re-sealing acrylic ideas?

[geckoejon]

hello,

i just built my first acrylic sump out of 1/2" cell cast acrylic. it is 40 x 16 x 16. it holds water, but there are a lot of micro bubbles in the joints. i'm worried about it leaking down the road. possibly because i used weldon 16 instead of 4? looking back there are a couple things i would do differently. i would like to save this sump though.

what can i do to make sure the seams don't leak down the road?

silicone? just for extra sealant, not to bond.

i thought about doubling up the acrylic on the outside joints as well.

other ideas?

thanks!

 

[tkeracer619]

I would get some weldon 40.

Sand the inside seam with a small sanding pad.

Support the sump on its edge and pour enough weldon 40 to make a fillet. Continue for each seam. You will need to make a dam for the vertical seams.

 

[rwb500]

show us how bad the bubbles are!

 

[laverda]

Cut triangular strips of acrylic reinforcing and glue them in the corners.

 

[geckoejon]

thanks for the advice. i just went ahead and put an extra piece on each end and the bottom. this covered all the outside seams again. i know it's a little drastic, but rather have overkill then a leak.

tkeracer619, i didn't even know they made 40. lol i did stock up on 4 and 16 though. the 40 probably would have worked, but i already have baffles in place. it would have been hard getting down inside them.

rb500, couldn't get decent pics because the glass is smoke colored. they are micro bubbles. not sure what causes that???

laverda, excellent idea. if i didn't have baffles in place, i would have definitely done that.

 

[sfsuphysics]

I wouldn't worry about microbubbles too much in a sump especially with the baffles also welded to the side, and the fact the sump probably will never be full of water means you effectively have a very small tank.