Custom Canopy (Lexan vs Acrylic)

[Daniel Bodily]

Now the question is it fish safe all the other glues

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I recommend that you speak to your polycarbonate supplier/molder to discuss why this might be happening.

Now you are talking about another alloy of polycarbonate not just raw polycarbonate sheet but a mold injected part. Those resins are a different animal than a standard 4' x 8' sheet of say .236 "lexan". So they add products to the resin that aids in the bonding process or use ultrasonic welding of the parts. This type of process is not used with just the sheet you fabricate from a local plastics distributor.

 

[Daniel Bodily]

Polycarbonate is cast and extured like acrylic so it could be a sheet that was cast not extured

 

[Daniel Bodily]

Each of the two have benefits and drawbacks. Acrylic is shinier and polycarb is stronger. Acrylic is less expensive but easier to crack. Polycarb is more impact resisant but easier to scratch. They are both stronger and lighter than untempered glass; acrylic is 4x to 8x stronger than glass, while polycarb is about 200x stronger.

 

[cromag27]

Polycarbonate absorbs less water but has a lower flexural rating. and yes, it scratches easier. it's also not as "clear" as acrylic. for baffles I use acrylic because it's less expensive.

 

[Daniel Bodily]

Polycarbonate plastic is a lightweight, high-performance plastic that possesses a unique balance of toughness, dimensional stability, optical clarity, high heat resistance and excellent electrical resistance. Because of these attributes, polycarbonate is used in a wide variety of common products including digital media (e.g. CDs, DVDs), electronic equipment, automobiles, construction glazing, sports safety equipment and medical devices. The durability, shatter-resistance and heat-resistance of polycarbonate also make it an ideal choice for tableware as well as reusable bottles and food storage containers that can be conveniently used in the refrigerator and microwave (APME).

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a key building block of polycarbonate plastic. In recent years a number of researchers from government agencies, academia and industry worldwide have studied the potential for low levels of BPA to migrate from polycarbonate products into foods and beverages. These studies consistently show that the potential migration of BPA into food is extremely low, generally less than 5 parts per billion, under conditions typical for uses of polycarbonate products.

Using these results, the estimated dietary intake of BPA from polycarbonate is less than 0.0000125 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day. This level is more than 4000 times lower than the maximum acceptable or "reference" dose for BPA of 0.05 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Stated another way, an average adult consumer would have to ingest more than 600 kilograms (about 1,300 pounds) of food and beverages in contact with polycarbonate every day for an entire lifetime to exceed the level of BPA that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set as safe.

 

[Daniel Bodily]

I have mixed fillings about using polycarbonate on a sump I will be using acrylic on the main tank
but I have lots of polycarbonate for free and because I wont be in a micorwave it think that it should be fine for the sump