Rebuild vs Reseal

[erics210]

Hello All.
I acquired two Innovation NUVO SR8O tanks from a club member.
Both had broken back glass panels, So figured it would order two back panels and put in alot of effort to add the back panels back in.

Here is where I ran into my first problem. I started removing the 1/2" back panel off tank #1.
I was able to expose one of the corners and the bottom has a pretty good sized chunk taken out of it.

So I decided I would use the glass from the FRONT of Tank #1 to use as a donor for Tank #2.

I successfully removed and cleaned up the donor front glass.

Then cleaned up all the edges that will receive the donor front glass at the back!

MY main question is.....
Can I get away with just ADDING the back panel, and resealing all the edges?

OR do I have to break down ALL of the remaining panels and then rebuild and reseal it all?

 

[radiata]

Unfortunately, silicone does not stick to silicone - so resealing is a crap shoot.

If you go the rebuild route you might want to look at Klean Strip Xylol Xylene from the Home Depot. It apparently dissolves silicone. On the downside, if you don't use the stuff outdoors you may burn your house down as the vapor can ignite explosively.

 

[erics210]

HA! When I was working in college at a lifeguard at Penn State in the early 90s, I was using a self made mixture of Chlorine and Xylene to remove paint from the boys showers at the Elks Country Club. I cleared out the entire restaurant atop the showers. They thought I was dead when they came busting through the door to get me....lol

So definitely OUTSIDE use only!!!

At this point I could probably break down and rebuilt it all.

 

[radiata]

I've heard of people using piano wire to separate the panes of glass. I guess a guitar string would work as well.