Cracked Eurobrace

[DonW]

Nikki,
Your tank bow acts as a fulcrom and lever. This is why I opted out of the eurobrace. If you lower your water level about 12" to remove the bow you should be able to close the gap with little effort. Clean the crack with sand paper then stick it together with weldon40. Make a center brace for your tank 3" wide 1/2" thick. Drill the tank and brace to fit 3/8 nylon bolts, two on each end. Between the two bolts drill and insert a 1/2 acrylic rod ONLY glue the rod on the brace side. Refill the tank and its fixed.
Acryic is very unpredictable after it has been around sw for awhile.

Don

 

[Scooterman]

Don are you drilling the euro brace lip or the tank?

 

[DonW]

Don are you drilling the euro brace lip or the tank?

You only drill the euro brace close to the tank wall. All the pull force will be against the 1/2 rod if you do a nice job drilling. Acrylic is very strong but can only hold up to so much. With the eurobrace you have a fulcrom and lever, with that in mind the slightest bow is amplified many times over.

Don

 

[DonW]

Here is a bad drawing but more elegant solution if your handy with router.

Don

 

[Scooterman]

Ahh Nice thanks, I get it now. Think a new tank with the center brace & euro brace would be worth it or just the center brace alone as in your glass tanks? I'm talking if I was to get a new tank made.

 

[big t]

Scoot, if you get anything over 4' I would go with a brace in the middle, or 3 separate holes. On a 4' tank as long as the lip is about 4" wide and has a nice radius on the corners it won't have any prolblems.

 

[Scooterman]

Good to know, I'm looking for a smaller tank so that should be ok for me!

 

[Acrylics]

Hi Chuck,

Hope the fix works out well for you. The reason for the crazing is that the material is stressed. The stresses was initially caused (IMO) by flame polishing, then a period of time with the tank filled and covered by MH lighting which raises and lowers the temp of the material. The 1/4" radius in the corner essentially concentrates the stress to that region. Whenever you have stressed acrylic and then introduce a solvent to it, it can craze. WO 40 and every other acrylic solvent can do this. It's the exact same reaction that you get when cleaning flame polished parts with alcohol. The WO 40 is just an acrylic monomer with a solvent in it to keep it fluid until the catalyst hardens it quickly by chemical reaction, yep another stressor on prestressed acrylic.

HTH,
James

 

[NaH2O]

James - Thanks for the explaination. I'm not sure if you saw the pic (on this thread post# 39) of the crack in my 1-1/2 year old tank's eurobrace, but would the fix DonW suggested above (post #61) be the best solution to keep my tank at least another couple of years? I'm still waiting to speak with my tank manufacturer, since our initial PMs, but if I don't hear back, I want to know what the best plan of action would be for me. Thanks in advance for any advice! (tank is a 48X24X24 with 1/2" acrylic and 1" Eurobraced top).

 

[Scooterman]

Nikki IMO I wouldn't see this to be a cause to replace the tank but to properly fix it, if you think about how they are made your basically just gluing acrylic together so a good repair should be as permanent as a new tank would be. Just look at a glass tank, all you simply do is silicone the glass together & use straps top & bottom & center brace, which you think is stronger? It will be worth taking time to find the best fix & doing it right the first time, I remember Mike posting about a major break in his tank or was it a friends tank, they glued it (weld on) & never looked back. JMO again, I like Dons fix.

 

[Acrylics]

Nikki,
While I don't argue with Scooterman's above statement. The flaw is in the design to start with IMO and adding a patch is only a temporary fix, again IMO. The flaw is thinking that using 1" for the top will compensate for not using the centerbrace, thicker material must be used for the sides to alleviate the stress to the top to begin with. Think of it this way; one can use thick enough material on the sides to completely eliminate the need for the top, therefore stress on the top is inherently low but using thick material on the top and not the sides does not alleviate the stress on the top in any way and not having the centerbrace just amplifies it.
Will a patch hold for a while? *probably* but the same thing could easily happen to the other 3 corners as well, whatever stress is on the corner that broke is also on the other corners.

James

 

[NaH2O]

I'm for sure looking for the best repair scenario, because I can't afford a new tank. I wondered what James thought would be the best repair on something like this, as I've been told his acrylic tanks are unbelievable. Just looking for an opinion from a tank builder.

Wish I had some of these RF guys close to me....not too many folks I'd trust to drill on my tank that live near me. I think I'd have to be put in restraints to keep from butting in and/or complaining. lolol

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks James for your input. I really appreciate it!

 

[Scooterman]

No argument here either James, I understand what your saying, I thought Nikki's tank had rather large sidewalls that would require only so much bracing. I was referring to the fix with the center brace being added as a fix to Nikki's problem as mentioned by DonW, I too would be interested in your thought as to how this tank could be saved instead of total replacement or having to be torn down & sent back to get repaired somehow.

 

[mojoreef]

Hey James what about the metal frame around the top?? like an L-edge?? shouldnt that take the worry out??


Mike

 

[big t]

I think that would be nikki's best bet. I don't think that adding any glue or drilling any holes or doing any additional cutting to the top at this point would be smart.

 

[Acrylics]

Hi there Mike, long time no see

The angle iron route does work though there can be a coupla drawbacks. First is material, *I personally* wouldn't do it unless it was 316 stainless or better, like titanium ($$$$$) due to corrosion though powder coated could work for a while. Second is mothod of attachment, to get a good attachment you'd probably have to drill holes which I don't like as holes are liabilities over time.

I personally would like to see DonW's method on a tank to make any statement about it. Having never seen it, can't make a sound argument one way or another as it may be the ideal method, just that I've never seen it on a tank. The one comment I would have is that I wouldn't try to close the crack, let it stay open. Cracks are ways that materials have to relieve stress, let the crack stay there and apply the patch to eliminate further growth and if using WO 40, that will fill the crack anyway.
I've made a few "emergency" fixxes by gluing in triangular corner wedges which I believe someone else mentioned earlier. They are still there though and holding so I'd say they work

HTH,
James

 

[mojoreef]

Heya James great to hear ya jump in on the thread, I do appreciate. Nikki Hubby is into the car racing world and has access to carbon fiber, that should take care of the corrosion. Could a adhesive of some kind help out the attaching??

The reason I am looking at this method is that it is something they could do their with very little in the way of stressing out the tank...or the owner lol.

Mike

 

[DonW]

Here is another option for a removable no glue brace I made for a friends tank after both front corners broke. This one has been in place for about a year and does not create a shadow.

Don

 

[NaH2O]

I'm trying to make a list of all these options in my head. First question I have has to do with the WO 40 causing the application area to craze. Should this be a concern, with either doing the triangular corner patch, or applying it in the crack?

with very little in the way of stressing out the tank...or the owner lol.

What are you trying to say here, Mike?? :lol:. You know me and water.....shouldn't I be stressed about this???

On the angle iron, couldn't it have tightening screws between the front and back pieces, in order to get a snug fit? Then it wouldn't have to be drilled into the tank itself?