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Drilling tempered glass


Hydro

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Doesn't work lol

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I knew you couldn't drill tempered glass, just didn't know this tank was. I actually robbed a piece of glass off a leaky 75 gallon to fix it. The panel I replaced it with is 3/8" non tempered so I was able to drill it, it actually fit perfect on this 55 gallon. This tank has some extra compartments in it to hold skimmers.

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The nice thing about tempered is that you can drill it with just about anything and it turns out the same. :) I like to use a hammer.

Did you end up replacing all the silicone where the new panel meets the old? I have always read that new to old doesn't hold very well, but have never actually tried it.

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The nice thing about tempered is that you can drill it with just about anything and it turns out the same. smile.png I like to use a hammer.

Did you end up replacing all the silicone where the new panel meets the old? I have always read that new to old doesn't hold very well, but have never actually tried it.

lol

Yes I removed the panel and scraped off all the original silicone and then cleaned with scotchbrite soaked in acetone. I cut back the old silicone on the bottom corner of the side glass about an inch from the new glass panel. I just put the new silicone over the old silicone. The seal between the glass is 90% of what's keeping it together and leaking. The silicone in the corners of the glass really does very little so mixing the old and the new really isn't a big deal. I use a really high quality silicone that dries really hard, that helps.

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Hydro, I feel better now, following your projects sometimes I felt you weren't making enough mistakes or big enough messes! doh.giflaugh.png

haha, that's actually the second piece I busted drilling during this project (16 holes so far). My local glass dealer is starting to give me discounts lol. Oh and BTW there is a big sticker on the bottom of the tank that says DO NOT DRILL! in red letters. Saw that as I was cleaning out the broken glass. Oh well I needed it drilled anyway so I was going to replace the panel no matter what, I just made the glass removal a little easier. I want to wait around a week before I put any water in it.

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