Crazing on Acrylic Enclosure

Militaum

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I've accidentally wiped an acrylic enclosure with a 70% Alcohol Solution on the inside and outside, and after that some crazing happened, and the internal surface got hazy. I knew beforehand that alcohol was not a good match for acrylic, but I thought that just wiping the surface with a little amount of alcohol wouldn't be an issue.

This enclosure is used to house electronic components and dielectric oil ( a synthetic Esther) for my experiments in a laboratory . The oil heats up to 70 degrees Celsius( 158 Fahrenheit) due to the power dissipation of the electronic components. The exterior of the enclosure is cooled by circulating water at 10 degrees Celsius( 50 Fahrenheit) - the 0.7 m (2.3 ft)tall enclosure is inside a 1.2 m(4 ft) aquarium filled with water.

The pressure difference between the inside and outside of the enclosure is 12 in of water( about 0.4 psi). The enclosure wall is 10 mm thick ( 3/8" ).

My question is, can I continue using the enclosure for the experiments, or should I replace it ?


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Timfish

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:worried-face: You might try buffing a small area out with Novus 3 then Novus 2 to see if that will make it an clearer. Structurally for the amount of water that's in it you should be fine using it but check it closelty to make sure all ther is is surface crazing and not any cracks that penetrate into the acrylic.
 
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Militaum

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:worried-face: You might try buffing a small area out with Novus 3 then Novus 2 to see if that will make it an clearer. Structurally for the amount of water that's in it you should be fine using it but check it closelty to make sure all ther is is surface crazing and not any cracks that penetrate into the acrylic.
Thank you for the advice. I"ll try to buff it out using some sort of scratch removal/polisher for acrylic( unfortunately Novus 2 and 3 are not available on my country).

I saw at some threads people recommending sandpaper to polish the acrylic to remove the crazing( starting with a coarser grit and finishing with a finer one), but I think that will be a lot of work, since the enclosure is big.
 

vetteguy53081

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I typically buff with 1200 grade sand sheets then Novus for finessing it
 

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