Tank Seals about to Fail??

[Bhunsucker]

How do you tell if your tank seals are weak or about to fail before you actually see water on the outside of the tank? Thanks

 

[Toirtis]

Occasionally you will see droplets of water seeping from the seam, yes....just be sure that the seam is where it is coming from by wiping the water off and watching it reform.

 

[BillD]

While seam failures are rare, they do happen. Usually you will see a bit of seepage, as Toirtis mentioned as the first sign. This doesn't mean that the seal will give way, but, that the water has found a spot where the silicone has a void, and there is a spot in the joint that is open. Where you see the water won't necessarily be where the actual problem is. It can get under the inner seam and travel to a spot in the joint where it can leak out. I did have a friend, though, that had the whole front bottom seam give way in short order. He had to hold the fromnt of the tank in while they drained the tank. It started as a leak, and very quickly, the entire seam started to give way. That is a very rare occurrance. That is one of the reasons that all my tanks are in the basement around the floor drain.

 

[SkullJug]

I know a guy who had his tank on a wooden floor. While the floor was strong enough to hold the small movements in the floorboards eventually busted the bottom seem on the back of the tank.

It got really messy.

If your tank is on a solid floor and a good stand there is not reason for your seals to degrade. As mentioned above you can check for seepage around the joints.

If you are really worried and want to test the tank you could put it in a pool (If you have one) upside down to create an air pocker Push it down a bit and any leakes will be apparent immediately. This is probably a bit extreme though!!