180 acrylic reinforcing thoughts/suggestions

[Christoporia]

I recently purchased a used 180 acrylic, 72"x24"x24". Tank was running and had no leaks when I purchased it. The corners near the seals show no sign of crazing but some of the seams appear to have "bubbles" in them. I am considering using isosceles prism and weld on 40 to gusset each seam on the inside of the tank. I also would like to enlarge the opening on the top to help accessibility of the tank. I have pix attached.

Any advice or help would be appreciated!

 

[dhuynh]

You can drill holes where the bubbles are and squeeze in Weldon 16..

You can also get triangle acrylic rods and reinforced the corners.

 

[Christoporia]

You can also get triangle acrylic rods and reinforced the corners.

That is the plan I have now.

 

[Christoporia]

@Lowell Lemon , I was reading your comments on a post from a few years back that suggested this also but the OP had a leaking seam.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

@Lowell Lemon , I was reading your comments on a post from a few years back that suggested this also but the OP had a leaking seam.

It can work but you need to make sure the areas are clean to prevent contamination in the seam. Weld on 42 uses a mixing tip that will help control the application in to the seam area. You would need to buy the special gun type dispenser as well. The small triangle extrusion can help to increase the strength of the seam.

Larger cut outs are fine as long as the top is about 1/2" thick an try to make about 3" radius corners to increase the strength of the cut outs. Just suggestions.

 

[Christoporia]

It can work but you need to make sure the areas are clean to prevent contamination in the seam. Weld on 42 uses a mixing tip that will help control the application in to the seam area. You would need to buy the special gun type dispenser as well. The small triangle extrusion can help to increase the strength of the seam.

Larger cut outs are fine as long as the top is about 1/2" thick an try to make about 3" radius corners to increase the strength of the cut outs. Just suggestions.

Is there any reason I shouldn't use WO 16 to weld the triangle rods into the corners?

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Is there any reason I shouldn't use WO 16 to weld the triangle rods into the corners?

16 shrinks so much when it cures that it produces lots of bubbles an actually just sort of creates a film instead of a good clear solid joint. I have never had good results with 16 so I stopped using it for anything.

 

[Christoporia]

16 shrinks so much when it cures that it produces lots of bubbles an actually just sort of creates a film instead of a good clear solid joint. I have never had good results with 16 so I stopped using it for anything.

Okay, that makes sense. What are your thoughts on not using the acrylic rod and only using the WO 40 on the inside of the seams to strengthen it? If I pour 1/4" thick bed of 40 in the seam, will it cure and stay 1/4" thick or just a film left?

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Okay, that makes sense. What are your thoughts on not using the acrylic rod and only using the WO 40 on the inside of the seams to strengthen it? If I pour 1/4" thick bed of 40 in the seam, will it cure and stay 1/4" thick or just a film left?

The rod will act as a holder of the 40 to keep it in place and prevent the syrup from just pooling on the bottom of the tank. You could tilt the tank for each seam and allow the 40 to dry before moving on to the next seam. This could take a couple of days to do all four seams. If you use the 42 with the mixing tips you can encourage the material to stay in the seam by not over filling the fillet area. Both products shrink as they cure...42 seams to shrink the least.