240 Tenecor scratch removal

[rayn]

I have acquired a Tenecor 240. This came from a lfs shutting down and was their "display" cichlid tank. Tank seems to have seen its fair share of rock and sand in its day.

I am going to buff, sand and buff, or polish as needed to remove as many scratches as I can and get a clear tank again. Just figured I would make a thread about how I do it. My way isn't the only way, and I will take any and all suggestions along the way.

Currently I have Novus 1,2,&3, 1/4" sheet sander with 80,120,&220 grit paper. I have a 7" polisher used for cars and two new wool pads and a wool finished pad. Also I have a powerball and a powercone for insides and corners. All pads are new to keep down on contaminates from car products.

 

[rayn]

The tank

Some of the scratches. No really deep, but can catch a finger nail.

Products I will be using.

Novus I ordered from Amazon, everything else I got locally.

 

[143MPCo]

I will take any and all suggestions along the way.

Great thread, thanks for starting this one really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

I see you're planing on wet-sanding with 80,120, & 220 grit paper, that's some really coarse stuff. When I was doing automotive paint finishing of clear-coats we would start with 600-grit paper to remove the orange-peel waviness, doing a second sanding with 1500-grit or 2000-grit paper. I'm not trying to dissuade you but maybe try a test spot, outside of normal view area with the grit sand paper you already have as a test?

 

[rayn]

Good points! Watching the videos I was thinking there's were the grades called out. I actually have 1000, 1500, and 2000 in the garage. Maybe they would be better starting points.

I have already tried the #3 Novus with the wool pad. Looks better, but not completely scratch free

 

[Rjramos]

My first reef tank back in 95' was a 55 gal tenecor. And surely it was my last. Not to dissuade but inform. The coralline algae was impossible to take off without scratching it. And at 1/4" thick plexiglas the front of the tank bowed out. That's when I decided to replace it for glass. Initially I had fine scratches. I used a buffing composite from a company called DICO. They sell these composite sticks for different metals, and have one specifically for plastics. I worked the composite with a buffing disk on the end of drill. It worked great and I managed to get all the scratches out. Sometimes I wonder if the buffing heated the plexiglas enough to cause the warping problem I later encountered.

 

[Rjramos]

http://dicoproducts.com/compounds.html
Here is their website

 

[rayn]

Thanks for the link! This isn't my only or first tank, but I got it for a steal!

1500 for tank, stand, and canopy. Not a dime out of pocket, I am working for the guy on the side.

I understand the downside to coralline on acrylic and the nature of it to scratch. I have always stayed away just for those reasons. But I couldn't pass this tank up.

 

[WilRams]

I recently did this with a frag tank I got a good deal on. The tank was in really great shape but figured this was my one shot at getting it mint. I started out with wet sanding 1000, 1500, 2000 (maybe even 2500 but I can't remember.) then onto Novus 3, 2, and 1. Lots of work but it gets the job done.

 

[rayn]

I recently did this with a frag tank I got a good deal on. The tank was in really great shape but figured this was my one shot at getting it mint. I started out with wet sanding 1000, 1500, 2000 (maybe even 2500 but I can't remember.) then onto Novus 3, 2, and 1. Lots of work but it gets the job done.

Any before and after pics?

 

[WilRams]

Any before and after pics?

No. Unfortunately I did not think to. The tank was in really great shape to start with. The main reason is in my infinite I used a shop vac to suck up some left over sand from the previous owner. That left some huge deep unsightly scratches on the bottom. This is my frag tank so it will be bare bottom and I would not have been able to stand it. I was able to get out all the scratches and make it look like new. Im sure yours will have a great outcome. Just take a couple (ok a few) nights to do it. Its going to take some work.

 

[rayn]

Back and going to be working on this again. Sorry it has taken so long.

 

[rayn]

This is my test piece and a lid to the tank I most likely won't use. It was majorly scratched from being drug around the top. I sanded to begin and you get the first pic.

Not quite done yet, but able to see through it again.

 

[jsker]

Oh cool.

 

[Chris Adams]

I had a Tenecor 130 a few years back. It really is amazing how you can make them look basically new
Sorry missed others comment on grit

 

[rayn]

I sanded with 800 and 1000. I may go finer if I sand more. There are still marks in there that are deeper then I wanted from sanding.

I started using the nuvos but ended up using some industrial compound to get there results, followed by the nuvos again. I have one more lid and the entire tank top to practice on before tackling the main viewing panels.

 

[rayn]

Same lid piece as above looking through at the daughter playing Minecraft and the messy basement

Next test piece is the overflow area

After 1000 and 2000 wet sand followed by buffing.

 

[rayn]

First attempt on the tank. Using the side that eventually will be against a wall.

 

[adhd_nerd]

Get some micromesh pads for your random orbital buffer/sander. It goes to 8000 grit and makes easy work of it.

http://www.woodworkerssupply.com/5-...ssu-125-315.asp?search=micromesh&searchmode=2

I've also used these same pads on algea magnets to remove scratches with water in tank. Works fine that way also although requires a lot more elbow grease.