Broken Glass Bracer Bar On 36x18hx12d Tank

[klein]

Has anyone had dealings with ‘Clear Seal’ aquarium manufacturers in Birmingham?

I’m currently trying to have a 36x18x12inch ‘Clear Seal’ tank repaired/replaced by them under warranty. The tank is just under 5 years old on a 5 year warranty.

The glass bracer bar which runs from front to back in the center of the tank has detached itself where it used to be siliconed to the front of the tank. As a result the tank now bows slightly between the front and back panes of glass

They will not respond to my letters or return my calls but just keep saying when I call them...

....... ‘Our 5 year warranty only covers leaking tanks’.....and ....... someone will call you tommorrow’.....

They never do and I informed them last (Monday 23rd October) by phone and letter. I then called every day last week to ask why no one had returned my call (as they promised) and then recieved no reply!

I’m worried that if left the tank will indeed leak.

Their apparent lack of customer service has left me very dissapointed with the company.

Has anyone else had any similar problems with them or does anyone indeed have the Managing directors contact details? I rather feel it my responsibility to point out to him how useless his customer servvvice department is and that at present I am unable to recommned ‘Clear Seal’ tanks to anyone of you.

Replies greatfully received

John
West Sussex

 

[windsor-aquatic]

Without the centre bracing bar the tank is potentially dangerous; the fact that the tank has bowed shows that. If the tank is guaranteed against faulty workmanship then that should cover the silicon giving way on the centre bar. Write to the company, tell them that unless you receive a call/visit in the next 7 days you are taking the matter up with the trading standards office, and also the BBC Watchdog programme.

 

[raptorrex]

Has anyone had dealings with ‘Clear Seal’ aquarium manufacturers in Birmingham?

I’m currently trying to have a 36x18x12inch ‘Clear Seal’ tank repaired/replaced by them under warranty. The tank is just under 5 years old on a 5 year warranty.

The glass bracer bar which runs from front to back in the center of the tank has detached itself where it used to be siliconed to the front of the tank. As a result the tank now bows slightly between the front and back panes of glass

They will not respond to my letters or return my calls but just keep saying when I call them...

....... ‘Our 5 year warranty only covers leaking tanks’.....and ....... someone will call you tommorrow’.....

They never do and I informed them last (Monday 23rd October) by phone and letter. I then called every day last week to ask why no one had returned my call (as they promised) and then recieved no reply!

I’m worried that if left the tank will indeed leak.

Their apparent lack of customer service has left me very dissapointed with the company.

Has anyone else had any similar problems with them or does anyone indeed have the Managing directors contact details? I rather feel it my responsibility to point out to him how useless his customer servvvice department is and that at present I am unable to recommned ‘Clear Seal’ tanks to anyone of you.

Replies greatfully received

John
West Sussex

sadly if the tank is over 12 months old, you do not have automatic right to any help. if their 5 warranty only covers leaks, im sorry but it only covers leaks, it may not seem fair but it is legal. you may have a case, if you try to claim the tank is "not fit for the purpose" but that will take time. but with the cost of a fish tank, you may succeed. i would empty my tank clean up the area around the split seal, take all th silicone off, and simply reattach the cross bar yourself. leaving it to cure for a few days before refilling. if the bow is too bad you may need to brace the tank to fit the spar. I do have a 4 foot Clearseal tank, though im not that impressed with the quality of some parts of the finish, its a good tank IMO. stand, hood and fittings are crap though lol.

you cant even let the tank bow till it splits, coz they will say you did not maintain the tank well enough!

I must say i find their attitude appalling, just because they are legally right, does not mean that the way they are treating you is fair. I would join as many forums as i could and spread this story around, passing it on to PFK may not be a bad idea too. best of luck let us know how you get on.
had a thought, try some of the bespoke tank makers if you are worried about doing the repair yourself. it may be worth letting them have a look, they may well learn why it happened. a report from one of these firms stating the cause, and printed here and possibly in the press, may have a surprising effect on Clear seal.
you can mark me down as the first person to take action, they are now well and truly off my list of makers for my next tank. and i will pass on your story to those i know who don't use this forum.

 

[klein]

Many thanks for the sound advice.

I have prepared a suitably 'stiff' letter and await their reply.

I will let you know of the outcome (assuming they reply at all).

John

 

[777fisherman]

Iam not sure if the following will work for you (not sure why it wouldn't!) but it has solved our problem! You would just have to adjust it for your particular tank. Good Luck and email me if you need more photos or info!

Here is the fix that will solve your broken or cracked brace problem as it has done for us. I was so happy I solved our problem, I wanted to make sure I could help out anyone else that ran into this problem. We have a 55 gallon tank and over time I notice the brace starting to crack. I placed epoxy over this with no luck. It just eventually cracked further until one day I heard a crack!! and found the brace totally broke and the front of our tank bowing outward over ½ inch!! Not Good. There I stood holding the sides of the tank back in until my wife arrived home to assist in water removal.

Here is what I did and will no longer have this problem again and did not have to replace our tank. Forget all those “gluing” ideas. We are talking about a lot of pressure bowing this glass out. Forget about drilling any holes... Not necessary with my way. You may have to adjust these measurements to fit your tank dimensions. First and foremost, empty tank down to at least ½ full so fish can swim around yet. Go to Home Depot and purchase a steel bar stock (not aluminum) measured at least 40” long / 1” wide / 1/8” thick. Or you can purchase a shorter piece giving you at least 16” long if you can purchase 1/4” thick steel stock because we don't have to double 2 pieces with the thicker steel as we do with 1/8” steel. But keep in mind, 2 – 1/8” pieces are easier to bend than one ¼” piece especially if you don't have a large torch to heat it up prior to bending.



If using 1/8” thick steel, to start with, cut 1 piece at 16”. Using a small hand torch, a vise, and a hammer, make 2 90 degree angles on both ends that will end up being 1 ½ “ long. There is a little extra length left to account for your bends out of the 16”.


Make the first new brace and then fit it over the end of your tank (with hood and covers removed) where the tank is not bowing. If it fits nice and snug here, you can make it fit in the middle where you need it. Now measure over the new brace to make one more piece to fit over that one to double it's effective strength. Not needed if you use the 1/4” stock steel. I could of tried to get by with one brace 1/8” thick but wasn't sure if my 2 bent ends would bend back a bit making it ineffective. So why chance it. I made it twice as strong.

Paint brace or cover it with contact paper although Iam not sure if the contact paper glue would interact with the moisture and then drip into tank.

Now fit 1st brace over middle of tank while using your body to carefully push both front and back sides of tank glass back to near straight. You should be able to slide on your new brace. Now slide 2nd brace over first.

That will be almost it. But, now you may have to cut and file the covers, and lamp hood to fit perfectly with new brace in place as I had to. A Roto-Zip tool works wonders here with the help of a assistant. Just don't do any cutting near open water and have shavings fall in by your fish. Another thing I did was epoxy the old plastic brace back together although Iam sure this is doing nothing now with steel in place.

Hope this helps you and saves you a lot of money as it did us! And it does not look stupid or out of place either as long as it is painted.

 

[WoodenChair]

resurrection of and old thread.

With a good response though! I like this idea.