PC ATO reservoir

H

Hutch

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#1
So work was throwing out 1/4 sheets of PC so I grabbed a couple and made a couple ATO reservoirs. I actual thought they were acrylic but found out quick on the laser cutter they were PC. So I’m into them for the cost of the plastic blade and some solvent cement. Top white pieces are acrylic I found in the trash.. actually laser cut the tops. They are not perfect and have lots of scratches from being recycled but they are essentially free… they are both about 7 gallon.


I was wondering is PC not a good material to use in Aquariums? Sheets of this material is like $600/$800 bucks for a 4x8 sheet… I have like 20 more sheets if anyone fancies a reservoir I would consider making more.

The walls are all solvent bonded and then I ran a small bead of aquarium safe silicon in all the corners

What do you guys think?


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H

Hutch

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Well the PC sheet is old sneeze guards they took down at work.

I ripped them to size using a table saw with a $60 plastic saw blade from amazon. (Sorry thought it as 30 but I got the bigger blade for my size table saw. )

Table saws are not very accurate so I just made sure I cut all my pieces with the saw set up for each width. I did lay this out in solidworks first but that was only cause I had intentions of laser cutting everything.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003XREDY6?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I got the acrylic glue from amazon too

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TCUJ7A8?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

It works quite well on PC. I actually found the PC easier to bond than the acrylic

For the lids I cut everything in the laser but you could cut it with a saw or router or a hole saw. If you leave the paper on the laser makes a cool flame… I know I know not safe… neither is speeding but we all do it…

I glued a piece of 1/8” on the back side so the lids didn’t fall through.

I used loctite silicon from lowes that says aquarium safe.

For assembly I just lined them up and squirted solvent into the joints. They bond almost instantly. Maybe a clamp here and ther to bend things to fit just due to inaccuracies from the cutting process…




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Jimbo327

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You fancy to cut 3 sump chamber lids for me? Where are you located? I don't think you can laser cut the PC. These chamber lids have rounded corners, which may be tricky as I'm not sure the radius. Let me know!
 
H

Hutch

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Jimbo327 said:
You fancy to cut 3 sump chamber lids for me? Where are you located? I don't think you can laser cut the PC. These chamber lids have rounded corners, which may be tricky as I'm not sure the radius. Let me know!
Click to expand...
Well I picked up some more acrylic in 1/4” and 1/8” at a local store from their remnant rack so I can laser that stuff. My laser is 12”x24” so your lids would need to fit in that footprint..


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H

Hutch

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jessesoto33 said:
I’ll take one


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Click to expand...
What dims do you want? As long as your good with recycled material. This material has some surface scratches.. I am going to put together a bunch of DIY kits for small ones that will fit in a shipping envelope. All you will need to assemble them is the acrylic glue and I run a silicon bead in the corners for piece of mind. If you want a specific size let me know. They are pretty fun to build.


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jessesoto33

jessesoto33

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#14
Hutch said:
What dims do you want? As long as your good with recycled material. This material has some surface scratches.. I am going to put together a bunch of DIY kits for small ones that will fit in a shipping envelope. All you will need to assemble them is the acrylic glue and I run a silicon bead in the corners for piece of mind. If you want a specific size let me know. They are pretty fun to build.


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Click to expand...
How much is a DIY Kit for a 5 gallon?


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Hutch

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jessesoto33 said:
How much is a DIY Kit for a 5 gallon?


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I was thinking like 50 bucks including the laser cut top piece out of Acrylic They are like indestructible made out of 1/4” PC. Does that sound reasonable?


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boonthegoon

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#17
Hutch said:
3 of them actually at work. All small scale stuff but they are fun. 1/4 takes like 3 passes to go all the way through.


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Click to expand...
Now everyone who has project ideas is going to PM you lol. Are they the laser cutter that works with CO2?
Also where do you work that laser cutter are needed?
 
jessesoto33

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#18
Hutch said:
I was thinking like 50 bucks including the laser cut top piece out of Acrylic They are like indestructible made out of 1/4” PC. Does that sound reasonable?


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Click to expand...
Hutch said:
I was thinking like 50 bucks including the laser cut top piece out of Acrylic They are like indestructible made out of 1/4” PC. Does that sound reasonable?


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Click to expand...
YGPM


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H

Hutch

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#19
boonthegoon said:
Now everyone who has project ideas is going to PM you lol. Are they the laser cutter that works with CO2?
Also where do you work that laser cutter are needed?
Click to expand...
These small ones are for marking and engraving they just happen to be able to cut acrylic. Mostly prototyping is what we use them for.


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H

Hutch

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Designed up a skinny about 2.5 gallon ATO box I made. I will have parts for 3 more already cut for anybody who wants to try the diy project. I’m still thinking like 40 bucks plus shipping for the parts. PM me if you want one. These are 3.5” wide 12”deep and 18” tall. 1/4 PC for the walls and 1/4” Acrylic for the lids. The PC parts are recycled material they will have surface scratches…




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