Well, I just plunged ahead this weekend and fixed my ATI Bubble-Master 250 skimmer, kinda needed to get it over with, crappy weather is good for indoor activities and all that.
The first thing I found out is that it's really hard to find a container the right size to soak the base in, I forgot how tall & unwieldy the whole base unit is. I figured it out by using a plastic storage container with some plastic bottles and bags to displace the vinegar I had on hand, so the vinegar was much deeper with-in the container; I used 2 gallons of vinegar rather than the 2 + 4 gallons of water total volume. I soaked the skimmer base and came time to clean it, I realized there are many places you simply can't get to on that thing. Oh well. Dried the base and the broken off piece up, sanded edges w/ 220 grip paper, wiped off with Ever-Clear Alcohol (drank the rest...not really). The screw mechanism for the gate valve actually held the broken off fragment of the cylinder nicely in place w/o any tape or cords, etc. so I just did that to position everything during the gluing.
I used the Weld-On 40 per Jason Gregory, of Clear Fabrications, the builder of my aquarium, rather than the Weld-On 16 that some folks recommended to use. I like the 2-part formula which had some substance/body to work with; I mixed up 10cc of the A (big jar) and 1/2 cc of B (tiny brown glass jar) in a plastic yogurt cup; instructions said use 100:5cc = all of it, and THAT was sure over kill for the sliver I needed to glue back onto the skimmer! I applied glue to all of the involved edges with a poly-propylene bulb pipette and a little cardboard spatula, crude but effective (and a bit messy), put the piece in place and realized this Weld On 40 stuff really has quite the chemical odor, got rid of the extra quickly in a sealed bag. The lumpy-bumpy glue smoothed out and the pieces stayed put, so I left it to cure for the night.
Yesterday morning I found (to my delight) no movement of pieces, no odor or softness in the glue, so I re-assembled it all and put the skimmer back in service; no leaks of foam anymore, worked great! With the cleaning the skimmer appears to be working better, also, in spite of the fact you can't get at a lot of the inside surfaces
Before the cleanup & fix-it:
I love the tape job!
Before I turned it on:
No leaks at the repair, working very well with a full head of bubbles!
Working well, 12 hours in use, very productive!
I would highly recommend the Weld On 40 for gluing this kind of thing. If you need some, I have LOTS left over!
The first thing I found out is that it's really hard to find a container the right size to soak the base in, I forgot how tall & unwieldy the whole base unit is. I figured it out by using a plastic storage container with some plastic bottles and bags to displace the vinegar I had on hand, so the vinegar was much deeper with-in the container; I used 2 gallons of vinegar rather than the 2 + 4 gallons of water total volume. I soaked the skimmer base and came time to clean it, I realized there are many places you simply can't get to on that thing. Oh well. Dried the base and the broken off piece up, sanded edges w/ 220 grip paper, wiped off with Ever-Clear Alcohol (drank the rest...not really). The screw mechanism for the gate valve actually held the broken off fragment of the cylinder nicely in place w/o any tape or cords, etc. so I just did that to position everything during the gluing.
I used the Weld-On 40 per Jason Gregory, of Clear Fabrications, the builder of my aquarium, rather than the Weld-On 16 that some folks recommended to use. I like the 2-part formula which had some substance/body to work with; I mixed up 10cc of the A (big jar) and 1/2 cc of B (tiny brown glass jar) in a plastic yogurt cup; instructions said use 100:5cc = all of it, and THAT was sure over kill for the sliver I needed to glue back onto the skimmer! I applied glue to all of the involved edges with a poly-propylene bulb pipette and a little cardboard spatula, crude but effective (and a bit messy), put the piece in place and realized this Weld On 40 stuff really has quite the chemical odor, got rid of the extra quickly in a sealed bag. The lumpy-bumpy glue smoothed out and the pieces stayed put, so I left it to cure for the night.
Yesterday morning I found (to my delight) no movement of pieces, no odor or softness in the glue, so I re-assembled it all and put the skimmer back in service; no leaks of foam anymore, worked great! With the cleaning the skimmer appears to be working better, also, in spite of the fact you can't get at a lot of the inside surfaces
Before the cleanup & fix-it:
I love the tape job!
Before I turned it on:
No leaks at the repair, working very well with a full head of bubbles!
Working well, 12 hours in use, very productive!
I would highly recommend the Weld On 40 for gluing this kind of thing. If you need some, I have LOTS left over!
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