lexan plastic

Invigor · #1 03-07-2005, 02:54 AM

anyone know if anyone makes tanks out of this stuff? My friend think's it's incredible and wants to know :| I've never heard of it.

thanks

powerboy · #2 03-07-2005, 03:04 AM

Lexan is what they use in the middle of two pieces of glass to make it bulletproof. Its a brandname for Polycarbonate. You may have also seen advertisements that use a thin sheet over your existing windows to make them smash resistant.
As far as using it as tank material, it should be no problems, but keep in mind, if it can stop bullets, its not gonna be cheap.

Willow · #3 03-07-2005, 03:53 AM

they used it on the underground garage door at my old apartment to keep the criminals out.

Samw · #4 03-07-2005, 03:55 AM

Lexan doesn't bond well and flexes too much. Lots of info on RC. The good thing is that it is more heat resistant than Acrylic so its a good replacement for tank center braces. I will probably be replacing my tank's black plastic center brace with Lexan.

BMW Rider · #5 03-07-2005, 02:35 PM

It is much stronger than acrylic but as Samw pointed out it is probably too flexable for building a tank. It would probably be fine for smaller projects. I used Polycarbonate for my skimmer since I could not find a source for acrylic in less than 10' lengths. For bonding, use Weld-On #16. I also read somewhere that over time it tends to go a bit opaque in saltwater.

Invigor · #6 03-07-2005, 03:05 PM

thanks for all the info, I'll pass it on!

StirCrazy · #7 03-07-2005, 11:25 PM

also Lexan scratches if you look at it wrong, not a good plastic for making a tank out of at all. that is why they sandwich it between acrylic to make bullet proof skylights and windows ( I built the ones on the cop shop in Edmonton) that way it can have the scratch resistance of the acrylic for cleaning and the strength of the polycarbonate.

Steve

StirCrazy · #8 03-07-2005, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samw

Lexan doesn't bond well and flexes too much. Lots of info on RC. The good thing is that it is more heat resistant than Acrylic so its a good replacement for tank center braces. I will probably be replacing my tank's black plastic center brace with Lexan.

Sam watch that, although it takes a higher heat to make flexible it will go white with bubbles if it gets to hot and has a high moisture content. be for we could form it for making skylights we had to dry it in a oven over the weekend. I found out the hard way what happens when some one turns the oven off and you don't check be for you start heating it in the forming furnace

2000.00 chunk of Lexan to the dumpster and man was it a pain to cut up.

Steve

Samw · #9 04-03-2005, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

Sam watch that, although it takes a higher heat to make flexible it will go white with bubbles if it gets to hot and has a high moisture content. be for we could form it for making skylights we had to dry it in a oven over the weekend. I found out the hard way what happens when some one turns the oven off and you don't check be for you start heating it in the forming furnace

2000.00 chunk of Lexan to the dumpster and man was it a pain to cut up.

Steve

Hi Steve. Are you saying that Lexan will be perform worse under MH than Acrylic? What if one day, my fan dies while I'm not home and the MH blasts the center strip. Would I be better off with Acrylic or Lexan under there?