Is PolyCarb the same as Acrylic???

[StinkinTuna]

Is PolyCarb the same as Acrylic?

Is it the same plastic with same clarity or are we talking completely different plastics?

 

[JRR]

What will this be used for? I found out from tubular skylights that Polycarbonate will not allow UV light to pass thru it. Pure acrylic will. Please explain what your using it for.

Jim

 

[goby1]

Very different.... acrylic is polymethylmethacrylate, polycarbonate is polycarbonate. They are both long-chained molecules with carbon backbones, but with different repeating side groups.

G1

 

[JRR]

Goby,

I want to add two tubular skylights over my aquarium. What is your opinion of the best material for this process? I want to get as much of the UV light as possible.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[StinkinTuna]

JRR: I will be using a thin 1/8" sheet as a splash guard for my VHO's. (Actinica and 10K)

Went to a plastics distributer asked for Acrylic but he wrote down on my order polycarb.

Do VHO's emit UVs? And would this plastic (polycarb) be ideal for a splash guard over my bulbs?

Goby you seem to know your plastics! What do you think?

Thanks!

 

[StinkinTuna]

I'm currently using the polycarb for th splashguard....will this block out any spectrum of light?

(I'd hate to spend so much on the VHOs just to have the splashguard neutralize any of it!)

 

[StinkinTuna]

Anybody get a splashguard for their bulbs?

Anyone know?

Anyone at all???

 

[goby1]

You would hve to know the manufacturer and the series of the material - polycarbonate comes with such a wide variety of additives that one cannot say for sure what the specific properties are. U.V. (absorbance/resistance to degradation by) is one example of this. Polycarbonate is generally not that flammable, and is one of the most impact resistant of the thermoplastics. The website of the manufactuter should list the specs, and the place you bought the material should know the manufacturer. I's use glass over a thermoplastic for a splashguard, even though it might likely block more u.v. (good thing for hid bulbs). G1