Thanks!Moe2076 wrote: Congratulations! Thanks for all your posts and pics complete with the ever useful "dont make the same mistake I did" section! I so look forward to seeing it as you progress and I love reading about things I should avoid, as I am building/upgrading right along side you.
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Okay, I'm done sort of. My hands super sticky, so couldn't really, well, do anything until the silicone dried enough to remove.
Mistake #1
I should have got a caulking tube vs a squeeze tube. The Silicone exploded in the bottom, then subsequently the corners where I tried to twist up and do damage control.
The Silicone is great and did what I wanted,but at the same time, I needed to work fast. I chose Permatex RTV silicone because it's used in automotive and doesn't have mold resistant additive. Meaning, it's stronger than door/trim regular silicone, tested mechanically to be automotive grade. Secondly, I wanted to choose RTV specifically, which means "room temperature vulcanization", which means that it'll cure much faster than regular silicone (cures instantly when exposed to moisture). The skin will cure within 1 hr, and fully cure within 24 hrs if not sooner.
Mistake #2
Because I was rushing to get the next piece on before it got cured too much, I missed out on putting textboxes onto the glass pieces as the alternative clamps. I also ended up rushing and did it in order of long, short, short, long. The second short piece stayed in place as there were 3 sides to adhere to immediately, but the other short side.... There's a lot more work to come to re-prep that piece and surface. I shouldve done long, long, short, short as the long pieces would've stayed in place by itself.
Mistake #3
I didn't cut the opening large enough, so I took a long time trying to squeeze silicone out, resulting in amplifying mistake #1.
Mistake #4
After mistake #1 where I ended up with silicone all over my hand I touched too many other surfaces. That's a lot of clean up later.
But hey, all things said, it'll be very secure; you can't even make it budge 10 min later when applied properly.
Things I did right
#1 the blue plastic was great. The short side to do later fell in several times in which I gave up. If the plastic wasn't there, it would've contaminated the stuff in the tank. Also when I do clean up later, the blue is easy to remove.
#2 this sealant is great stuff although expensive. It's the same cost as my caulking tube for resealing the tank earlier. Same cost, but 3x less.
#3 I prepared a disposable flat spoon ahead of time to ensure the glass is flush with the edge of the tank.
More scraping to come.. Exciting...
What I did right #4
It was the right idea to buy the better larger handle scrapper. I've used it every step of the way so far.
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