jtown Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 What type of glues can I use for part of my hood? I need to bond two pieces of plastic and it will be exposed to moisture. Link to comment
flaunt Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 i've used aquarium silicone to make a bond between pvc and plastic like that on a rubbermaid container... seems like it should work for your application as well. Link to comment
jtown Posted March 22, 2002 Author Share Posted March 22, 2002 ok .... I'll try to look for it at my LFS or something...I'm about to stop by and look around for the 50th time this week. haha. Link to comment
flaunt Posted March 23, 2002 Share Posted March 23, 2002 hmm do you have a petsmart near you? they carry it at the one near me. Link to comment
jtown Posted March 23, 2002 Author Share Posted March 23, 2002 ya I got some silicone for 5 bucks at a LFS. I hope it'll work and will be able to hold up my lights. Link to comment
flaunt Posted March 23, 2002 Share Posted March 23, 2002 When you're siliconing the parts together, make sure they're in a position where no stress is on them so that you get a good seal. Also, I wouldn't even think about moving the parts your seal together for 24 hours, it would be better to wait 48 hours to make sure. Let me know how it turns out. Link to comment
jtown Posted March 23, 2002 Author Share Posted March 23, 2002 gotcha ... thanks for the advice ... in the end, it will be holding up a 32W CSL so I hope I can get it on there nice and sturdy. Link to comment
flaunt Posted March 23, 2002 Share Posted March 23, 2002 hmm well i'm not sure how well it will work holding up weight like that. i've never used it that way... i'm not sure how the 32W CSLs are constructed, but would some type of bracket maybe work better? you could screw one end of the brackets into your hood and if you orient them right maybe make it so that you can just rest your lights on the other end of the brackets. that may or may not work depending on how your hood is constructed... Link to comment
Carrie Posted March 24, 2002 Share Posted March 24, 2002 I like the silicone glue, but I would not rely on it to hold up a light fixture. possible outcomes: 1) light fixtures falls into tank and crushes rock formation, corals, etc. 2) light fixture falls into tank and electro-shocks fish, you, corals, etc. 3) light fixture does not fall into tank, but could sooner or later I know you don't want it to show from the outside, but please think about this carefully before you hurt yourself or your tank. Link to comment
jtown Posted March 24, 2002 Author Share Posted March 24, 2002 ya, I'm going to have to make some kind of safety bar or something. Link to comment
flaunt Posted March 24, 2002 Share Posted March 24, 2002 did you already silicone it together? were you saying a "safety bar" as in something to catch the lights in case they decide to fall? you know they make light clips that can hold bulbs in place, it might be easier to mount the reflector and everything directly in the hood rather than the fixture and everything. had you thought of that? Link to comment
jtown Posted March 24, 2002 Author Share Posted March 24, 2002 ok ... well here's my plan so you guys can get an idea of what I'm doing. I got a hold of an extra stock lighting and it would fit perfectly in the back section. In order to screw it in, I cut the top around the screw holes. I think you have to have an eclipse to know what I'm talking about. Anyway, so basically I'm going to take the white plastic, the cut out top that the white thing screws into and fasten it to the top of the lid on the back. So I'll have the clear cover and everything else with it, but I need to find a way to fasten it to the lid. Then I'll have some sort of safety bars for the entire device. we'll see how it goes. Link to comment
flaunt Posted March 24, 2002 Share Posted March 24, 2002 ok i don't have an eclipse but i think i understand what you're doing. i'm not sure i would use silicone entirely... you could probably use super glue gel on the back of the plastic piece that you'll be gluing to the lid and then silicone around the edges to make sure water does get in between the two. i would be sure to test the sturdiness before placing it over the water, but i personally wouldn't lose much sleep after that, even without whatever kind of safety bars you're envisioning... let us know how it goes and post some pics. Link to comment
jtown Posted March 24, 2002 Author Share Posted March 24, 2002 ya, I'm hoping that it's sturdy enough for me to be ok with lifting it up and down a lot. I don't want to compromise anyone's safety ... esp. my fish. most likely, I'm going to try and make it so that the lighting fixture can't fall in when it's closed. Link to comment
flaunt Posted March 24, 2002 Share Posted March 24, 2002 yes you can never be too careful! Link to comment
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