$50 craiglist 225 tank/cabinet/canopy DIY refurbish

[CWO4GUNNER]

Having rained last night we have an exceptionally cool morning and hopefully all day. I got started trying to cut out the first of two overflows which must come out first before the bottom panel removal can be attempted. I worked for an hour with a triangular razor blade tool on the overflows which I discovered were not just simply plexiglas, but plexiglas laminated over 1/8 inch glass.

This made cutting through the silicone seal a very difficult and tiring chore. In fact I knew that if I had made almost no progress after an hour and a half that I might have to completely rethink my entire strategy. I needed to take a brake and do some soul searching and contemplate an answer.

After my brake it came to me that I should assemble all my razor blade cutting tools that might possible help with the job and make razor blade change out less frequent having access to more tool. Understand that I have NEVER done this before so I was flying blind. One of the tools I picked up and wasn't planning on using was a small thin blade cheap Ginsu fillet knife. For some reason as I was about to ignore it I had that strange familiar feeling that I would need it.

Back at the tank I went through every blade especially the flat 4" blade with the T handle thinking it would cut deeper but again e all it seemed to do like the others was just cut the surface silicone only never penetrating deep enough to even loosen the overflow. Now I had more then 2 hours invested in cutting and had made almost no progress and things were looking bleak as the panel replacement project suddenly looked like a unbeatable giant. :raspberry:

Finally there was only one tool left I had not use the one I had originally rejected but was compelled to bring along. As I took the little thin knife and applied it like the other razors in a spot I had not yet cut the blade suddenly went all the way through to the other side of both the Plexiglas and glass layer almost as if it was meant to happen. As I pushed down the knife along the seal it just unzipped as I applied pressure to the overflow the little knife just zipped along the entire length like I was cutting cardboard.

What had taken me 2 hours with no results suddenly took 3 minutes and the overflow was defeated. I was both shocked and thankful, so much so I decided to make this post LOL:grinyes:

Here are some picks of a truly giant overflow and the little knife that slayed it. I might have to go buy a fish fillet knife encase this one brakes, they certainly work 20 times better then razor blades for cutting through silicone seals (PTL).

Only one of these tools really worked and not by choice

Here it is

The very thin blade able to just penatrate all the way through the seal just unzipped it like a baggie lol.

Is this a gian overflow or what? I wonder if anyone would buy this if cleaned up on ebay LOL?

 

[Arkangel77]

Good Job Man!

 

[Rbishop]

Those thin blade paring knives are awesome tools.....

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

Yeah I broke that one after removing the 2nd overflow but found them at Walmart for $0.98 called "MainStays 4-pack paring knives stainless steel blades" bare code 76753"33234. The price was so ridiculously low I bought 4 packs or 16 knives for $4.

On the second overflow I found that if you first use a new razor sharp wood chisel to trim off all the edge bulk, it makes it easier for the blade to have a flat surface to slide in. The wood chisels are just like razor blades except much stronger and wont twist, bind or brake and have a fat palm handle to push it along like a plow blade, it is the orange handle tool you see in the photo and are also reasonably priced like $2 each.

With both overflows out before I start cutting out the panels I decided that now would be the best time to clean and polish the glass with volcanic pumice paste and also remove the paint with chem peel. Doing it now before I reseal and with the old overflow holes in the bottom to drain all the cleaning goo will make it much easier then if I wait until after the reseal. Besides I should clean it up before surgery anyway.

 

[RodInCALIFORNIA]

Go Gunner Go Gunner

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

Working on the tank inside the back of my mini pickup is working out great becasue the ribbed bed liner locks in the corners so I can tip the tank against each side without it sliding allowing me to reach and work inside the tank without bending over.

I started polishing the painted side first so you cant see the results but to give you an idea of how will volcanic pumice paste works it polished 1/2 of the tank brace, and everyone knows how badly minerals from salt and hard water can damage a tank brace. Well the half that is polished took only 5 minutes after I was done with the painted side and is bone dry, a perfect polish would take another 5 minutes. So if you have hard water deposits or haze you want removed this is the stuff to use.

If you look closely you can see that the tank is on its side leaning against the padded side wall of the truck and the bottom corner locked into the bed liner rib. Seems to be the perfect platform for giant tank work. This tilting is also going to allow me to cut the bottom seals with easy access as i could never tilt the tank like this if it were on the ground or work bench. Incidentally I decide to test the paring knife on the bottom and side seal which I feared I could not penetrate as the gap between the panels seems too narrow and too thick (1/2 inch) but to my astonishment the little blade just went all the way through with only moderate effort so that great news.

 

[Arkangel77]

I started polishing the painted side first so you cant see the results but to give you an idea of how will volcanic pumice paste works it polished 1/2 of the tank brace, and everyone knows how badly minerals from salt and hard water can damage a tank brace. Well the half that is polished took only 5 minutes after I was done with the painted side and is bone dry, a perfect polish would take another 5 minutes. So if you have hard water deposits or haze you want removed this is the stuff to use.

WOW - where do you get that past from?

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

I discovered this stuff when I refurbished my 12 year old 125 tank in a quest to clean off the water spots and haze that just would not come off no matter what I tried, and I tried it all from CLR to vinegar to corn starch unless of course you want to spend months using that stuff to get embedded minerals out of glass.

I refer to the product I use now by its primary ingredient volcanic pumice, it also contains bees wax and water. I confirmed this with the company and although the product was originally developed for removing paint without the use of chemicals they explained that it actually removed glass also only much more slowly then paint. The pumice is so fine that even though it scratches the surface of the glass, the scratches are so fine you can only see them microscopically so the glass that is left over is polished and crystal clear. And without further ado here it is below.

 

[Rbishop]

Good stuff...have used it on mirrors and picture frame glass....never had a need for it on a tank yet.

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

Continuing my cleaning and polishing today before the big cut and being careful not to wet the sun hot glass too quickly and cause a crack, things began to stand out because now Im focusing on the details. One thing that suddenly occurred to me and you can actually see in some of the privious photo's is that the only place silicone was used for the inside sealing of the tank was the top and the bottom perimeter, NONE of the side panels have any interior silicone other then what is between the panes of glass. I found this to be quite astonishing becasue I never thought it could actually be done especially in the vertical seams where water pressure would act the most to separate them.

In a way this is good news becasue first off it means I only have to remove the bottom and top inside seals since that is all there is, and second of all when I do install side seam inside seals it means my tank will be that much stronger, which begs the question. How many of you think I should just leave the side seams without inside seals OR seal all the sides even though they never had inside seals only whats between the glass joints?

Also since the pairing knife is able to completely breach and cut the joint between the panes of glass, do you think it would be better to wait to cut out the inside bottom seals since it is not necessary to remove them to get the glass to come out, or should I use the V-tool to cut inside bottom seals out first anyway and then followup with the pairing knife cut?

The V-tool which I have never used is a plastic tool designed to remove silicone seals from inside V joints in bathroom shower stalls, just like in an aquarium, cost me about $4 and its seems ashamed if I don't get a chance to use it.