acrylic or Plexiglass? are they equal?

F

FernanQ

New member
I'm building a sump, the places I've visited said they only carry Plexiglass. Is plexiglass the best material for building a sump? Is this the stuff I need? Anyone with some advise?
 
You need acrylite, i think plexiglass like the stuff sold at home depot, lowes w/e is prone to turning yellow and cracking. Someone correct me if im wrong
 
Plexiglass is acrylic so you are OK in that regard. What you need to make sure of is that it is Plexiglas G or some form of cell cast acrylic.
 
They're all brand names.

Extruded acrylic (such as Acrylite FF) can be had cheaper than cell-cast (such as Plexiglass G, Acrylite GP), and will work fine for many sumps usually. The bonding isn't as clean from what I've read, but its a sump.

Plus Melev uses it :)
 
I mean if i can use the acrylic/plexi that home depot sells i'd be better off anyways. I won't have to drive 40min to get acrylite.
Can I use homedepot supplies?? And do they sell glue there for acrylic??
 
I have used the HD acrylic for most of my projects with minimal problems. And youll need to get the solvent from a plastics shop.

Stu
 
I would not buy the stuff from home depot/lowes. It will bend and yellow VERY quickly. You're better off driving or buying Acrylite FF online. You may have to get the solvent online, anyway.
 
Not so sure about that, virtually acrylic mfr changed their formulations several yrs ago to not yellow for many yrs.
As far as bending, I'm assuming you mean it bows? that's just due to thickness and folks using the incorrect thickness for a given application, it is not inherent in the material.
I'm not defending HD/Lowes material at all, just that it doesn't yelow, warp, or bow any more than FF or any other extruded acrylic, or cast acrylic for that matter.
That said, if you are going to use extruded acrylic, FF is by far the best IMO.

HTH,
James
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10369178#post10369178 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Acrylics
Not so sure about that, virtually acrylic mfr changed their formulations several yrs ago to not yellow for many yrs.
As far as bending, I'm assuming you mean it bows? that's just due to thickness and folks using the incorrect thickness for a given application, it is not inherent in the material.
I'm not defending HD/Lowes material at all, just that it doesn't yelow, warp, or bow any more than FF or any other extruded acrylic, or cast acrylic for that matter.
That said, if you are going to use extruded acrylic, FF is by far the best IMO.

HTH,
James
Click to expand...

My own experience is mostly with acrylic lids. I built a few small tanks and I guess I should have used thicker material... good to know. As far as for lids, have you had any good experience with that? I've made a few covers (flat sheets of acrylic) and they have always bowed in some way.

Ok here are some images (just took them):

IMG_0729.jpg

^^^That is the lid I made. I think it's 1/4" and it's just sitting over the gap on the back of my tank b/c my thermostat is RIGHT above my tank (terrible TERRIBLE idea!!!)

IMG_0730.jpg

^^^Another shot of the lid. I have a lid over my sump and it is sagging. It is much thinner than this one.

vvvv the rest are of the refugium I made. It's bowing just slightly in the middle front. I guess with thicker material that wouldn't have happened? It was Acrylite.

IMG_0731.jpg


IMG_0732.jpg


IMG_0733.jpg


I had no idea they fixed the yellowing, I'll have to consider Plexiglass in my next project.

So just get thicker material for my lids and it won't bow like that? Wish I wasn't trying to save money when I built that refugium :worried2:
 
The lids are bowing because of the difference in humdity between the top and bottom surfaces. Acrylic absorbs moisture, so the bottom side expands to cause the bowing.

Yep, use thicker plastic for the refugium. That would help there.

Home Depot doesn't sell Plexiglas brand acrylic do they? I thought it was some no-name brand. I don't remember seeing a logo on the paper covering.
 
Mr Ugly has it correctly on the warpage issue. The underside (water side) absorbs moisure so it grows, that side will always become convex over time. It doesn't matter how thick the material is (to a point), even 1" will warp in time. When it warps, just turn it over. For this reason, I don't really recommend acrylic but rather polycarbonate for lids, even glass would be better.
Last I looked, HD was carrying Crystalite, name that's been around for many yrs. My True Value stor carries Lucite CP, a middle of the road extruded material. IMO all extrudeds are about equal with a coupla exceptions; Acrylite FF is has the best surface quality of all of them and Lucite CPX has the highest mole wt of all of them (allows it to handle more stress)

HTH,
James
 
Great! I will try that with the lids... or actually will probably just try the polycarbonate... where can you find that?
 
I read someplace that lowes is moving to a generic asian product that is not really up to par with the better name brands. Is it true? Your guess is as good as mine. From my understanding the ingerior product is finding it's way into many retail and oem distribution channels.
 
David,
Last I looked, HD carried polycarbonate as well, looks like acrylic, but not :) Look through the sheets for names like Lexan, Makrolon, Cyrolon, Tuffak, among others, just make sure it says "polycarbonate"

Bean,
Dunno, I'll take a look next time I go in, quite possible though - there's lotsa cheap stuff running around. Prolly be fine for window replacement though.

James
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

jeffrey_ropp
System Replacement - Lost in Eaton Fire in California
Replies
2
Views
257
albano
albano
adova
300g DIY Acrylic Tank Recommendations
Replies
5
Views
1K
griss
griss
rrrrob
Thoughts on Purigen?
Replies
11
Views
714
alejandrodia
A
guserto4
Planning a New Build - Acrylic Thickness 80x30x24T euro-brace?
Replies
1
Views
396
griss
griss
E
4x2x2 Acrylic reel tank and stand for sale
Replies
4
Views
255
ebe
E
Back
Top