for the help

[i1justin]

the stuff i have used before is called marine goop. there is about a million goops, auto, house etc but the marine is safe for drinking water areas and resistant it dries clear and like a rock. Les would probably no better than i do for sure, but you could find it at home depot, lowes, fred meyer or a sporting goods store, some use it for scuba masks etc.
I would prob wait on les' opinion or go get a tube and try it on random stuff and see what you think
Justin

[Les]

I have no comment on this stuff, I've never heard of it even. I would think that as long as you are willing to try then by all means, go for it. The worse that could happen is the stuff not work and we end up machining something out of stainless or whatever afterall.

[angelscrx]

the stuff i have used before is called marine goop. there is about a million goops, auto, house etc but the marine is safe for drinking water areas and resistant it dries clear and like a rock. Les would probably no better than i do for sure, but you could find it at home depot, lowes, fred meyer or a sporting goods store, some use it for scuba masks etc.
I would prob wait on les' opinion or go get a tube and try it on random stuff and see what you think
Justin

Will try anything to fix this quickly.  If not then will make something out of stainless like Les suggested over at REick's house.  Thanks all will keep you posted.

[Nate C.]

Angel,

I looked into this when I was worried about the silicone inner seal on the 155 initally.  Found some really good info about ways of doing the brace repair on this site:  http://www.wetwebmedia.com/aqrepairfaqs.htm


Nate

P.S.  I've got tons of silicone left...let me know if you need some.  I'm getting pretty good with it too, so would be happy to lend a hand if you need it!