Removing Mirror from mirror top tank

[Blomhj]

Hi guys

How can I safely remove the mirror top from a mirror top tank?
Have a 820 lt old mirror top in my garage that I want to get operational again but I'm not a fan of the mirror sides

[byronb]

load some pics

[Zoom]

hammer and chisel...?

[Newby]

I used a thin knife and broke the mirror part off.
I just thought that the tank glass is 10mm thick and the mirror only 5mm...mirror bigger chance of breaking.
First tried to get it of without breaking...no luck there...so I broke it of small pieces at a time.

Before
10016

After
10017

Do be careful....the glass can splinter in small pieces (Injuries:amazed:) and it makes a mess.

Maybe someone can come up with a better solution - let's hope so - but this is how I did it.

PS: I HAD o do it due to the fact that my son broke one of the mirrors and it was quite ugly and dangerous.

Hope this helps :p

[Donny]

Try a cut the silicone with some fishing gut, and then clean off the excess glue witha blade.

[Newby]

fishing gut

Use a thick one....the thinner ones I tried did not cut thru....that's why I used the thin knife blade

[Blomhj]

Will it work if you just heat it up with a heat gun until the silicone melts.....if it melts....and take the mirror part off

[Newby]

Did not try that, but not sure if silicone will melt :confused:

[richardnuss]

I have used the same method as Newby, however to prevent massive splintering / breaking, stick masking tape to the front of the mirrors (cover the mirror glass completely) - that way at least half the glass will stick to that rather than breaking off everywhere.

Silicone takes very high temps, you run a bigger risk of cracking the tank glass by doing that.

Other option - use the blade from a Stanley knife or even a saw blade (slide cardboard between it and the glass to protect the tank).

[Newby]

stick masking tape to the front of the mirrors

Very good idea :idea:


Stanley knife or even a saw blade

I used the knife due to the fact that the handle gave me a little more leverage and it is way more kinder to your hands

[Blomhj]

There goes my blowtorch idea......
Found some builders gut nice and thick and rough textured will try to cut the silicone with that

[byronb]

There goes my blowtorch idea......
Found some builders gut nice and thick and rough textured will try to cut the silicone with that
wrap either end of gut around dowel stick or butter knife... that s!#@$ cuts your fingers badly ..

[spider]

You can also use a guitar string if you have one.

[Anine]

dont you love this forum? I wonder how many people would've lost fingers, eyes, tanks, fish, marriages (LOL) without it?? :)

[pHish_man]

Stanley knife blades work well. So does wide putty knives.

I have also used the tape part of a broken tape measure with great success.

Above all, just be patient and dont force anything.

[sarf]

Tape measure works best in my opinion..jst break a piece of those thin metal tape measures..n use a corner to cut through silicone..works like a charm..with that I can take a 4foot tank apart in less than 20min

[Blomhj]

Will try the tape measure thing if the gut takes to long