What to use to glue acrlyic to glass?
- Thread starter PeeJ
- Start date
Hmm... - Not sure on the white/gold..
The blue I think also says not for use on aquariums but I think its just a liability issue..
The red is Kitchen/Bath which contains mold/mildew inhibitors which will poison a tank REALLY quick. (I learned this the hard way. Fortunately all I lost was 2 cleaning crews.. - I didn't learn until I rebuilt my sump and put another batch of fresh poison in the tank that I was using the wrong stuff..)
The blue tube says it's for windows/doors.. Does yours say anything like either of those?
The blue I think also says not for use on aquariums but I think its just a liability issue..
The red is Kitchen/Bath which contains mold/mildew inhibitors which will poison a tank REALLY quick. (I learned this the hard way. Fortunately all I lost was 2 cleaning crews.. - I didn't learn until I rebuilt my sump and put another batch of fresh poison in the tank that I was using the wrong stuff..)
The blue tube says it's for windows/doors.. Does yours say anything like either of those?
FWIW, I'm using my blue tube GE Type II in both my main tank and my sump... - I resealed my main and baffled my sump with it.. - Let it dry for about a week and dumped everything in, fired it up and corraline started growing just a month later so even though it says "not for use", its apparently not a problem...
Ahhh... - Well, I would say you're probably safe then.. - Mine is holding up an acrylic wall thats got about 5 gallons of water volume pushing against it in a standard 10 g.
And the acrylic is only 1/8" thick! 8O
(Yes, it's bowed pretty severe but its held for about a year and a half now...)
And the acrylic is only 1/8" thick! 8O
(Yes, it's bowed pretty severe but its held for about a year and a half now...)
Howdy,
I think what they mean by "not for aquarium use" is that it isn't meant to be used to "make" an aquarium. I don't think you will have any problem with the application you plan on using it for. Silicone makes for a very good adhesive between glass and acrylic, as long as you don't have too much water pressure. It sounds like you are just creating "boxes" that won't sustain any kind of pressure. Go for it.
Peace,
Scott.
I think what they mean by "not for aquarium use" is that it isn't meant to be used to "make" an aquarium. I don't think you will have any problem with the application you plan on using it for. Silicone makes for a very good adhesive between glass and acrylic, as long as you don't have too much water pressure. It sounds like you are just creating "boxes" that won't sustain any kind of pressure. Go for it.
Peace,
Scott.
afaik, trying to glue acrylic to glass is not a very wise idea 
i'm not aware of any glue that can 'bond' one to the other in a true fashion, and i certainly wouldn't trust any silicone based glue to be able to hold the 2 together for ANY pressure type apps, like tank sealing/building
non pressure bearing baffle walls in a sump are another matter, however :wink:
i'm not aware of any glue that can 'bond' one to the other in a true fashion, and i certainly wouldn't trust any silicone based glue to be able to hold the 2 together for ANY pressure type apps, like tank sealing/building
non pressure bearing baffle walls in a sump are another matter, however :wink:
There is not any type of silicone that is made to make a permenant bond between glass and acrylic. As other have already said, it does do a good job on baffles and such, where there is no pressure.
FWIW, when I was a noob, I made a corner overflow compartment in a 20G that serves as my refugium. I used acrylic and silicone to make the overflow compartment. I am sure that one day I am going to come home to a disaster. Then I will be able to tell you how long silicone holds acrylic and glass together under pressure. It is going on 3 years now. Keeping my fangers crossed!
Louey
FWIW, when I was a noob, I made a corner overflow compartment in a 20G that serves as my refugium. I used acrylic and silicone to make the overflow compartment. I am sure that one day I am going to come home to a disaster. Then I will be able to tell you how long silicone holds acrylic and glass together under pressure. It is going on 3 years now. Keeping my fangers crossed!
Louey
PeeJ":18kfwbje said:
silicone :wink:
but 'BONDED' is not the correct term to use-the overflows are not bonded to the glass, they're glued-there's a huge difference
'bonding' infers some chemical/physical join between the two pieces/materials to EACH OTHER, while glueing joins each piece to the silicone, not to each other, and silicone does not 'grab' acrylic the same way it does glass
the water pressure pushing the overflow against the glass panes it's glued to also lets us 'cheat' abit, re: the holding/tensile strength of the silicone
the silicone for overflow boxes is mostly just holding the box in place, and seals the seams against leaks (also partly thanks to the water pressure pushing the silicone into the seams). it's not really a pressure type situation (the water is actually pushing in a direction that 'goes in', pushing the box against the glass- w/a tank, the water is pushing outwards on the panes that touch the seams :wink:
hth
The experiments I did showed that goop and weld-on 40 both created very strong "bonds" between glass and acrylic. MUCH stronger than silicone. OTOH, for just attaching baffles, where a structural failure is not a catastrophe, silicone is probably adequate.
Allen
Allen
The problem kinda is that the silicones that work for glass don't work well for acrylic and vice versa. Acetoxy cure silicones such as GE Silicone I work great for glass but don't stick well at all to acrylic while neutral cures like GE Silicone II works *okay* for acrylic but not well for glass. If just for baffles, it's fine though.
Personally I'd shy away from 100% silicones, use "silicone adhesives" such as Dow Corning #795, it costs more, harder to find, and takes longer to cure but sticks well to acrylic. It's what we use for pressure gaskets in public aquaria where we are sticking acrylic to fiberglass or coated concrete.
HTH,
James
Personally I'd shy away from 100% silicones, use "silicone adhesives" such as Dow Corning #795, it costs more, harder to find, and takes longer to cure but sticks well to acrylic. It's what we use for pressure gaskets in public aquaria where we are sticking acrylic to fiberglass or coated concrete.
HTH,
James
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