Glass for sump baffles
- Thread starter lcs
- Start date
blanden.adam
Team RC
I just built a sump out of a 40B (40 bucks at the dollar per gallon sale) with 4 1/4" polished glass baffles and it was about 50 bucks to give an idea.
AmherstReef
New member
I paid less than $10 per pane here in WNY
teamdulski
The Saltiest!
Polishing yourself with fine sandpaper could shave some $ off. Ray Sands does great work though, that is who I used for the glass to make my small look down tank.
hoaglanddiver
New member
I did same, think it was $8 for the cut glass and then $1 per pane for polishing.. in Northeast IN.
mr.maroonsalty
New member
What I do is laminate two pieces of window glass together with silicon, break the sharp edge with sandpaper, and slop them in; it's not beautiful but its cheap and it works.
Check out Blacks Hardware on Ridge Road East. I got my baffles cut there a few years back. I paid $3-$4 each and they gave me all the extra cut pieces which ended up being good for nothing more than cutting my hands and weighing down my garbage. But they gave them to me alright.
Geoffwehler
New member
It was about $8 a pane in Maryland. At a glass and mirror shop for 1/4". Polishing is not necessary on sump baffles. Just be careful handling them while installing. Once in they typically get sealed and rarely touched again.
AmherstReef
New member
Sand papering the edges is simple and all you will need
lhscouchmonster
New member
I just built a sump out of a 29G from the petco sale. I went to lowes and had them cut me my glass. If you need less that 12x16 inch pieces, the sheets are like 3 bucks each and the cutting is free. The bigger sheets are a little more. I think I spent around $24 total.
The glass is 1/8 inch glass IIRC. I siliconed two sheets together to make a thicker piece. I accidentally made too big of baffles so I removed one and had to toss it. I decided I would test out its strength first though. With water in the sump, I had to hit the double glass really hard to get it to crack. Then when it did crack, it still held water and no glass broke away because only one of the two pieces crack in the same areas.
The pressure on the baffles only occurs when there is less water on one side of them. So most of the time, you arent having too much pressure on them anyways.
Also, dont get them polished. I just added a tiny bead of silicone to the top when i was installing the panes in the sump. no risk of injury.
I can send you some pics if you want.
The glass is 1/8 inch glass IIRC. I siliconed two sheets together to make a thicker piece. I accidentally made too big of baffles so I removed one and had to toss it. I decided I would test out its strength first though. With water in the sump, I had to hit the double glass really hard to get it to crack. Then when it did crack, it still held water and no glass broke away because only one of the two pieces crack in the same areas.
The pressure on the baffles only occurs when there is less water on one side of them. So most of the time, you arent having too much pressure on them anyways.
Also, dont get them polished. I just added a tiny bead of silicone to the top when i was installing the panes in the sump. no risk of injury.
I can send you some pics if you want.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
well... I've been REAL HESITANT to chime in here.... because of several reasons. There's reasons you keep seeing 1/4" recommendations and it's because of the way those sumps are designed... and the other's that don't know any better are sheep. (Not necessarily a bad thing. Copy success!)
Bottom line, if a baffle isn't going to be subjected to water pressure... if it's simply going to be a barrier that water slowly flows over or under... it does NOT need to be 1/4" glass. In fact, one of my sump's baffles that IS subjected to high flow and pressure is thin acrylic!
I constructed my sump from material available (ie: free stuff laying around).
So... the design of YOUR sump will determine if 1/4" glass baffles are necessary.
And I'm gonna guess 1/4" is not necessary
teamdulski
The Saltiest!
well... I've been REAL HESITANT to chime in here.... because of several reasons. There's reasons you keep seeing 1/4" recommendations and it's because of the way those sumps are designed... and the other's that don't know any better are sheep. (Not necessarily a bad thing. Copy success!)
Bottom line, if a baffle isn't going to be subjected to water pressure... if it's simply going to be a barrier that water slowly flows over or under... it does NOT need to be 1/4" glass. In fact, one of my sump's baffles that IS subjected to high flow and pressure is thin acrylic!
I constructed my sump from material available (ie: free stuff laying around).
So... the design of YOUR sump will determine if 1/4" glass baffles are necessary.
And I'm gonna guess 1/4" is not necessary
I fully agree with this.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
can you put up a pic?
(need to know how much pressure glass will bear)
(need to know how much pressure glass will bear)
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
it might
it might
I just bumped up an old sump thread in URS Forum. I use 2 baffles.
it might
I just bumped up an old sump thread in URS Forum. I use 2 baffles.
mr.maroonsalty
New member
I've used single pane window glass, but in the very tight confines under a cabinet it doesn't take a lot of pressure on the unsupported edge to crack.
