It finally happened. Drilled hole goes wrong

[jack5746]

I've drilled quite a few holes in tanks and counter-tops. And yesterday was the day if finally went wrong and I popped an inside the tank piece of glass out and the bulkhead doesn't cover it.

I'm currently going to increase the size of the hole from a 1 1/2" bulkhead to a 2" bulkhead in hopes it can be saved, but I was wondering if anyone else has had this issue and how they fixed it.

I feel like using black silicone wouldn't be a good idea. We'll see after today if the larger hole allows for a good seal. Otherwise, it's a loss of a 150g starfire tank :\

Starfire is not supposed to be drilled.

 

[jack5746]

Starfire is not supposed to be drilled.

I would call a glass company and ask their opinion before you fill the tank, it may be fine, then again could be fine until it's not fine. Trying to save a 1000.00 tank only to lose thousands in livestock if it fails down the road doesn't sound like much of an investment to me. Like I said contact a glass company or aquarium builder before filling. Good luck.

 

[Sean Clark]

Starfire is not supposed to be drilled.

According to whom? Starfire is just a brand name of low iron glass.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Glass is always weakest at its edge. If you hadn’t gone at that hole a second time you’d been fine. When I ran into a similar issue I wrapped grit paper around the Bit and widen the hole by sanding it down. Good luck, you still got a nice tank btw

 

[homer1475]

Starfire is not supposed to be drilled.

According to whom? Starfire is just a brand name of low iron glass.

Read that comment too, and was like HUH?

Starfire is just a name brand of low iron glass. Starfire the name brand of glass is not tempered either, so it can be drilled.

OP:
Second hole looks much better. I've had scalloped edges worse then that, that sealed up fine with the gasket. First hole would have never sealed.

 

[Rohirrimus]

I'm thinking of perhaps doing an mold and an epoxy pour to fix the chip, then covering the entire thing with silicone so epoxy doesn't touch the water (I'm not sure if it's toxic or not)