David R Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Powder coated or painted? Which is more durable, and which will prevent rust better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 powder coated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Coated powder. Paint powder which is embedded in to the metal is stronger than stuff stuck to the outisde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Powder coated should be tougher, but once you break the surface rust will do its evil work unseen beneath it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hot dip galvanised then powder coated. Wears well and looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simian Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hot dip galvanised then powder coated. Wears well and looks good. And doubles the price. you would be better getting galvanised steel to make it from, then you just need to prime the spots where the zinc has burnt off when welded. Actually If given a choice I'd avoid mild steel altogether and go Stainless or aluminium, if fresh water 304 stainless is sweet, salt water 316 grade, which gets costly. If you choose the right aluminium section it will be as strong and 1/2 the weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted February 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 I've ordered it in steel already, so too late for stainless or aluminium. Its being primered and painted in a proper spray booth (not some ghetto back-yard spray can job) so hopefully will last a long time. Second question (I know I'm not an engineer but...) the guy said he'll make it out of 25mm box section, this is for a 630L tank, so the stand is 150 long, 70 wide and 90 high, with six legs. I didn't think it sounded strong enough, and suggested that to him. Does that sound right, or not strong enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doch Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 50x25 would have been better but as long as its heavy duty will be ok i have made plenty of them like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 If it has 6 legs all of the weight will come down on to 6 sq inches and that is a hell of a force. My stands are built from 25mm box but have a ring bottom and top and sit on 18mm customwood to help spread the load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doch Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 and also get it powdered coated hides plenty of sins and dont cost much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doch Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 my 500 litre tank sits on 6 legs but has bracing on the bottom for a floor and on top to even the loadwith custom would and polystyrene under the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted February 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 If it has 6 legs all of the weight will come down on to 6 sq inches and that is a hell of a force. My stands are built from 25mm box but have a ring bottom and top and sit on 18mm customwood to help spread the load. Given how flexible customwood is I'd be sceptical at just how much it helps spread the load. The tank is going on a concrete floor in the garage, so how much does the weight need to be spread out? I haven't seen a design, he might put a ring around the bottom, I'm not sure. He was recommended to be by Greg/tanks2u as someone who'd built them before and knows what he's doing, so I guess [hope] I'm just being paranoid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeous Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 If you think about, say, the pressures put on the ground from an overweight kinda lady on high heels, and the weight-taking part of most high heels is alot less than a square inch, you are maybe thinking about, I don't know, 120 kilos per square inch?? (Lady is 60 kilos (please correct me if this is grossly inaccurate) and heel of shoe is 1/2 square inches (again, please correct me if this is wrong)) And the weight on each stand leg would be 105 kilos, not including fish, gravel etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 It will be ok on a concrete floor. I am like you---a bit paranoid. The design floor load on a domestic dwelling is 2 kPa and that is equivalent to a tank 200mm high (water only) with the weight evenly distributed. I am therefore careful of puting all the weight down through legs which may be suppoted only by the flooring. I have always disigned my stands to distribute the load as much as possible. Some of my loads are way in excess but have been OK so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted February 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 The design floor load on a domestic dwelling is 2 kPa and that is equivalent to a tank 200mm high (water only) with the weight evenly distributed. I am therefore careful of puting all the weight down through legs which may be suppoted only by the flooring. I have always disigned my stands to distribute the load as much as possible. Some of my loads are way in excess but have been OK so far. I presume that part is referring to timber flooring? I had a 5'x2'x2' on a timber floor years ago, and be stand was made with 4x2, but with 6x2 on its edge across the bottom to spread the weight over the joists evenly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I only point out the design floor load so that people are aware of the need to spread the load. I have a stand with 2 x 4 footers on it. One is 400mm and the other 450mm high. With the weight of everything combined this is probably 5 x design load. It is designed to spread the load and sits parallel to and over a couple of joists on a floor built in 1945. It is still on top of the floor. It is built from 25mm box section and I am sure if it only had 4 x legs it would be through the floor by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I only point out the design floor load so that people are aware of the need to spread the load. I'm aware that its important on a wooden floor, but what about on a concrete floor in a garage? I was reading a thread on MFK where a guy had four tanks (around 900gallons) on industrial pallet racks, with only four legs on a concrete floor. With that weight they were discussing if it would be enough to 'punch thru' the concrete, but decided it probably wasn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I have been in quite a few fish houses with concrete floors and very few were not cracked. When I built mine I made a ring foundation and a slab between 150 - 180mm and heavily reinforced with steel. Most garages have an edge thickened slab only and are built to a very minimum standard. They don't need to be up to the standard of a dwelling (because they are not for human habitation)and seldom are. I would still be very careful to spread the load Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.