42 Gallon Hex build
by
, 08-30-2015 at 02:14 PM (1456 Views)
The first 3 photo's are of a completed side panel for the stand. A panel was added to the back of the doors to help protect the raised panel door from water and salt spray. These panels have the same rubber coating that is on the stand and they are painted white. The side doors are all the same except for the direction the door swings. There are 2 side panels on each side. There is also 2 covers to protect the hinge assembly when the door is closed attached to the side panel. When I had this running in the garage with water just in the sump and without the hinge covers all the hinges in the wet area had rust. This includes the ones in the canopy even without any water in the tank. A good note was that the hinges on the doors to the electronics areas were clean and had no rust at all. I also switched to a different hinge when I replaced the ones on the stand. These did not extend past the back of the panel like the original ones did. I already had the covers made at that time so they will accommodate either hinge. The protecton panel and hinge covers are attaced by screws that also have covers to protect them from the salt spray. This allows the panel or hinge covers to be removed if needed for maintenance. I still have add protection panels and hinge covers to the canopy doors.
The front panel is in photo's 4,5 and 6. It doesn't have the strip near the bottom to overlap the stand since it is not needed in the electronics area. The strip on the side panel's is to keep water that drips down the side panel inside the stand. The front panel back is also painted black except where it is exposed to the water area at the top.
The last photo is of the right side panels attached to the stand with the doors in the open position.