| Author | Message | ||
| Nick Morris (Nick3751)
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I just recently finished my holding tanks for my rig. I made them myself using the Gumpy method but didn't do quit as well. The welds are strong just not water tight. The waste tank is no biggie I caulked it and it's fine however the fresh water tank leaks and I can't find anything to seal it with that's meets with FDA approval (which I think would be a good idea). Any ideas where I can find such stuff? | ||
| truthhunter@shaw.ca Rating: N/A |
I would think about melting in more plastic. If you are looking for "non" toxic silicone you might try the stuff that is OKed for aquariums use. If fish swim in it and drink it , it should be ok for humans as fish pee in what we drink and were ok. | ||
| David Hartley (Drdave)
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If you have leaks, Your welding did not work correctly. It will break or split under stress. I destroyed 3 sheets of material and two plastic welders before giving up and relearning the whole thing over again. Ended up buying tanks and only slightly modifyng them. Good Luck.... | ||
| motorcoach1 Rating: N/A |
Heres something you might want to try worked for me. I took a drawer slide track and cut the bearing slide so it was about 8in long and mounted the nozzle head on it. then took a 12volt small gear motor and some all thread to drive it with a speed control. the speed and distance is important for a good weld. i put a aluminum wiper with heat to smooth the seam behind the nozzle. its cheap to build and works wonders. mount the slide track ridged and make the tack longer if need be. remember distance and speed will give the best weld. if the weld is wide use another gear motor to make the nozzle go in a small circle. the wiper makes a big difference in the strength too. | ||
| Jerry Liebler (Jerry_liebler)
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Nick, It's much better to repair the leaks. I admit I had a few. My tanks have some complex shapes and some inside corners leaked when I tested the tanks. To repair the leaks I cut the weld away around the leaking spot and back about 6" in each direction with a small (1/8") router bit in a Dremel tool. Then I used a temperature controlled soldering iron set at 800 degrees F and melted the seems together as if I was tack welding, then I re-welded using a little more heat and moving slower. Regards Jerry 4107 1120 | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
"fish pee in what we drink " The last fish I caught doing that, I ate. | ||
| Dallas Farnworth (Dal300)
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Just remember when your drinking the water that the fish pee in, fish DO NOT come out of the water to procreate. Dallas | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
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I agree with doing better welds. Remember, once you've put silicone on it, that's the last time you'll weld it because the siicone will contaminate the plastic and you will never be able to weld there again. So if you do silicone it, it better work...  The aquarium stuff is fine if that's what you want to go with, in fact of most of the silicones it's the best in a lot of ways. But I'd just reweld it and do it better... my 2c | ||
| R Johnstone (Chilebrew)
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Dallas: That's what W. C. Fields observed many years ago, albeit more colorfully (crudely?). | ||
| R Johnstone (Chilebrew)
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...and alliteratively. | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
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Approval for fish does no mean safety for humans!!! Fish are short lived and expendible. Humans may get a cancer 20 years later when the fish is alreadyl dead. I'm sure there is an FDA apporved sealant. I like the idea of rewelding as suggested above. | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A |
Actually fish are a lot easier to kill, and what may be fine for a human can wipe a whole fishtank out in a flash. If properly cured, the majority of silicones (with exception of GE typeII which has anti mold chemicals in it) are some of the safest and most benign substances around and are used many places in the food and medical industries. If you're worried about a little silicone goo in your water tank, good heavens what do you do with food products that have had roundup sprayed all over them...!!! And that crap is FDA approved for crop spraying!!! So much for the FDA and cancer safety.... The only way you're going to find an "FDA approved" silicone is to spend a LOT of time hanging around at industrial adhesive supplier's websites and you'll end up with something...maybe... start here: http://www.gesilicones.com/gesilicones/am1/en/industry/industry_selection.jsp But it's a moot point, because nothing except melted polyethylene will stick to polyethylene thus silicone of any flavor is not a good way to try to repair leaks in the stuff. Only rewelding will do it properly. | ||
| truthhunter@shaw.ca Rating: N/A |
And as we all concur on the proper remidail action on your fresh water cistern that render silicone a mood point, & that opens this thread to sexest wise cracks and afternoon wake up tea. If silicon was so biologically unstable then why do those Dolly Parton imitators last well beyond 20 years without the nature appearance of sagging and stretching ? | ||
| David Hartley (Drdave)
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truthhunter, K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid... Try to slow down a little, Please???? Too many big words and complex sentences....  |