tank is 1/8" leaning towards the back...okay ?

[flamenco-t]

I just got done setting up my 240. I leveled the tank previously with half full of water and got everything perfect all the way around.

I got everything filled up last week and tonight I checked the levelness of the tank again out of curiosity and I find out that the tank is 1/8" lower on the BACK side of the tank.

Side to side is perfect.

Setup:

AGA 240 6 ft x 2 ft x 31"
Custom made (by me) stand 43" tall
Plywood top on the stand and the AGA tank sits on the plywood top. No foam
Stand sits on berber plush carpet.

The problem is this, I only have 13" of room on either side of the tank and only 6" of room behind the tank. I can not put any shims under the back side of the stand to level it out.

The only way I can do this is to remove the whole water and everything on the inside, remove all plumbing leading up to the overflow, remove the tank from the stand and level the stand by raising the back side 1/8".

My question is, is 1/8" acceptable as far as levelness ?

What if I try to raise the tank by applying shims as far as I can go from each side between the tank and the plywood top of the stand?

Thanks in advance for all the suggestion...

stan

 

[Sundiego]

IMO that does not seem bad to me. My tank is also 1/8 inch off no problems yet. If you do level it do it under the stand, and not between the tank and stand this will cause stress on the tank.

This is information I have read here in the past and I'm no expert.

 

[Kshack]

"What if I try to raise the tank by applying shims as far as I can go from each side between the tank and the plywood top of the stand?"


That would be a bad idea. Most important thing is to have the stand flat or you will introduce stress into the tank. By shimming the sides your plywood will not be flat=torque=stress. If your stand plywood is flat, but not level by 1/8 inch your only problem is visual. If it does not look bad to you, leave it. If the visual bothers you, take apart and fix it right.

 

[Capt_Cully]

I think you'll be ok with out it. Mine is lower in the back and even has a minor tilt to the right. It's flat on the floor and braced in place in the basement. Been ok for almost a year now. No problems.

 

[tkeracer619]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10783042#post10783042 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Capt_Cully
I think you'll be ok with out it. Mine is lower in the back and even has a minor tilt to the right. It's flat on the floor and braced in place in the basement. Been ok for almost a year now. No problems.

What your describing is a tank that is wracked and is going to break. Mine was like that for over a year, was being the key word.

If one cornor sags more than any other corner the stand is not level but twisted. If its twisted, it will break.

If the whole thing is off by 1/8" I would not be too concerned. Its when the whole back is off by 1/8" and the sides off by another 1/8" that causes issues.

If your tank is on carpet the issue will be compounded, the side that is off by 1/8" will be off by a 1/4" in no time. Personally, I would fix it. After loosing 150 gallons to my floor it is completly worth it to me to spend an extra day making sure the tank is 100% level.

 

[Johnsteph10]

It is ok as long as you met the requirements of building your stand per AGA recommendations.

 

[ziac]

where would you find thease AGA recommendations ?

 

[bhdmc]

That should be fine

 

[flamenco-t]

This is the picture of the skeleton frame stand on the tank, the pitcture was taken before I added the 2 horizontal braces at the top.

Then I added a sheet of 1/2" plywood on top of the stand (not nailed or glue) and place the tank on top of it.

The floor is the culprit, it's not perfecly level. I guess when I originally measured it, the carpet wasn't push far down enough and once the tank is filled, it finally compressed the carpet and that's when the imperfection was detected.

FYI, I also add 1/2" plywood on the bottom frame to make shimming and leveling easier.

The stand is true and accurate, I sanded down all imperfection to get all surface area equal.

I used a 4' leveler, from back to front, the back is 1/8" lower than the front, but when I did diagonal leveling (corner or left rear to front right) it was less than 1/8"

I measured the levelness by using a tapered shims and slide in under the level until the bubble is perfectly in the middle. then I measure the thickness of the shim when the level sits at.

This is how I was able to get 1/8"

NOTE: the bubble is still within specs within the level vertical line. But I notice it was leaning more towards one side than the others. So I guess even if the bubble is within the 2 vertical lines, you will still have 1/8 - 1/4" to play with.

stan