Fibreglass tank question

[carts69]

Does anyone know if fibreglass tanks will be ok for acid copper,nickel & chrome plating,im thinking of making a few tanks but would like to know if acids etc will affect fibreglass resin made tanks?

[CarWiz]

Chemical resistance of fiberglass:

ACIDS
Acetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Benzoic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Boric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Chromic 30% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
Citric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Formic 25% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Hydrochloric 10% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Conc. hydrochloric. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Lactic 1%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Nitric 5% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Nitric 50% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
Concentrated nitric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
Phosphoric 25% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . B
Phosphoric 50% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
Sulfuric 25%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Sulfuric 50%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
Tartaric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Oxalic, saturated solution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A

BASES
Ammonia 5%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . B
Ammonia 25%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . B
Barium hydroxide 10%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. C
Calcium hydroxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... C
Hydroxide of sodium 5%. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . B
Hydroxide of sodium 20%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C

A = EXCELLENT
B = LIMITED
C = POOR

Ammonia salts don't take kindly to fiberglass either.

[carts69]

Wow... Excellent advice & very interesting to read, i think i will give it a miss making fibreglass tanks, Thanks for that info!

[hannemcnc]

Originally Posted by carts69

Wow... Excellent advice & very interesting to read, i think i will give it a miss making fibreglass tanks, Thanks for that info!

I know this is an old one but may be of some benefit those who like to glass at home.
I work in a chemical manufacturing plant and a lot of the piping we use is PVC piping that has been fiberglass wrapped to give it strength especially at higher temperatures.

The PVC piping is up to the job chemically but not up to the job when it warms up as it gets soft. The fiberglass wrapping gives it mechanical strength.

If you wanted to make up bigger tanks I could see no reason why they could not be made of plastic sheet, would need to be plastic welded which is not hard. Of course you would need a plastic welder and skills to do it.

This much bigger tank could then be fiberglassed to give it the rigidity it would need.

Thoughts??

[boxgods]

Why glass it at all? Plastic water tanks get into the thousands of gallons size...

There is an very servicable plastic welder at harbor freight for $29 and a more usable one still for about $70. 1/4" polypropylene in 4' x 8' sheets can be had for about $75 if you shop a bit online.

[hannemcnc]

Originally Posted by boxgods

Why glass it at all? Plastic water tanks get into the thousands of gallons size...

There is an very servicable plastic welder at harbor freight for $29 and a more usable one still for about $70. 1/4" polypropylene in 4' x 8' sheets can be had for about $75 if you shop a bit online.

Boxgods, to be honest as I was typing I more had a tank in mind that was not circular, I was in the mindset of a rectangular shape. Don't know why, just did
Obviously the walls of a flat tank are weaker than the wall of a circular one.

Depending on what shape most of your parts are would help to decide the shape of your tank. Of course long thin parts could be done in a round tank just a bit wasteful if thats all you do.

Just had another thought a steel frame could give the required strength to the walls of a flat sided tank as well.

Cheers M

[constrand]

i like the idea of a fiberglass tank too gives the idea to make odd shaped tanks that are strong(can be reinforced in weak areas), not requiring a butt load of excess like a round tank solution.
but what about a plastic coating that can be placed on the inside, a spray or a epoxy anyone know of any that wouldn't desolve,

[CarWiz]

The resin in fiberglass is the weak link with acids. Epoxy resins vary little in structure or resistance to acids. If you have updated information to share, I'm certain others would value your research.

[constrand]

from what i found VICOTE looks like it will work and have requested samples
ill post if it works