NanoCrazed
Guest
I was moving a newly acquired used ELOS 70 onto a stand next to one of my other tanks when the unthinkable Murphy's Law moment happened. As I was sliding it onto the stand, I accidentally tilted the ELOS... and with the minute amount of clearance space I had, I bumped the ELOS into my other tank. And, the tank(s) made a pretty loud noise...
Yep. Chipped both tanks.
Managed to safely transport the ELOS setup by myself from its origin, over bumps and curves unscathed...only to screw up two tanks for the price of one.
Luckily, I had purchase an auto windshield repair kit from O'Reilly not too long ago and decided to give it a try ASAP before actually plumbing and filling, in case I needed to move things around.
The results came out better than expected so went around repairing all the other tanks I had (since many of them are used)
So though I would share a few lessons learned through hands-on practice:
1) Auto repair kits work almost perfectly for even beveled edges.
2) The best way to apply the clear film to help set the resin is to actually cut it to a square\rectangular piece just a bit larger than the chip. This way, the viscosity of the liquid can actually hold the film in place hands free to allow for the light to cure it almost at a level relatively even with the tank's surface.
3) best to use as narrow of a UV source as possible... UV LED, blue laser, or phone protector \ nail curing light. If the chip is at an odd angle, apply the resin in light layers and cure a bit in between to build up to final layer
4) if you aren't happy with the results even if it's more opaque than you'd like, some rubbing alcohol and elbow grease will help removed enough to rework.
5) you can always do a light glaze with the resin to polish any dull spots.
Here's a pic of the final result...
Yep. Chipped both tanks.
Managed to safely transport the ELOS setup by myself from its origin, over bumps and curves unscathed...only to screw up two tanks for the price of one.
Luckily, I had purchase an auto windshield repair kit from O'Reilly not too long ago and decided to give it a try ASAP before actually plumbing and filling, in case I needed to move things around.
The results came out better than expected so went around repairing all the other tanks I had (since many of them are used)
So though I would share a few lessons learned through hands-on practice:
1) Auto repair kits work almost perfectly for even beveled edges.
2) The best way to apply the clear film to help set the resin is to actually cut it to a square\rectangular piece just a bit larger than the chip. This way, the viscosity of the liquid can actually hold the film in place hands free to allow for the light to cure it almost at a level relatively even with the tank's surface.
3) best to use as narrow of a UV source as possible... UV LED, blue laser, or phone protector \ nail curing light. If the chip is at an odd angle, apply the resin in light layers and cure a bit in between to build up to final layer
4) if you aren't happy with the results even if it's more opaque than you'd like, some rubbing alcohol and elbow grease will help removed enough to rework.
5) you can always do a light glaze with the resin to polish any dull spots.
Here's a pic of the final result...