Broken acrylic panel

clownfish.mike · Aug 25, 2023

This is a 72x22x22 acrylic aquarium that is divided into seven compartments, each are sealed compartments. It has a single overflow for all the compartments that flow into the back of the tank. The compartments hold water. The overflow is never filled to the top as far as I know.

The back acrylic panel was damaged (see pic). Is this fixable? I was thinking of cutting out the damaged area and welding on a new piece of acrylic. Thoughts?

vetteguy53081 · Aug 25, 2023

fowlr.mike said:
This is a 72x22x22 acrylic aquarium that is divided into seven compartments, each are sealed compartments. It has a single overflow for all the compartments that flow into the back of the tank. The compartments hold water. The overflow is never filled to the top as far as I know.

The back acrylic panel was damaged (see pic). Is this fixable? I was thinking of cutting out the damaged area and welding on a new piece of acrylic. Thoughts?

This may be a loss. Unlike glass where you can replace the pane, you may get away with fusing another acrylic sheet over the cracked one and fused with weldon, but a chance you take

Pickle_soup · Aug 25, 2023

It is doable. I had a similar issue with a sump I purchased years ago 2nd hand, however, the crack was much smaller and it didn't have to deal with over 125 gals of pressure.

albano · Aug 25, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
…you may get away with fusing another acrylic sheet over the cracked one and fused with weldon…

Agree

The_Paradox · Aug 25, 2023

If prepped correctly it will be stronger than new after repair. It won’t be pretty though.

clownfish.mike · Aug 25, 2023

Pickle_soup said:
It is doable. I had a similar issue with a sump I purchased years ago 2nd hand, however, the crack was much smaller and it didn't have to deal with over 125 gals of pressure.

So the thing is, I believe that the pressure of the water is against the blue acrylic pane which is the overflow. If you can see from the pics the top is braced with acrylic around the entire perimeter as well as the blue acrylic pane having bracing on the top. Also as I mentioned in the first post each compartment is individually sealed on all sides besides the overflow grate on the backs. Not sure if this makes a difference with pressure.

clownfish.mike · Aug 25, 2023

The_Paradox said:
If prepped correctly it will be stronger than new after repair. It won’t be pretty though.

Any input on prep? I don’t care for looks as it will be in the back anyways.

CoralB · Aug 25, 2023

I would cut out the bad part leaving at least a inch all the way around to attach and glue a piece overlapping from the inside

CoralB · Aug 25, 2023

fowlr.mike said:
Any input on prep? I don’t care for looks as it will be in the back anyways.

You can clean it best with pvc cleaner and then use plexi weld to glue/ melt it together . I’ve used pvc glue before as well with success .

Pickle_soup · Aug 25, 2023

fowlr.mike said:
So the thing is, I believe that the pressure of the water is against the blue acrylic pane which is the overflow. If you can see from the pics the top is braced with acrylic around the entire perimeter as well as the blue acrylic pane having bracing on the top. Also as I mentioned in the first post each compartment is individually sealed on all sides besides the overflow grate on the backs. Not sure if this makes a difference with pressure.

I see what you are saying. I think it's pretty solid what you are saying. I do think that the compartments will break that pressure up a bit, plus the central wall will protect it. I was wondering if you could just seal off that part of the tank, but that looks to be too much work and not worth the hassle. And then you might be in the same spot anyway. Acrylic is pretty flexible right, so I think I would risk it, but I would fill it up in a garage and let it sit there and see how it responds.

theatrus · Aug 25, 2023

Make sure its clean, smooth, polished and oil free. Make sure there aren't any burrs, and basically add a doubling plate on top of it. With all the compartments and braces, its probably fine.

clownfish.mike · Aug 25, 2023

Also, correct me if I’m wrong, the back overflow area shouldn’t have much water since it will be draining into a sump. Would that make a difference?

Pickle_soup · Aug 25, 2023

fowlr.mike said:
Also, correct me if I’m wrong, the back overflow area shouldn’t have much water since it will be draining into a sump. Would that make a difference?

Most overflows are filled to the height of the drain pipe but with all those compartments and all those support walls, it should prevent major bowing. Multiple walls are holding that back side together. Hopefully someone can correct this suggestion, but perhaps the new sheet can be a bit larger so that it covers the cracked compartment +1/2 of its neighbors for extra stability.

The_Paradox · Aug 25, 2023

The more surface area the better. Inspect the seams obviously but if they look good I would laminate in a new piece the size of at least three chambers if not the whole thing. I would not even cut out the busted sections. If it bothers you after chamfer/sand the edges or fill them.