Resealing a tank, looking for opinions and experiences on what silicone to use

SynDen

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#21
Looks good, nice work, but 4 arms would complicate it I think. You just have to be quick. If you lay your bead evenly over the seam you will be fine. no need to go back over it. just lay the bead quickly and then pull the tape. Address any other issues after the tape is off and then let it cure.
 

Legonch

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#22
The skin time on the silicone says 10 minutes. So, I need to lay all the beads and get them smoothed out and get the tape off in 10 minutes.....is that possible?
 

Dr.DiSilicate

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#23
Legonch;640809 said:
The skin time on the silicone says 10 minutes. So, I need to lay all the beads and get them smoothed out and get the tape off in 10 minutes.....is that possible?
Why not have someone working just behind you. You lay the bead and smooth out and someone following you pulling the tape. Shouldn't take more than 10 min. I think it took 10 min to put together a 60 cube for my wife and I a few years ago. Just have a plan.
 

SynDen

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#24
you dont really need to do the smoothing part though. If you lay the bead smooth and even over the seam it will cure and seal just fine. Smooth out any pieces that pull away when you pull the tape, but you really want to touch the silicon as minimally as possible. If you lay the bead, smooth out, then pull the tape, you are more likely to cause a problem then you are to fix it imo. Just lay as even a bead along the seam as possible and then pull the tape. Dont touch unless you absolutely have to
 

Legonch

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#25
Dr.HarlemTutu;n640811 said:
Why not have someone working just behind you. You lay the bead and smooth out and someone following you pulling the tape. Shouldn't take more than 10 min. I think it took 10 min to put together a 60 cube for my wife and I a few years ago. Just have a plan.

The girlfriend doesnt want anything to do with it, haha. Just me......
 

scchase

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#26
Keep a cup of water close as well if you have to touch the silicone wet your finger first.
 

Legonch

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#28
Okay, tank is all sealed. That wasnt much fun. The RTV 108 stuff is good, but its more of a sticky silicone....Very hard to smooth out after you get it in the crack. Even wetting my finger down didnt help much. Caused a couple rough surface spots, but the seal job turned out good. When they say you have 10 minutes until it skins, they mean it. The last piece of tape I pulled had skinned in one small spot. Will need to trim that up with a razor knife in a few days. Im attaching some pictures of the silicone job, and the tank and stand refinish progress.
 

Legonch

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#30
One thing I found out, is that the rtv 108 stuff will not have a really smooth look like the factory.....close but not quite. I used a credit card with a corner cut off to do the bottom seams. It worked well. For my 135 gallon tank, I used 1.5 tubes of the rtv. In a perfect world, youd have one guy laying down a bead, one guy smoothing it out, and one guy pulling tape. Two people are a must on a big tank.
 

Legonch

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#32
You need like 2 guys plus u, bud light, and a saturday....=) Id help...bunch of guys helped me move a tank, kinda pay it forward kind of thing
 

Legonch

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#33
Okay, tank is finally finished. Turned out really good. I guess I should have made this a tank build subject.....

Anyway,here is how it looks. Im going to put it up for sale in the classified section and on Craigslist if anyone is interested.

Thanks for all the advice and help throughout this tank.
 

SynDen

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#37
Legonch;n641513 said:
Okay, tank is finally finished. Turned out really good. I guess I should have made this a tank build subject.....

Anyway,here is how it looks. Im going to put it up for sale in the classified section and on Craigslist if anyone is interested.

Thanks for all the advice and help throughout this tank.
Looks great. Now do a leak test ;)

Balz3352;n641568 said:
Looks great... Wish mine turned out the same. Have to rescrape and reseal mine... Messed up a front seam

doh! but let me know man, I can help you if you need it
 
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Legonch

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#38
Sitting in the garage full of water for 2 days now.....no leaks....attached is a pic of it with water in it

Time to put it up for sale and move on to the 180 and start that process.

Thanks to all of you for the help.
 
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