Drilling wally world 10G

[partypalooza5]

Planning on drilling a 10G for a fuge. Is the glass too thin to drill? (probably only going to do a 3/4" bulkhead) I doubt tempered glass will be a problem.. its a $12 tank.

Also, regarding the plumbing: should the tank get its feed water from the overflow on the main tank or from the return pump? and should the water from the fuge overflow into the return pump chamber of the sump or into the first chamber?

(P.S. If I've already posted this sorry, It's been a long day and I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast. )

 

[divedeep1689]

Wat type of drill are you going to use? And i have my fuge set up were the water falls down into the first chamber i am intrested to see wat everyone else says to

 

[mgamer20o0]

never heard of too thin to drill. i think they only use tempered glass on the bottom.

 

[partypalooza5]

I have corded and corded drills. Is one better than the other?

First time drilling a tank... Somewhat nervous. Good thing I'm not "practicing" on a brand new 125G or something!

 

[divedeep1689]

Well to a better question would be wat type of bit most bits will crack glass most people use a diamond tip drill bit the type of drill itself i guess i would use a cordless so its more maneuverable and slower but i guess that would be your own pref. AND MSGAMER IS RIGHT MOST TANKS ONLY TEMPER THE BOTTOM ALTHO SOME TANK MAKERS USE TEMPER GLASS ON IT ALL I CANT SEE WALMART TANKS DOING THAT THO AND I WORK FOR WAL MART

 

[mgamer20o0]

lol does that mean you can hit the side of one and find out for us?

 

[divedeep1689]

lol i want to keep my job lol besides i work no were near that stuff i am a assembler i build everything that walmart sells

 

[mgamer20o0]

they have a rubber mallet you can drop and say opps..... lol

 

[InfernoST]

Planning on drilling a 10G for a fuge. Is the glass too thin to drill? (probably only going to do a 3/4" bulkhead) I doubt tempered glass will be a problem.. its a $12 tank.

Also, regarding the plumbing: should the tank get its feed water from the overflow on the main tank or from the return pump? and should the water from the fuge overflow into the return pump chamber of the sump or into the first chamber?

(P.S. If I've already posted this sorry, It's been a long day and I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast. )

Don't use a corded drill has that has a grounded plug, If it does get, an adapter that will convert the three prong plug to a 2 prong, otherwise use the cordless which is what i prefer on slow speed with lots of water. Don't go near the tempered stuff.

 

[HN1]

One word of advice that I received from a guy in our club that drills a lot of tanks... usee two blocks of wood to "sandwich" the glass. Then drill through the wood first to avoid placing too much torque directly on the glass when the bit starts.

Wood | Glass | Wood

 

[InfernoST]

One word of advice that I received from a guy in our club that drills a lot of tanks... usee two blocks of wood to "sandwich" the glass. Then drill through the wood first to avoid placing too much torque directly on the glass when the bit starts.

Wood | Glass | Wood

Very smart idea, this way the pressure of drilling process doesn't fracture the surrounding glass.

 

[FishEggs]

also the thinner glass of the ten gallon is actually harder to drill without cracking than thicker glass. so if you do break or crack the glass dont be too worried about drilling the big tank. i would use the cordless for the slower speed with more control.
i did drill a piece of tempered glass just to see what happens. as soon as the bit pierced through the back side the whole piece shattered into the tiny bits. it was fun

 

[partypalooza5]

i did drill a piece of tempered glass just to see what happens. as soon as the bit pierced through the back side the whole piece shattered into the tiny bits. it was fun

HAHA sounds like a good use of time!

 

[SparKy697]

Not sure about the logic behind removing the ground lead on the cord of a drill...

You may be hard pressed to find a 10g tank that has tempered glass on any side or even the bottom. I have two that I have drilled through the bottom.

Go slow. The wood method works well too. There is no such thing as too much water on the bit. I prefer drilling outside and using a garden hose to trickle a constant stream over building a dam out of putty and filling it with water. Either works though.

 

[partypalooza5]

The 10G I have now has a sticker saying tempered bottom. So I guess walmart tanks do have tempered bottoms. But thats no big deal because I need to drill through the side anyway.

Thanks to everyone for their advise with this.

 

[HN1]

Let us know how it goes and for pete's sake where eye protection just in case!

 

[partypalooza5]

Haha safety first!

Or not..

The things you find on the internet...

 

[HN1]

LMAO!!! I want to know what ranked #1 & 2! Failblog is one of the best sites ever btw!

 

[InfernoST]

Not sure about the logic behind removing the ground lead on the cord of a drill...

You may be hard pressed to find a 10g tank that has tempered glass on any side or even the bottom. I have two that I have drilled through the bottom.

Go slow. The wood method works well too. There is no such thing as too much water on the bit. I prefer drilling outside and using a garden hose to trickle a constant stream over building a dam out of putty and filling it with water. Either works though.

If the ground is used on a corded drill the chassis of the drill now becomes a path for electrical current to flow. You've heard the phrase electricity and water don't mix, if you are holding any metal part of the drill and the water finds a ground source you will get zapped/electrocuted, so it's better to use a non grounded plug when using an electric drill with water, the cordless eliminates and possibility of getting electrocuted. I learned this the hard way when i was younger.

 

[SparKy697]

Tempered bottom on a 10g? Guess I got lucky. I think the two I have are All Glass brand.

If the ground is used on a corded drill the chassis of the drill now becomes a path for electrical current to flow. You've heard the phrase electricity and water don't mix, if you are holding any metal part of the drill and the water finds a ground source you will get zapped/electrocuted, so it's better to use a non grounded plug when using an electric drill with water, the cordless eliminates and possibility of getting electrocuted. I learned this the hard way when i was younger.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but your thinking is a little flawed. If you have a drill with metal parts, they will be grounded by connection to that third wire in the power cord. If something in the motor should short and somehow apply the "hot lead" to the metal parts of the drill, the ground lead provides a path back to the electric panel. This completes a low resistance circuit and will trip the breaker. Without that low resistance path YOU could become the return path to the earth.

I would not suggest removing that reference to ground on your cord. If you are worried use a battery drill as stated. If a corded drill motor is what you have and you are worried about this, just plug it into a GFCI outlet. Any leakage current will be detected and the GFCI will trip.