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Unread 05/20/2007, 04:39 PM   #1
Steven0000
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Exclamation How do i tell if my tank has tempered glass or not?

i am drilling holes in my tank to fit bulkheads
i know you canno't drill tempered glass with the paddle style bits that i have
but, i do not know if my tank has tempered glass or not

all comments appriciated


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Unread 05/20/2007, 04:49 PM   #2
areze
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not so easy. calling the manufacturer works if you know the model.

Ive heard if you look at a tank in the sun with polarized sunglasses there is a pattern visible in the tempered glass....

another thing Ive heard, you can easily scratch regular glas with a nail or something, but not tempered...

bottom line, who knows, if its a new tank, good chance it isnt tempered, few are anymore. those that are, are ussually only tempered on the bottom pane.


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Unread 05/20/2007, 04:50 PM   #3
azrednex
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If you start to drill and the glass shatters into a million pieces it's probably tempered

OK, as far as I know there is no way except for the fact that all "All Glass Aquarium" tanks are tempered on the bottom.


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Last edited by azrednex; 05/20/2007 at 05:07 PM.
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Unread 05/20/2007, 06:25 PM   #4
matt21ocean
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areze is right you can call the manufacture if you know who that is….. also it is pretty easy to tell with the scratch method he is talking about, if you use a glass cutter on a piece of scrap glass tempered and not there is a noticeable difference in the feel/scratch it makes ...if you can get a scrap of each from a glass place you can try it out so you can tell on your tank. when i started drilling tanks a while back a glass shop owner told me that when i approached him with this same question


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Unread 05/20/2007, 09:09 PM   #5
Steven0000
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thanks for all the replys

i have a few things to try before i start drilling my tank


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Unread 05/21/2007, 03:33 PM   #6
fuzzyt
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This is from wikipedia:

"The strain pattern resulting from tempering can be observed with polarized light or by using a pair of polarized sun glasses."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toughened_glass

Hope this helps. Would be nice if someone smart could post a picture of "this is what tempered glass looks like through polarized sunglasses."

Best of luck!


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Unread 05/21/2007, 06:27 PM   #7
Horace
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I have heard the polorized thing before too... certainly a better test than scratching your tank lol.


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Unread 05/21/2007, 06:31 PM   #8
tcollins
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Do you think the wall thickness may indicate whether the glass is tempered? My 75 gal is not as thick as some I've seen but doesn't bow out from the water like the thicker glass tanks I've seen.

I would have thought the thicker glass would have not bowed so I'm assuming it wasn't tempered.


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Unread 05/21/2007, 07:44 PM   #9
balsaaaq
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Quote:
Would be nice if someone smart could post a picture of "this is what tempered glass looks like through polarized sunglasses."
Put polarized sunglasses on and look at a known peice of tempered glass compared to a known non-tempered peice of glass.

I believe it looks similar to the reflective rainbow I see when I look at my trucks side glass which is tempered....and my oven glass...and my crt monitor at work....a lot of lcd devices also use tempered glass of some form....

now look through a standard...no frills house window...


see the difference....bals



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Unread 05/21/2007, 09:06 PM   #10
balsaaaq
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peice=piece

need to get spellcheck fixed.....errr


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Unread 05/22/2007, 08:14 AM   #11
hllywd
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Its very easy to determine whether or not its tempered with a couple polarizing filters/lenses but not necessarily as simple as putting on your Foster Grants and looking at the glass in question...
You need two filters, one on each side of the glass. The filters need to be rotated until they block most of the light then moved simultaneously while you look for the pattern. I like to do this outside on a sunny day using the sky as my background. Try this, or I suppose any other method, on a known tempered piece of glass such as the side window of your car to see what it is you are looking for. The patterns will not be identical and may be better described as light and dark areas in the glass.
Two sunglass lenses will be dark and make this method difficult. Two camera filters work the best.
This has worked 100% for me.

Tim


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Unread 05/22/2007, 08:18 AM   #12
TheMcs
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When I worked at the LFS we had spec sheets for each manufacturer stating what panels were tempered. Of course, this only applies to newer tanks.
BTW, doesn't matter what kind of bit you have, they'll all shatter tempered glass.


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Unread 05/22/2007, 08:23 AM   #13
hllywd
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FWIW spec sheets are great but you can special order tempered and non tempered so those sheets may or may not be accurate...

Tim


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Unread 05/22/2007, 11:56 AM   #14
sublime-1
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The best way to tell if it's tempered is just drill it.

If it shatters, it's tempered. If it didn't, it probably wasn't.


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Unread 05/22/2007, 01:59 PM   #15
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"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it..." J.M. Barrie

Current Tank Info: 210 AGA RR, Apex, 3x Kessil A360W & 2x 80W T5s, GEO 618 Ca Rx, BM220 CS2 skimmer, Tunze 6100s, 42" ETSS/AE Tech refugium/sump
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Unread 05/22/2007, 07:47 PM   #16
Fiziksgeek
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Re: How do i tell if my tank has tempered glass or not?

I also believe there was a time when All-glass used tempered glass for all of the ever popular 55g...just to scare you a bit more! My belief has always been, if you don't have a back up plan, or can't afford to replace it, don't take the risk of drilling it.

What do you mean by paddle style drill bits?? You aren't going to drill any glass with a paddle style drill bit. You need a diamond tipped hole saw...


Quote:
Originally posted by Steven0000
i am drilling holes in my tank to fit bulkheads
i know you canno't drill tempered glass with the paddle style bits that i have
but, i do not know if my tank has tempered glass or not

all comments appriciated



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Unread 05/23/2007, 04:44 AM   #17
hllywd
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http://richontools.com/catalog/i174.html


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Current Tank Info: 210 AGA RR, Apex, 3x Kessil A360W & 2x 80W T5s, GEO 618 Ca Rx, BM220 CS2 skimmer, Tunze 6100s, 42" ETSS/AE Tech refugium/sump
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Unread 05/24/2007, 02:06 AM   #18
crazyguy34834
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The scratch methods work very well I am sure but just remember that if you penetrate that compressed layer on tempered glass, IT WILL SHATTER, on acceptions to this rule I am afraid.

Glass is a very rigid material as we all know, some people think the glass is in tension but the glass can not hold much force in tension compaired to what it can hold in compression. When the glass compression layer is penetrated in any way the glass breakes as it collapses in on itself. Just thought you might want to know why tempered glass shatters, I would be cautious about making any scratch on the glass.


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