I'm doing my first official DIY project. A tank rack for the back of my car.
Here's my question. All you guys using PVC for everything but plumbing. Do you use PVC glue or something else such as crazy glue?
I've never done this before, so I'm just wondering if PVC glue is strong enough to hold, once you put some weight and stress on something, such as a tank rack, drying rack, etc?
ScubaToneDog
August 18th, 2003, 01:03 PM
PVC glue all the way! Be sure to prep the surface with the stuff in the can or a clean piece of emery cloth.
:spaninq:
roturner
August 18th, 2003, 03:06 PM
grunzster once bubbled...
I'm doing my first official DIY project. A tank rack for the back of my car.
Here's my question. All you guys using PVC for everything but plumbing. Do you use PVC glue or something else such as crazy glue?
I've never done this before, so I'm just wondering if PVC glue is strong enough to hold, once you put some weight and stress on something, such as a tank rack, drying rack, etc?
Glue? You just want one of those things to stop your tank from rolling around, right?
R..
ScubaToneDog
August 18th, 2003, 03:58 PM
grunzster once bubbled...
such as a tank rack, drying rack, etc?
grouchyturtle
August 18th, 2003, 07:11 PM
No I'm actually building a rack, or actually kind of a shelf.
That way I can stack stuff on top.
I used 1" with no glue! I put part of it together without glue, to double check measurements, etc.
It was so hard to get it back apart to glue that, I just banged the fittings on nice and tight with a hammer. Used it all weekend and it worked great!
Crispy
August 25th, 2003, 09:12 PM
Grunzter,
It looks great, I may have to make one for my van. I would suggest taking the time to pull it apart and to use the PVC pipe "glue", it will actually weld the pieces together by melting the pvc and then resetting as one. It's very strong.....I would be afraid that one nutty driver cutting you off and a quick touch of the brakes could cause a bed full of loose tanks :wacko:
just my $.02
Boogie711
August 25th, 2003, 10:19 PM
How far apart are the pipes? I'm assuming it must be around 6 inches or so...
grouchyturtle
August 25th, 2003, 10:48 PM
Actually the uprights are 8". I made it a little bigger so I had some room to play with.
I may glue it eventually. I don't think it really needs it though. Just from being hand tight I had to bang it with a hammer to get the few pieces apart before I gave up.
Also since PVC glue sets pretty quick, I'm afraid it will bond before I can even get the pipe all the way in, since they fit so tight and also that some parts may not line up.
Boogie711
August 25th, 2003, 11:24 PM
I was figuring around 6 inches because they have to be less than 7.25, just so that the tank doesn't fall through.
grouchyturtle
August 25th, 2003, 11:47 PM
The horizontals are 6"
TechnoMage
December 12th, 2003, 08:23 PM
First of all I want to give big thanks to Grunzster whose idea I built on.
I loved the PVC tank rank idea but I needed something narrower. Luckily I found a PVC fitting store online that had exactly what I needed to slim it down a little bit. I've posted some pictures here.
The biggest changes are the eight corners and the four corner middle fittings.
For the eight corners I used some 3 way fittings instead of a elbow and T fitting.
For the four corner middle fittings I used some 4 way fittings instead of two T's. This let me slim the rack down by almost 6 inches so now it will fit between our two dive boxes in the back of the SUV.
Here's a total list of parts that I used. All pipe and fittings are Schedule 40, 1 inch.
Long Spans: 9, 24 inches long
Short Spans:12, 6 inches long
Vertical Spans: 8 12 inches long
T fittings: 6
3 Way fittings: 8
4 Way fittings: 4
Here's a link to where I purchased the 3 and 4 way fittings http://www.savko.com/partlist.asp?pgid=3&ptid=13 .
If I did it again I'd make a few changes.
1. I would probably make the vertical spans 10 inches instead of 12 inches.
2. I would use 4 way fittings on the bottom corners to keep the rack 1 inch off the ground.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Thanks for the inspiration grunzter.
-Ron
grouchyturtle
December 13th, 2003, 01:52 PM
That's actually what I really wanted to do with mine, but couldn't find those damn 3 way and 4 way connectors you used.
I could have done it by adding a few connectors and adaptors together for each corner, but it would have been a lot more $$$ for parts.
I think even if I made it narrower, though, it still wouldn't be able to fit between the boxes we have, but I'm saving that link, and next time, I'm going to make a little variation between both of our designs.
domino22
December 17th, 2003, 06:48 PM
I used 1 inch tube. Measure twice cut once. Dry fit it all together before you glue-that stuff sets up quick. I used foam insulation for pipes where the tank will ride and a few bungees and I was good to go.
Lamar Jr
December 18th, 2003, 05:46 PM
If I did it again I'd make a few changes.
1. I would probably make the vertical spans 10 inches instead of 12 inches.
2. I would use 4 way fittings on the bottom corners to keep the rack 1 inch off the ground.
Since you didn't glue this together, it should be easy enough to disassemble and shorten the verticle pieces. You can also easily swap out the bottom corner pieces anytime you choose.
Thanks to both grunzster and TechnoMag for posting pics of the finished product. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.
CBulla
December 18th, 2003, 05:52 PM
damn! My wife saw this and now I have another project to do (or help her with hopefully). Thanks a lot! ;)
grouchyturtle
June 28th, 2004, 11:47 AM
Just a little update. I just got new tanks. My design is too small for wider tanks. I had to extend the height to fit my E8s in it. With the boots off, I may have been able to squeeze them in, but it is still a little to narrow to fit 2 tanks side by side.
If I extend the width it will be too big. I'd think that using TechnoMage's design, though, you should be able to make it wide enough for the bigger tanks, without making it too big to fit any other gear next to it.
Also as far as strength, I've done a few 1hr - 2 hr trips with my tank all rigged up sitting on the very top, and it didn't budge, although I did get a little nervous on a few sharp turns and some pot holes!
Allen42
June 28th, 2004, 11:01 PM
It looks from the pic that the tanks can still roll a bit side to side, thus "bang" into each other. Is this true?
grouchyturtle
June 29th, 2004, 08:07 AM
80s will a little anything wider and it's a little too tight. Actually we'll often put other thing such as camping chairs on the bottom and use the middle and top for tanks.
That way they don't roll at all.
milkathecow
June 30th, 2004, 03:43 AM
I can't load any of the images that both grunzster and TechnoMage did, any idea ?? gunzster, your tanks.jpg is a 404 page not found, and the others just don't want to load... want to make them smaller ? maybe ?
ok solved the issue... save link as.. did the trick.. but why don't you do something like this : http://kopka.at/english.htm
in simple projects and tank fixing... it's quite interesting, and a lot less space consuming imho.
thanks..
grouchyturtle
June 30th, 2004, 07:46 AM
I think I may have deleted the second one. The first image is showing up, though.
justleesa
June 30th, 2004, 08:34 AM
Just the other day we were talking about a Tank Rank....I really like your idea and would want it for outside and not for the car....How many shelves high do you think I can go? We have some 12 or more tanks
grouchyturtle
June 30th, 2004, 12:20 PM
I'd probably go at least 3 wide then. Not just because of strength, but balance.
justleesa
June 30th, 2004, 12:24 PM
That was my worry too. Thanks, I should get around to it in a year or so....lol I am hoping for sooner ;)
milkathecow
June 30th, 2004, 02:30 PM
If you want a fixed rack, why don't You just head to an IKEA or so, they have wine racks which are fine for 10-12L tanks ... take wide ones and you're be set up and you can go up to something like 2m high... not really expensive for what they are, just give the wood a varnish coating so that the water doesn't sink in and you're all set.
justleesa
June 30th, 2004, 02:37 PM
Sorry to say no Ikea, or anything like it, in Hawaii...and wood isn't all that happy here either, the climate is just to wet...But thanks for the thought (I lived near the French boarder, around Bitsch...LOVED going to Ikea in Saar Louis)
grouchyturtle
June 30th, 2004, 09:17 PM
Here's a pictue of the modified rack. A little had to see, but I just put straight couplings in to extend the height.
How about building one out of wood for the back of a pickup?
Anyone has any plans for this?
roturner
July 25th, 2004, 04:39 PM
How about building one out of wood for the back of a pickup?
Anyone has any plans for this?
I've seen one. Had two vertical bits with "slots" cut into them the size of about 1/2 way around the tank. 2x4 to make a frame so it would stand up and a bungie cord across from one side to the other to keep the tanks from moving. I'm not sure if it was bolted to the truck or not. Looked to me like you could build one in an hour or so. If you got all fancy about it you could also cover it in something to keep your tanks from getting scratched.....
