acrylic sump repair

[lizmomdad]

Hello,

I received an acrylic sump that has some cracks. It is roughly 30" by 12", and has 2 cracks- one is about 6 inches long and the other is maybe 9 inches long. I need some advice on the best way to repair it. I was thinking of getting a few sheets of plexiglass and glueing them over the cracked parts to reinforce them so the cracks don't continue. SHould I super glue them or use silicone?
Any ideas??

[wolrey]

The acrylic guru's will find this thread eventually and fill in the gaps in info. For sure don't use super glue or silicone to fix the leak. Superglue will cause acrylic to craze and crack much worse. Silicone won't make a strong enough bond to be trusted long term. You need a Weldon acrylic glue and a piece of scrape acrylic.

[David Grigor]

Yes, use another piece of acrylic over it to stop it from cracking further. However, silicone nor superglue is right for the job. You need to get some Weldon #3, #4, or #16 to do the job. Find the nearest arcylic shop in the yellow pages as you won't find it in a hardware store. Since you have to go to the shop anyways, some places have scrap bins to get the arcylic from and will be cheaper then getting it elsewhere.

[lizmomdad]

Cool, Thanks, I will look around the internet to find the product. I'll post again when I do the repair

[mtfatwork]

Ken, I wish you would have posted this before you came down today. I have all the ness things here to repair it. Scrap acrylic, weldon, and the know how :)

you wanna come back next weekend I can totally fix it for you (for free of course)

[mtfatwork]

Seven corners hardware in St. Paul carries the full line of IPS Weldon products

[lizmomdad]

Thanks, I might come back next weekend. I just thought about a plastic company who is a customer of mine. It might be a fun thing for me to do myself also. I'll PM ya if I want to make the trek out. PS, the anemone and frags are liking the new home!

Thanks, Ken

[mtfatwork]

Glad to hear Ken, and I will be around pretty much all weekend next weekend, so jlmk if you want to swing out. I head out of town a week from Wed, and will be gone until a few days before the speaker event, so this coming weekend would be the only time :)

It is fun to do yourself, but it is also fun to watch someone do one so you know how to do it "right"

[lizmomdad]

I think you might be right. I will check my schedule with my wife and see when there might be time.
Ken

[morty]

I have a lot of scrap acrylic and the different solvent glues mentioned above, if you'd like to bring the sump over I could patch it. If you want to diy, the True Value near me in Shorewood carries acrylic solvent cement, other True Value stores may as well.