acrylic joint bubbles

Hello,
I got an acrylic tank that I need some help with. Just wanting to know if it will hold water. It's 36x24x12, the front, back, and sides are 3/8'' and the bottom is 1/4'' thick, will that be an issue? It has a 1 inch strip bracing on it. My second concern is two of the corners, it seems to have a lot of bubbles. Can I just use some weld-on 16 to reinfornce it? Please help before I fill her up, thank you.

 

Thickness is fine, but I am not sure on the bubbles or their repair.

 

It should be ok if its only afew small bubbles....if your concerned pick up some, either square stock or triangle stock rods cut to length and glue with weldon16. Usually you use weldon3 or 4 but most square and triangle stock do not have perfectly flat edges so 16 will help to fill the edges.make sure when you press the strips in they are covered nicely and pressed in well if you lift the strip out you will get amillion bubbles in the joint

 

I wouldn't trust the bubbles, but you could always test it. I would suggest breaking the seal (the water test might accomplish this), sanding the edges and joining the tank using methyl chloride.

 

aww, i've never done any acrylic work and thought i could just use some weld on 16 on the joints like siliconing a baffle, this isn't a display tank so it doesn't have to look fine. it's held water for a couple of days but just wanted to double check before i actually start anything.

 

I've never used the stuff, so I don't know how it is applied. With methyl Chloride, it essentially melts and fuses the the edges together. In theory, you wouldn't have a seam.

Silicone won't work (doesn't cure on acylic), but I am not sure how to apply the weldon16.

 

Just built a custom top off tank out of 3/8" first time...my joints had a ton of bubbles, but I just reinforced with weld on 16 on the inside and let cure a week. Holds water fine. Not sure what the use will be but the 16 will seal small holes and if you are concerned if it will just burst, depending on the application you can just add ribs or baffles with the 16 which will give it additional strength.

 

Sorry I never had done any acrylic work either...also my dimension were weird...28"*5.5"*17"...Breaking he seam may cause even more problems as you would have to sand and buff...then who knows if you seams will still be a 100% flush...fill it up outside after you reinforce with 16--which is like syrup...and will show air bubbles...

 

It's more work to break the seam, but it won't cause more problems then letting it remain status quo. This is the safest route, albeit still risky.

I can't speak on applying weldon16 like silicon as I don't know what it's designed to do. If it's designed to do as it's name implies, applying it like silicon will not be effective.

 

You should be okay, how high are you filling it?