Cracked front panel on sump. Silicone?

[pledosophy]

 

[pledosophy]

The crack is in the little section on the bottom left where the water will drain into before it goes through the filter socks. Not a lot of weight on it. The crack doesn't go all the way through, and the area holds water, but I would still like to patch at the minimum before installing.

 

[Emac909]

Is it a crack or a chip that doesn’t go all the way through the glass?

 

[Letsgotothezoo]

It looks fine....doesn't go all the way thru. I don't think its gonna leak, no worry about it.

 

[Emac909]

It looks fine....doesn't go all the way thru. I don't think its gonna leak, no worry about it.

The only thing I’d be worried about is that glass doesn’t do well with vibrations. Being that this is the section where water will come from the tank and into the sump there more and likely going to be a lot of vibrations in this part of the sump. The sump might be fine, it might be fine for some time, it might only be fine for a month. There’s just no way to really tell what could happen. If it was me I would fix it, not just patch it.

I’d hate it if my sump broke the day b4 I had a trip planned. As we all know if something on our tank is going to fail it’s with in days of a vacation or while on vacation.

 

[pledosophy]

The only thing I’d be worried about is that glass doesn’t do well with vibrations. Being that this is the section where water will come from the tank and into the sump there more and likely going to be a lot of vibrations in this part of the sump. The sump might be fine, it might be fine for some time, it might only be fine for a month. There’s just no way to really tell what could happen. If it was me I would fix it, not just patch it.

I’d hate it if my sump broke the day b4 I had a trip planned. As we all know if something on our tank is going to fail it’s with in days of a vacation or while on vacation.

More of a large chip then a crack. Probably over an inch and a half.

So you think I need to take off the front panel of glass and replace, or is there an easier/better way to fix it?

Sump is empty right now.

 

[laverda]

If your concerned, reinforce it with another piece of glass and silicone on the inside. Make sure you use silicone with out mold inhibitors.

 

[Reeferkcp]

Looks risky

 

[Jimbo327]

Make sure it is not a crack because cracks propagate over time. That chamber actually gets a lot of movement from the drain water. If you do decide to fix it, run your silicone all the way down on the inside and bottom. I’m using Momentive RTV 108 silicone to fix my loose baffle in my own sump, but GE 100% silicone also works as well. Good luck.

 

[pledosophy]

I decided not to risk it. I found a glass shop in town (Fast Glass) that can get me the replacement glass for $25 cut while I wait. I ordered some black silicone, aquarium grade.

Off to watch youtube videos on how to silicone an aquarium together.

Thanks everyone for the help/advice. I appreciate it.

 

[ddelmonaco]

Probably made the smartest choice to replace it, which is always best if its possible. For anyone in the future, I had an experience with a very similar looking larger chip that was at the bottom corner of my 250g display. It chipped while moving and I saw it didnt break the inside silicone seal but it was a chunk out of the bottom and side corner. I ended up using the clear JB weld thats made for marine/hulls/etc. I filled the area/built it up with 2 sessions. I never had a leak or an issue and had the tank for several years until I got a bigger system.