Elos 160XL Black Silicone Repair

[wwanthony]

My Elos 160XL has a slight separation in the silicone in the upper 6 inches on the front, left side, where the front panel attaches to the left side panel. The silicone shows no other signs of wear and tear any where else in the tank. Below the 6 inch point on the left, front, corner the silicone is perfect.

Has anyone repaired or know of anyone who has repaired the Silicone seal on an Elos Tank? The 160XL is about 8 years old. I would hate to loose this beautiful tank after only eight years.....

 

[CrayolaViolence]

From what I understand, something like this cannot be "repaired". The pain of glass has to be completely removed, cleaned and a new seal/adhesive put on and then new seal applied. It's a pretty big undertaking but would be worth it for an elos tank.

 

[Zacktosterone]

From what I understand, something like this cannot be "repaired". The pain of glass has to be completely removed, cleaned and a new seal/adhesive put on and then new seal applied. It's a pretty big undertaking but would be worth it for an elos tank.

there are ways to make it easy. a wall scraper between panels or a line of airline wire. but well worth it... just tedius

 

[DDRR]

Was your tank repaired ?

 

[wwanthony]

Was your tank repaired ?

Yes it was.

I put in a support ticket at Coralvue. It took a few days, but they got in touch with Elos (in Italy) and gave me instructions on how to repair the breach in the black silicone.

Tank has been up and running for months.

 

[ClownNut]

Yes it was.

I put in a support ticket at Coralvue. It took a few days, but they got in touch with Elos (in Italy) and gave me instructions on how to repair the breach in the black silicone.

Tank has been up and running for months.

Do you mind sharing that instruction? just want to know how. glad they took care of the problem.

 

[wwanthony]

Do you mind sharing that instruction? just want to know how. glad they took care of the problem.

Sure. My guess is I got lucky because the breach was on the topmost 6 inches of one of the corners. If the breach was located on the bottom or some other load bearing location, who knows. I want to give a shout out the Chris from Coralvue who took the time to correspond with Europe.

FROM Elos (unedited):

*** BE SURE THAT THE AQUARIUM IS FLAT ****

1) lower the water to the minimum you can to reduce any stress to the silicone.
2) with a very thin blade remove a good part of silicon (from top of the tank to about 1-1.5 inches below the damaged area), Be sure to reach the glass on both sides
3) clean very well the surfaces with the blade and, later, with methyl alcohol and finish with very hot water. Dry very well (also an hair dryer is good as you dry and blow away any dust).
4) limit the surface to glue with some tape (to avoid the silicone to go where you do not want)
5) apply the silicone and let it dry as per spec.

Regarding the silicon to use, in case you don't have the ELOS one, in USA I think should be easy to find the Dow Corning 781/881 GE or ASI Aquarium Silicone Sealant.

 

[wwanthony]

BTW: I used the Aqueon Silicone Aquarium Sealant (Dow Corning 781/881) in Black from Amazon.

 

[DDRR]

Good to know

 

[ClownNut]

Sure. My guess is I got lucky because the breach was on the topmost 6 inches of one of the corners. If the breach was located on the bottom or some other load bearing location, who knows. I want to give a shout out the Chris from Coralvue who took the time to correspond with Europe.

FROM Elos (unedited):

*** BE SURE THAT THE AQUARIUM IS FLAT ****

1) lower the water to the minimum you can to reduce any stress to the silicone.
2) with a very thin blade remove a good part of silicon (from top of the tank to about 1-1.5 inches below the damaged area), Be sure to reach the glass on both sides
3) clean very well the surfaces with the blade and, later, with methyl alcohol and finish with very hot water. Dry very well (also an hair dryer is good as you dry and blow away any dust).
4) limit the surface to glue with some tape (to avoid the silicone to go where you do not want)
5) apply the silicone and let it dry as per spec.

Regarding the silicon to use, in case you don't have the ELOS one, in USA I think should be easy to find the Dow Corning 781/881 GE or ASI Aquarium Silicone Sealant.

thanks for sharing the information. never know you can repair the tank like that. :reading: