Center brace repair

[jim LI]

Hi All,
I have a 36 gallon bow front tank. A few weeks ago the center brace cracked in the middle. is there any way to repair this? i tried using coral glue with a piece of plastic rod holding the separated pieces together, but it failed. Another question, do i need to be concerned that the brace separated?

thanks,
jim

[wlr75]

I have a 72g Allglass bow front that cracked right at the front where it connects the the trim portion. After speaking to several people and professionals about this there is not a repair for the existing trim/ brace. You can however order the trim/ brace from a trusted LFS and replace the piece yourself. All you need to do is remove the old, scrape the old silicone and apply new silicone and add the new trim piece. My LFS told me for my 72g it would be around $50.

[jim LI]

Thanks. my problem is the tank is oak trim and it has been out of production for 3 years. i can only get black, which means putting some kind of oak trim around both bottom and top trim piece. i would rather try to repair than replace it.

thanks,
jim

[rickztahone]

Do you have a picture? Is this the plastic trim and not the glass brace? Similar to the one on my thread here?

[jim LI]

rick, i will try to get a pic, but to briefly explain. the crack is right in the center of the brace going across middle of the tank. it actually looks more like a tear than a crack. If you look at this pic, on the center brace there is a kind of round dimple in the plastic. that is where my tear is.
thanks, jim.

[Altum Nut]

Get a piece of plastic the same size as center brace and use this for bonding....http://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-plasticweld-putty/

...Ralph

[rickztahone]

Get a piece of plastic the same size as center brace and use this for bonding....http://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-plasticweld-putty/

...Ralph

Yup, that would work.

[nc0gnet0]

I would do that as well as toss in a few screws on either side of the tear.

[jim LI]

I fixed the brace over the weekend. I used 2 acrylic strips cut to the size of the brace. i placed a wood clamp on the tank rim to bring the crack together, but only used enough pressure on the clamp to hold the crack closed. I sandwiched the brace between the 2 acrylic strips. i used JB-weld clearweld http://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-clearweld/, as it was easier to use rather than the putty. only use a very thin layer of clearweld to coat the acrylic strips, as the excess will leak from the sides of the repair, like too much mustard on a sandwich. i also used a fine sandpaper to rough up the surface of the acrylic strips and the brace for a better surface for the clearweld to hold. I used small clamps to hold both acrylic pieces in place for an hour. after the weld dried, i place 8 nylon screws, 4 on each side of the break for added support. i probably over-killed with the screws, but I wanted to play it safe. total time was about 2 hours and cost of about $20 for the repair. I would havge posted pix, but i don't know how to.

Thanks for all the advice.

Jim