easy way to take off mirror painted on background

[bullseye69]

OK on the 60 gal long is a painted on mirror background and i have tried to use a razor blade to no luck. could there or is there an easier way. and if not where can i buy some of the stuff to repair the damaged parts to make it then look whole again.
oh ya is it possible to silicone a standard background to the inside and would the silicone hold good?

thanks

 

[Buckdog]

I assume its on a glass tank. If it's acrylic, I would forget it.
If you have a small collection of solvents (acetone, MEK, lacquer thinner,etc) you could try that to see what would dissolve it. If not, paint stripper may work. Test on a small area first.
I dont know what your experience level is with those I mentioned but be extremely careful with the paint stripper.

You probably could silicone a new background on the back but it better be watertight. If you get water leaching between the two surfaces it may cause big problems later.

 

[bullseye69]

No I am pretty good at using paint stripper as i have been and still in the process of refinishing my house IE...strip old paint Lil. i might try a test patch later this week and see. thanks. If nothing works i guess I'll have to live with it hmmmm. Please keep ideas coming

 

[Buckdog]

Cool. Let us know what happens. I'm curious myself.

 

[hatcheridiot]

Be careful that none of the solvents you use deteriorates the silicone sealing and holding your tank together!!!!!

 

[bullseye69]

OK so i used some stripper to remove the mirror background, that worked very well for the top protective coat but not for the mirror stuff its self. i then tried paint thinner,lacquer thinner, and some stuff called kem clean for removing stripper residue. but so far nothing is getting the actual mirror paint off. I'm now at a loss. please if anyone can help suggest anything thanks.

 

[hatcheridiot]

Wish I could give you some magical advice....someones gotta have some....but a carefully used razor blade might do the trick? It WOULD be scratchy though.

 

[bullseye69]

well i tried the razor blade and that only smudges the mirror paint and makes it worse. i'm at a loss now. last resort is sand it of lol and say hey what a cool effect for a background.

 

[Charlie Greiner]

You might want to try etching the glass. It creates a semi transparent result. I have never done it but have had it done to create patterns in door and window glass for privacy.

Charlie

 

[red devil]

Do you have a heat gun - it is a thing that looks a lot like a heavy duty hair dryer. The heat might loosen the adhesive enough so that you can maneuver the mirror. Also, have you tried sliding a razor blade between the glass and the mirror coating then squeezing some kind of solvent in between? Be careful with options that require force - you may end up stressing the silicon joints that hold the glass panels together just enough to cause them to leak later.