Matty1124 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 ahhhh ive been following your tank design and build... sucks you have to scrape silicone... ive done it before and its not fun... good luck Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 Well, figured its probably easier to take apart while still somewhat wet, even if it did make a hell of a mess on the glass. I'm gonna be scraping silicone for hours... :( :huh: :mellow: :angry: Link to comment
nano-paul Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Keep trying!!!!! Go to the store and get some MEK. Its a solvent in the paint section at Lowes or HD. It will make it easier to get all that caulking off of it. You will get it figured out. I have faith Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 Thanks man. Correct me if I'm wrong... would it not actually be easier to assemble a tank on its side? with the exception of the bottom piece, everything else would just kind of hold itself together under its own weight... Link to comment
nano-paul Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Thanks man. Correct me if I'm wrong... would it not actually be easier to assemble a tank on its side? with the exception of the bottom piece, everything else would just kind of hold itself together under its own weight... I always built mine right side up. Go get you some coner clamps. It will help you keep everything square and hold it together. Link to comment
seahorsejl Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Lookie what came today!!!! That slide out tray in the stand is awesome! We have those in our kitchen cabinets... never thought of them for a stand. Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 I always built mine right side up. Go get you some coner clamps. It will help you keep everything square and hold it together. Yeah, I think I'm gonna try those. Half the problem putting it together is that the side pieces wanted to slide inward. And this time I need to make sure I remove the tape right away before the silicone dries. Link to comment
nano-paul Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Yeah, I think I'm gonna try those. Half the problem putting it together is that the side pieces wanted to slide inward. And this time I need to make sure I remove the tape right away before the silicone dries. The corner clamps will stop that problem for sure, and you wont need a single piece of tape since you have that strap you can put at the bottom. Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 Keep trying!!!!! Go to the store and get some MEK. Its a solvent in the paint section at Lowes or HD. It will make it easier to get all that caulking off of it. You will get it figured out. I have faith Methyl ethyl ketone, correct? I just got some. Along with another strap clamp and a set of 4 corner clamps ($60 later...) Link to comment
nano-paul Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Methyl ethyl ketone, correct? I just got some. Along with another strap clamp and a set of 4 corner clamps ($60 later...) Yep thats the stuff! Take it outside when you clean it. It smells horrible Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Yep thats the stuff! Take it outside when you clean it. It smells horrible Ive got an outside door right beside where the tank is being assembled (my kitchen.... which now looks like a bomb hit it) so its not so bad. I'm not finding its really doing a whole lot though.... i still have to scrape with a razorblade... a lot. Link to comment
Longinus Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Yep thats the stuff! Take it outside when you clean it. It smells horrible I second that, be sure to take it outside and use protection, it is a carcinogen. We used it while building a cloth covered ultralight airplane my senior year in highschool and it would smell up the entire building we were working in even with the windows open and fans on. Ah, good times. That stand looks increadible btw, cant wait to see it with the tank built. Link to comment
neanderthalman Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 More updates or I'll spam your thread with lolcats. Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted December 1, 2007 Author Share Posted December 1, 2007 Well here we are, weeks later. I've been busy studying for my BSCI exam (which I passed) and been scraping my glass on and off during that time. (My god... what a tedious task....) So I finally get done scraping, and decide I'm going to put the damn thing together. I decide I'm going to try the assembly on its side thing I had mentioned. Back piece on the table, then bottom, then both sides, and then sit the front on the top of all of it. First 4 pieces went smoothly. I had nice even coverage between the panes (something I didnt have last time) and the silicone in the corners looked great. Except... there was something odd going on... the one side of the bottom piece of glass was too short. I went on to add the front panel to the top, and all looked good except for... Yes, thats a gap. I took a picture with a tape measure: For some reason, I march on. Little extra silicone in that gap, it'll be all good. I put my strap clamps around the tank, did my inside seals, let it sit for a while, and then I went to tip the tank upright after a while... thinking that flipping it upright should be no big deal. WRONG. The bottom pane flops down as I tip the tank up, because of the gap. So now I have silicone everywhere. I go to put it all back together, no longer caring that I was getting silicone everywhere. Get it all back together, and look at the inside seals (of which I'd already removed the tape from - I had really nice clean lines, too). They were all crap - and dry enough that adding silicone would have done a whole lot of nothing. So....... I had two options. Smash the tank (oh how badly I wanted to at that point...) or rip it all apart, spend another couple weeks scraping glass, and try again. I went with option B. Here is the aftermath of attempt 2: I seriously felt like I was going to cry while I was taking it all apart.... Is there anyone in the KC area who has put a tank together before and is GOOD at it? I'm talking nice clean thin seams? Also... nano-paul... what are we going to do about the glass that doesn't fit? I'm not sure yet which part it is thats actually not the right size... I'll have to wait until it's all dry to measure. What a sh1tty night... Link to comment
supernip Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 i find that a bit of isopropanol also does wonders when scrapping off silicon. Or even hydrogen peroxide, otherwise you get really thin residues Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted December 1, 2007 Author Share Posted December 1, 2007 i find that a bit of isopropanol also does wonders when scrapping off silicon. Or even hydrogen peroxide, otherwise you get really thin residues I was using that MEK stuff that nanopaul suggested. It works well, but I went through a LOt of razor blades. They dull really really quickly. Still good for most things, but they very quickly lose their edge when it comes to scraping glass. I seriously don't know what to do... I'm going to be afraid of screwing it up again, not to mention the glass not being the right size... Link to comment
supernip Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 do your blades dull that fast? I was able to go through a few a few tries with a single blade. Perhaps try using a diff angle? anyways, one of my pieces came in wrong too. Paul sent you a replacement within a day and it was polished and everything. I still have the old piece, I got no idea what to do with it but it's still here. I wouldn't worry too much as he has great customer service. The hard part will be figuring out which panel is short where. Can I ask if you have silicon between the panes as well? As Im quite suprised you weren't able to catch the size diff when you taped up your tank. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 interesting arrangement on your glass...you have 2 end piece on top of the bottom...while the front and back is at the sides? never seen tanks built like that... have you tried starting with the bottom piece and build the 4 walls on top/side of it? to me that would be easier to brace Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted December 1, 2007 Author Share Posted December 1, 2007 do your blades dull that fast? I was able to go through a few a few tries with a single blade. Perhaps try using a diff angle? anyways, one of my pieces came in wrong too. Paul sent you a replacement within a day and it was polished and everything. I still have the old piece, I got no idea what to do with it but it's still here. I wouldn't worry too much as he has great customer service. The hard part will be figuring out which panel is short where. Can I ask if you have silicon between the panes as well? As Im quite suprised you weren't able to catch the size diff when you taped up your tank. Yeah, he's service is amazing Yes, there is silicone between the panes. I did notice the difference before I added the last pane, but I thought perhaps I could fudge it and just seal it real good. But then it all went to hell. Oh, yes the razors get dull quickly... if youre scraping along the edge, if you nick the edge at all, it gets dull quick. It's not a big deal, blades are cheap anyway. Oh, and I didn't use any tape, the strap clamps and the corner clamps would have been plenty, had it not become one big clusterfudge. interesting arrangement on your glass...you have 2 end piece on top of the bottom...while the front and back is at the sides? never seen tanks built like that... have you tried starting with the bottom piece and build the 4 walls on top/side of it? to me that would be easier to brace not quite. the back pane (with the holes) sits flat on the table. The bottom piece gets added next, then the two side pieces, and then the front piece goes on top. I just thought I'd try it, since I was thinking that the front panel's weight would hold everything together until it was dry enough to tip upright. It seemed to be working very well actually, until i tried adding the last pane, which also went very well.... I'd consider doing it this way again, actually. The first attempt (go back a page) I built it the "normal" way, and it just was a big mess. Link to comment
supernip Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 oh that large of a gap? My one tank had a 3mm gap so I couldn't fudge it. too skarred. Just wait for the new years to come and try again I'd say. Shipping right now would be a larger cluster of fudges than even trying to reseal the tank Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted December 1, 2007 Author Share Posted December 1, 2007 oh that large of a gap? My one tank had a 3mm gap so I couldn't fudge it. too skarred. Just wait for the new years to come and try again I'd say. Shipping right now would be a larger cluster of fudges than even trying to reseal the tank yeah its a pretty freakin big gap.... and you're right about the shipping... Link to comment
IPv6Freely Posted December 1, 2007 Author Share Posted December 1, 2007 Well, it's definitely the bottom pane that is the problem. I guess I'll PM nano-paul, see what he can do. I'm also starting to wonder if it would be easier to assemble if the four sides sit ON the bottom piece instead of AROUND the bottom piece... Link to comment
Sushi Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Sucks to read up on this thread and find that you're having difficulties w/the glass. Hopefully Nano-Paul will fix you up nicely. This must've been really frustrating. Link to comment
svvad Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Man ... even Jack in the Box double checks that my $1 burger is correct before they give it to me LOL That's just sad. Good thing you've been sucking up to nano-paul. You could have your replacement glass before Easter Link to comment
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