Tank disaster

[dodgerblew]

Now that you have seen and read it, what are your thoughts?

My thoughts haven't changed. Cadlights stands to lose much much more hiding behind their warranty in the long run then by stepping out from behind it, owning up and making right in totality, a wrong.

I can't help but remember something I was told about being married, "You want to be right or you want to be happy."

 

[Newtybar]

Per their terms, I don't think they are legally responsible.

However, for goodwill sake within the community, replacing would be a good idea.

 

[91coupe]

How old was the tank when this happened?

It's easy for the forum to get mad at CAD Lights, but we only have 1 side of the story. I'm sure its an awful situation to deal with. It's amazing how many "experts" who have not seen the tank in person, nor have any practical engineering experience are willing to condemn CAD.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Per their terms, I don't think they are legally responsible.

That's the problem here. It's their terms. Court of law may view this differently.

 

[m0nkie]

sad warranty.. I sit 2ft way from my Cadlight tank all day. I fear for my life now..

 

[CoralsAddiction]

How old was the tank when this happened?

It's easy for the forum to get mad at CAD Lights, but we only have 1 side of the story. I'm sure its an awful situation to deal with. It's amazing how many "experts" who have not seen the tank in person, nor have any practical engineering experience are willing to condemn CAD.

I think that the majority of people here have advised to consult with a legal professional, which a very sound advice. If this case were to go to a jury, sure expert opinions would matter on the issue. But in the end, the jury does the fact finding and the jury pool consists of regular lay people like us...not engineers. So there's nothing wrong about whats happening here. Cadlights can make more posts if it wishes to to make this a two sided story.

 

[91coupe]

Court of law may view this differently.

I'm not an attorney, and you raise an intesting question. If it performed for longer than the warranty period, what do you think the court would find?

 

[CoralsAddiction]

I'm not an attorney, and you raise an intesting question. If it performed for longer than the warranty period, what do you think the court would find?

Lol I wish I knew but I am no products liability attorney.

 

[WahDi]

Well, everyone has different opinion. And Cadlights need to step out and take their reponsibility whatever cost. But seem like they are not... if this happen to me. I dont know if i wont able to keep reefing. I might have nightmares every single night.
I believe they are seeing these or heard from you thru email you sent but ... Still no action taken!!!

 

[91coupe]

Well, everyone has different opinion. And Cadlights need to step out and take their reponsibility whatever cost. But seem like they are not... if this happen to me. I dont know if i wont able to keep reefing. I might have nightmares every single night.
I believe they are seeing these or heard from you thru email you sent but ... Still no action taken!!!

But what is that responsibility?
Was the tank in warranty or not?
Was the stand built in an acceptable manner?

There's a lot of unanswered questions here and the forum consensus seems to be that CAD Lights should be paying for all damages. I think it's premature to have that reaction and essentially tell a forum to black list a manufacturer based on just a few pictures and partial information.

To clarify, I'm not saying CAD Lights isn't to blame, I just don't see anything that proves they are.

 

[m0nkie]

But what is that responsibility?
Was the tank in warranty or not?
Was the stand built in an acceptable manner?

There's a lot of unanswered questions here and the forum consensus seems to be that CAD Lights should be paying for all damages. I think it's premature to have that reaction and essentially tell a forum to black list a manufacturer based on just a few pictures and partial information.

To clarify, I'm not saying CAD Lights isn't to blame, I just don't see anything that proves they are.

Even if CADlights is not responsible, all these speculations, negative comments, forum link spreading, etc.. cannot be good for their business. A smart business should take this as a rare accident and provide some real support. A lot of companies still don't understand the power of forums and internet

Back in 2005, I was on my350z forum and a car was ripped off so badly by a custom shop. The words spread like wildfire on all the car forums and that shop went out of business within months.

 

[ReefPharmer]

.

To clarify, I'm not saying CAD Lights isn't to blame, I just don't see anything that proves they are.

Since cad does not really respond, most are going off the first post which states that an engineer determined that it's due to faulty manufacturing of the tank.

 

[BeanMachine]

Since cad does not really respond, most are going off the first post which states that an engineer determined that it's due to faulty manufacturing of the tank.

That and the tank was practically brand new... well within the warranty period.

 

[DavidinGA]

I would tend to think since cadlights isn't out in front of this that they are hoping to ride it out until the statutes of limitations runs out...

 

[805reef]

Finally read this thread, wow so sorry to hear about your home and tank!

This is very scary. I am having a large tank made and this is my biggest fear of what could happen when it finally gets setup in my home. Mine is not going to have any cross bracing either and I have asked multiple times and each time assured it doesn't need it. I hope I never have to make this kind of post about my tank, or anyone else.

Good luck resolving this with cadlights.

I'm just so glad that nobody got physically hurt with this blowout. Scary to think about!

 

[Mr. Brooks]

So it didn't have cross bracing? Only eurobraced? If this is the case, they really pushed the envelope going that tall. Seems they pushed it too far.

 

[fixmgood]

I hope you all understand why I am not saying too much, I am giving Cadlights the time we agreed upon in order to contact me to resolve this.All I can say at this point on Wednesday afternoon is tic toc........

 

[rickztahone]

I hope you all understand why I am not saying too much, I am giving Cadlights the time we agreed upon in order to contact me to resolve this.All I can say at this point on Wednesday afternoon is tic toc........

I'm glad you posted this because I was going to suggest that you not post much on this thread.

Everyone needs to remember that this is a serious issue with a lot of money tied up in damages and if a case ensues, all of this talk may be looked upon to side with one party.

Ed posting that ridiculous warranty claim serves me well because they seem to enjoy putting it out there that you are truly on your own as a purchaser of such an expensive item they sell. My business will go elsewhere. Of course I will keep in mind that no company out there will want to pay damages like these, but I am sure that these companies have insurances that can deal with these type of unique situations. Being a small company only means that it can become much smaller, or rather a distant memory if it does not place its customers first.

So again, if OP doesn't respond to a direct question, it may be for the best. We got the OP's POV, and we got a partial one from the manufacturer, but ultimately our opinions will not matter in a court of law and only a lawyer can assess how good of a case this may potentially be.

 

[Germanwerks]

Straight craziness. Hopefully cadlights makes this issue right

 

[Steve1714]

Facts about the strength of silicone

Facts about the strength of silicone

This is for those who are worrying about their tanks breaking.

First lets calculate the average force pushing on the front panel of this tank;

96" long x 30" tall = 2880 square inches
Pressure increases linear with 0 at the top and 'Y' at 30" of depth.
Y = weight of a column of sea water that is 30" high. Sea water has a weight of around 1.027 grams per cubic centimeter, there are 16.387cubic centimeters per cubic inch or 16.83 grams in a cubic inch which translates to .0361 pounds per cubic inch of sea water.
30" x .0361 = 1.083 pounds per square inch.
Typically to find the total force on the side you would divide this by 2 and multiply this by the total square inches. 2880 x (1.083/2) = 1,559 pounds of force pushing against that front panel.
So let's assume all that pressure is focused on just the silicone joint at the bottom of the front panel.
96" long x 3/4" thick = 74 cubic inches of silicone strength. Referencing the chart provided by a reputable aquarium silicone manufacture it shows that after 300 days in the water it requires 203 pounds per square inch to make the joint fail and that is at 100% cohesion. This means the silicon itself is torn down the middle of the joint. (Silicone would be left on both sides of the separated joint)
So if we have 74 cubic inches X 203 pounds of force per inch, this gives us a grand total of 14,616 pounds of force on this joint to make it fail. This means that just the bottom joint alone if properly sealed with silicone can handle a little more than 9 times the force being applied to it by the water pressure.

These are all facts and not opinions, please check my maths and methods if you'd like.

Hypothetically, if we slowly increased the density/weight of the water to 9x normal weight, I think the glass would blow out around the 4-5x mark before the silicone joints would separate.

Steve G