who's good with acrylic?

[Capt_Cully]

I tried both of them last pm along with several others, with no success.

http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

About 3/4 of the way down shows an explodes itemized view of what I'm trying to replicate. I have everything except for the reducing street 90s.

If you can find them it'd be great!!!

 

[Capt_Cully]

 

[Capt_Cully]

Piece of plumbing all the way on the left is the missing link. Can't find it anywhere!

 

[iamwrasseman]

mark , it will be had for sure . does it get glued into the bulkhead?

 

[iamwrasseman]

406-292n can be used for sure as you would only need a 1" piece of 1" pvc as a bushing and then it would have the slip 1" end as you desire . one drawback would be is that it will be approx 1/2" longer and that can be reduced by cutting the elbo just a bit shorter than the factory unit . looks easy ~ we can get there from here for sure .

 

[Capt_Cully]

Yeah I though of that. It will make it's profile just a bit bigger, which means the overflow box will have to stick out that much farther. I'm trying to stay low profile, but with 3 foot depth front to back, I think I can spare a 1/2 inch or so. If I can't locate that exact 90, I'll redirect to either 1.5" bulk heads, or I'll mod a 1.25 90 with a piece of 1" stock.

Thanks for your efforts Dave!

 

[iamwrasseman]

oh were noy done yet ,let me check with a couple of my suppliers this upcomming week and see if we get lucky at all .

 

[Capt_Cully]

I can attach an acrylic overflow box to a glass tank, Correct???

I cleaned the glass thoroughly and just used All-Glass Aquarium Silicone to attach the acrylic box to the back glass. It has been clamped in place. I laid down a finger bead on all surfaces I could reach as well as the initial portion around the perimeter of the box. It's been sitting for 24+ hrs.

Am I good?
If not, how long would you wait? I have all the time in the world. No pressure.
What should I have done differently?

 

[iamwrasseman]

24 -48 hours is what they say if im not mistaken but someone could correct me .

 

[Willistein]

Does that really work? I was always under the impression that acrylic really doesn't bond well to silicone.

 

[jacksonpt]

it probably wont support much weight, but should be fine for internal boxes. personally I wouldn't trust it on an exterior box where all the weight/pressure is going one way.

then again, maybe im just horrible at applying silicone and that's actually my problem.

 

[Capt_Cully]

I was told it did. I mean that's how all the factory overflows are placed in tanks. I really don't know the answer.

 

[iamwrasseman]

well all i can say is that they use silicone in the factory to hold overflow boxes on the interior of the tank so it must have some function in this manner .

 

[jacksonpt]

yes, it will work for internal boxes/weirs because there is water on both sides of the box... the "weight" or pressure of the water in the display is largely balanced by that of the water in the box. The weir and the silicone end up supporting very little weight.

An external box is very different because there is only water on 1 side of the box walls, which puts pressure singularly on the inside of the box, thus the seams and walls take all the pressure. This is when I don't trust acrylic bonded with silicone.

 

[acdraindrps]

Ever actually TRY to pull a box out of an old tank? Not easy to say the least!

 

[reefman5511]

I've used silicone on acrylic. Eventually came off the acrylic very easily. Case in point - they came out with acrylic based bathtub caulk for use with the acrylic bathtub surrounds because the silicone was coming off the surround. On the exterior of the tank, I wouldn't trust it.

 

[Capt_Cully]

I would have done glass if it was external. Also, with thus design, if the box did fail, it can be converted to an open drain type overflow relatively easily. Aesthetically not as pleasing, but still completely operational. So I'll go for it and report any pitfalls.

 

[Willistein]

For some reason, I thought you were doing external - internally it should be fine. Carry on!

 

[acdraindrps]

I would have done glass if it was external. Also, with thus design, if the box did fail, it can be converted to an open drain type overflow relatively easily. Aesthetically not as pleasing, but still completely operational. So I'll go for it and report any pitfalls.

It won't. :beer:

 

[Capt_Cully]

:thumbsup: