Will RTV108 and Aqueon Sealant Bond?

cswanson

New member
I have put in an overflow wall into a 75Gal.

Broke the rules with acrylic overflow onto glass but I used RTV108 and it's not moving.

However, there is a small leak. I didn't have enough RTV to smear it all over but I had enough to hold it in place.

What I am curious about is whether I can overlay the Aqueon Sealant onto the RTV108 to:

1) Make a proper seal,
2) Save some time since I have the sealant and need to order the RTV.

Thanks
 
silicone will generally not bond very well to other silicone….especially if the silicone in question has already seen water or any other contaminant…

for the purpose of an overflow it may not be a big deal unless the holes are drilled low in the tank and complete drain is possible should the leak rear its ugly head again..

that said smearing rtv over it likely won't work either…the proper way to complete a seal in a tank is to ensure you have more then enough silicone to do the job in the first place...
 
Thanks,

Interesting material in that you get one shot.

Funny story in that I did have enough silicone, but I forgot to puncture the tube and the caulking gun squished it out the back.

Boy did I feel foolish.

Ok, I need to sleep over this. Waiting a week for it to cure is pretty demanding, but since the drain hole is low - a flood would be worse.
 
If I am understanding correctly you added an internal overflow wall and siliconed it to the glass. You filled the tank and water is leaking from the main tank into the overflow chamber. If that is correct why bother fixing a leak since it is water that is going into the overflow anyway. That would in no way be detrimental to the system. The only problem would be if you ever needed to remove the drain for some reason but even at that I would never do it with a full tank anyway.
 
You have a very good point that I thought in the beginning as well.

The problem is when the power gets cut.

The leak is low on one side and this will cause the overflow to continually fill to then continually drain into the sump.

If the power outage is long enough the sump will over fill.
 
I have put in an overflow wall into a 75Gal.

Broke the rules with acrylic overflow onto glass but I used RTV108 and it's not moving.

However, there is a small leak. I didn't have enough RTV to smear it all over but I had enough to hold it in place.

What I am curious about is whether I can overlay the Aqueon Sealant onto the RTV108 to:

1) Make a proper seal,
2) Save some time since I have the sealant and need to order the RTV.

Thanks

1) Make a proper seal: Take it out and redo it.

2) Save some time: Take it out and redo it.

3) You may wish to reconsider, and not use a full height overflow. Even though there are holes going out the bottom. Full height overflows, in terms of progress, are a thing of the past.
 
Will RTV108 and Aqueon Sealant Bond?

You have a very good point that I thought in the beginning as well.



The problem is when the power gets cut.



The leak is low on one side and this will cause the overflow to continually fill to then continually drain into the sump.



If the power outage is long enough the sump will over fill.


How low do you have the drain in the overflow??

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Crude but let me explain... Just using a durso stand pipe but the principal is the same. If the drain is about an inch below the teeth of the overflow or wall of the overflow. You would need only calculate the volume of that water in the tank and make sure your sump can handle that volume. If your drain is really low in the overflow like the dashed line in the sketch it would be problematic in almost any case. IMHO a well thought out sump should take this into consideration since that overflow could leak at any time in its lifetime. So let's say at 1" there was 6 gallons of water. Make sure you have space in the sump. If the drain is so low you have 50% of your tank volume above the top of the drain then you you'll plan to have that much extra capacity in the sump.

It all comes down to how much risk you want to take on. I use the same principal when designing the return chamber of my sumps. Should my drains become 100%clogged there is never enough water in the sump and return that the DT could possibly flood.

If the power is out the water level in the DT will at worse case drain to the height of the drain. That is what you should plan for.
 
True, however power out is not worst case scenario. If the bulkheads develop a leak, that is a lot of water on the floor. That is what should be planned for: worst case scenario.

Pump running dry and burning up, due to evaporative loss, becasue the ATO failed miserably. That is what should be planned for: worst case scenario.

Using smart drain systems, with redundant backup, will take care of clogged drains. Also a little math with help here also. Typically a 120 water level will be around 1.5" below the top of the tank. A typical "safe" volume for the pump would be around 6 + gallons above the pump inlet. (Calculating 2 gallons per day evaporative loss; gives a few days to catch the issue.) 6 gallons possible to the tank, ~7 gallons of room. so even with a shut down drain system, the pump will die before the room takes any water. In smaller tanks, the numbers get closer together, making smart design even more critical. But in terms of return section volume, that buffer zone (~2 gal/day) is obligatory.

I have written thousands of words on thinking things all the way through concerning fail safety for pumps, and flood prevention.
 
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