800g Tank Reseal (for the 2nd time)!
- Thread starter Trouser Cough
- Start date
Nothing happens as quickly in real life as it does in the gantt charts that fly around in my head.
Current state is that the tank has been cleaned, cleaned again, vacuumed, inspected for residual film where the failed silicone had been, blasted by a fan all night to remove moisture from the interstice between panes, etc.
Tonight I cleaned again and masked off the lines where I'll soon put a major league fatty bead of caulk.
Tomorrow night I'll clean, this time specifically between the tape lines with rubbing alcohol so that there's zero chance of building in a known potential failure point.
What concerns me about the next couple steps is that the moisture between panes is not going away. One of the steps tomorrow night will be to hit the most suspect joints w/ compressed air from the type of CO2 can we all might use to blast the muck off of a keyboard. I thought about dragging a line from my compressor to the tank but I have this mental image in my head of squeezing the button on the compressor nozzle and seeing a 10' long tongue of silicone roar out from between the panes.
We're getting close though. Really close.
Any thoughts on how much time I should allow for a fat bead to cure? I'd estimate that the bead will be 7/8"W x 7/8"H with a hypotenuse of roughly 1.25" across, this time finished w/ a tool that should make it purdy.
Current state is that the tank has been cleaned, cleaned again, vacuumed, inspected for residual film where the failed silicone had been, blasted by a fan all night to remove moisture from the interstice between panes, etc.
Tonight I cleaned again and masked off the lines where I'll soon put a major league fatty bead of caulk.
Tomorrow night I'll clean, this time specifically between the tape lines with rubbing alcohol so that there's zero chance of building in a known potential failure point.
What concerns me about the next couple steps is that the moisture between panes is not going away. One of the steps tomorrow night will be to hit the most suspect joints w/ compressed air from the type of CO2 can we all might use to blast the muck off of a keyboard. I thought about dragging a line from my compressor to the tank but I have this mental image in my head of squeezing the button on the compressor nozzle and seeing a 10' long tongue of silicone roar out from between the panes.
We're getting close though. Really close.
Any thoughts on how much time I should allow for a fat bead to cure? I'd estimate that the bead will be 7/8"W x 7/8"H with a hypotenuse of roughly 1.25" across, this time finished w/ a tool that should make it purdy.
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Just remember that it's way, way easier to make a tiny bead look nice and clean...than it is to do so with a big-ass monster like you're describing.
Whoa whoa whoa. What's going on with this new tool? I would practice it on something else before trying it on the big boy.
I would echo your concerns about the structural silicone. Is it coming out in little frays/chunks from any of the seams when you are cleaning? Or look cracked or otherwise funky? I haven't seen a Pic of the bottom seam from the side--can it be seen with that trim on the tank?
One of my first concerns when I was looking at your tank is that there was another issue besides seals that was causing the leak. At this point, if it's leaking from that same area every time, I'd say there is a weak area in the structural seams that keeps springing the leak every time.
Tbh this would be the largest glass tank I've ever seen resealed by about 2x. We talk about this procedure pretty casually but in reality I'm not even sure if a DIY reseal is even a thing to do on a tank this large. It's almost a requirement to tackle a project like this in a professional workshop, sterile environment with no shortage of skilled helping hands. I'm getting more and more nervous every time you fill that thing up, at some point an 800g tank failure can go very scary.
Of course I'm cheering for you though and I'm sure you'll get it this time. What's that they say about third times? I think 3 weeks minimum to cure but you'll have to closely inspect that super fat seal for squishiness anywhere before proceeding.
I would echo your concerns about the structural silicone. Is it coming out in little frays/chunks from any of the seams when you are cleaning? Or look cracked or otherwise funky? I haven't seen a Pic of the bottom seam from the side--can it be seen with that trim on the tank?
One of my first concerns when I was looking at your tank is that there was another issue besides seals that was causing the leak. At this point, if it's leaking from that same area every time, I'd say there is a weak area in the structural seams that keeps springing the leak every time.
Tbh this would be the largest glass tank I've ever seen resealed by about 2x. We talk about this procedure pretty casually but in reality I'm not even sure if a DIY reseal is even a thing to do on a tank this large. It's almost a requirement to tackle a project like this in a professional workshop, sterile environment with no shortage of skilled helping hands. I'm getting more and more nervous every time you fill that thing up, at some point an 800g tank failure can go very scary.
Of course I'm cheering for you though and I'm sure you'll get it this time. What's that they say about third times? I think 3 weeks minimum to cure but you'll have to closely inspect that super fat seal for squishiness anywhere before proceeding.
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Is the moisture in the silicone seal also showing up in the wood near that spot?
It is not. The moisture is just stuck between the panes.
I'll get a pic of the silicone between panes but the short version is that it seems to be in pretty good shape overall, particularly for having been yanked around by multiple tank stripping episodes.
The tool is nothing fancy. I'm just taking a hand tool made for stripping sealant from 90* seams and will dip it in water to smooth the silicone as I apply same. In this instance it's little more than an overpriced putty knife. As long as the prep work is such a huge ordeal I might as well put a little extra effort into making the finished product look as pretty as possible.
Truth be told I don't actually know where it's leaking from. The stand is almost perfectly level so when the seal failure is slight all I really notice is wetness accumulate at the S/W corner of the tank. The wooden stand gets wet there and nowhere else. The moisture works its way into the lower trim and runs down the inner track until it reaches the lowest point which is that corner... but it's just barely lower.
Tonight is alcohol night.
I've got my fingers crossed for you. I must admit...if I were in your shoes, I'd consider it alcohol night as well...but I might be thinking something different than you are...
I hope you have that room fairly warm to hasten evaporation, and maybe stick in a dehumidifier even if it doesn't need one. Warm dry air is your friend right now.
