Is it even worth getting this skimmer wet?

[Philipgonzales3]

Thank you everyone. It looks like this is definetly repairable. I'll likely put it off for a bit due to learning I am moving but I will let you guys know once I get it glued up with weld on or something similar.

 

[Dimmy007]

Just make sure you follow up with UPS immediately. Do not wait. Every shipment is covered for $100 so you are at least guaranteed that. But if you wait to file a claim then it wont be covered.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Just make sure you follow up with UPS immediately. Do not wait. Every shipment is covered for $100 so you are at least guaranteed that. But if you wait to file a claim then it wont be covered.

Yeah, I'll likely call from work in the morning. Thanks!

 

[MTBake]

Hey Philip,

If you want to give the Weld-on a shot [i've fixed broken skimmers that i've received in the past this way as suggested] and then we'll see what UPS can do, that'd be great. I don't want you to feel like you've been screwed on this purchase!

I specified to the UPS rep that I wanted it packed with lots of packing material so that it would not break during transit, and had them pack it for me. I am not positive of insurance/covered amounts on the shipment but we'll see what they say about it.

The skimmer works great, and was not finicky at all for me so I'd highly recommend at least trying to weld the acrylic back together in order to use the skimmer.

Edit: Similar to USPS, UPS has an automatic $100 shipping insurance on every shipment [according to their website]

Since you paid $110 for it, i'd claim for the entire $100. I was not asked about additional insurance, and didn't think to add any additional, so the $100 would be it. If we're able to get that payment from UPS, i'd be happy to pass that on to you and you could keep the skimmer and fix it if you'd like.

Stand up seller right here. Fantastic response to the situation if I may say so myself.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Stand up seller right here. Fantastic response to the situation if I may say so myself.

I agree. I just want to point out that I do not believe the seller to be at fault here. Sometimes things just happen, UPS could have packed it better but the seller did his part and went above and beyond to reply and assist.

Since I found out about moving the skimmer thing has kind of been put to the back burner. I don't want to sound so superficial it I want my skimmer to look nice. Since it will be submerged anyway I may give it a shot on the repair, but likely it will get packed away in the meantime while I see if Ups can assist.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Acetone is cheap. I’ve built entire tanks and sumps using it as the only solvent. Not nail polish remover but acetone.

Some plastic model cements have methylethylketones (MEK) in them, that will work.

Oatey brand clear PVC solvent will also work, but it’s more viscous and won’t wick as well, the repair won’t be as pretty but it will work.

Just spit balling things you may have on hand already.

Claiming the insurance is the best route, then fix it and have a really inexpensive piece of kit, lol!

Good luck.

True, I may wait until the refund money kicks in and then buy the weld on. As you can probably tell I'm usually a bit indecisive. At this point I'm just happy my SCA 301 is performing consitantly. This new Skimmer seems much bigger, bigger collection cup, more bells and wistles though. So likely will give it a go at fixing eventually.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I went ahead and bought the weld 4 with syringe applicator online. I also put in the UPS insurance claim.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Weldon r PVC cement will work and let me guess- UPS was the carrier for delivery?

I had similar and worked with seller and had it repaired rather than send it back for MORE damage. It was ups who delivered and the box looked like they played football with it

 

[litenyaup]

It should still work fine just throw some Weldon #4 and should be good to go!

 

[Ashley Kekua]

Oh dear how i love happy endings!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

So just to update you guys...

Put in claim Febuary 7th and also ordered weld-on 4 with the little bottle/needle applicator.

Febuary 11th UPS called me asking for more picture of the box. My fault for not taking all 100 pictures of the box they needd. Took the pics that night.

Claim hasn't moved I don't think. It's on "claim issued". Which basically means the claim was submitted.



The weld-on had a guaranteed delivery of the 12th. Well guess it got lost a bit between here and NJ. Just got here today.

Not a huge deal, there are more important things in the world.

So I applied the glue today. Gluing is literally one of my worst skills haha. So I put on one "coat" and then let it dry and did another. I was pretty generous with the glue as I wanted to make sure there were no holes.

Here is the first coat.



Here's after the second.



Hopefully I applied it correctly. Before I applied it I made sure to do some test runs lining it up. I believe I got the best fit I could. I applied it to the broken piece first and then put the broken piece inside the body. Then I went around the cracks. Trying to inject the glue where there was more seperation. Did the outside, then inside. Waited a bit and repeated.

 

[jsvand5]

Looks good. I think the break occurred because it wasn’t disassembled before shipping. If the pipe wasn’t still attached I bet it would have made it fine.

 

[Hillbillyreefer]

Looks good, now use those new found skills and whip up a new tank!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Looks good. I think the break occurred because it wasn’t disassembled before shipping. If the pipe wasn’t still attached I bet it would have made it fine.

Maybe, but that's OK. It just wasn't meant to be. I'm sure someway somehow it could have still been damaged if dissambeled. What is done is done.

How long should I wait for it to cure?

I assume we care more about the toxicity of the glue than the bonding strength? I don't imagine the forces on a skimmer are very high?

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Looks good, now use those new found skills and whip up a new tank!

Well, I wouldn't go that far. Let's just say that I'm lucky my washer top wasn't made of acrylic. I'm sure if it was I would have gotten it stuck to the washer. Lol.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

@cromag27

I hope you don't mind me tagging you as you seem to be knowledgeable with this stuff.

I used weld-on 4 above. You think it will work? 24 hours OK enough time before getting it wet?

 

[cromag27]

@cromag27

I hope you don't mind me tagging you as you seem to be knowledgeable with this stuff.

I used weld-on 4 above. You think it will work? 24 hours OK enough time before getting it wet?

for a skimmer, yes.

 

[litenyaup]

Looks great

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Skimmer is now wet!

Man my SCA-301 seems like a toy compared to this thing.

It's super quite also. Can't even hear the thing. Now I do have servers running in the background so ambient noise probably helps here but man oh man am I glad everyone on here told me to fix it.



What crack? Can't even tell where it was cracked.



@griseus how is that for a happy ending.

 

[griseus]

Nice work!