# Shimming and tubular stands



## default (May 28, 2011)

Ok, so I recently grabbed a 65 with a bigals tubular stand(the black metal ones), this thing is in my semi finished basement, so the floors are still alitte wonky.
So where the tank sits right now it's taller in the rear and has a difference of about half an inch in height. So I recently picked up some composite shims hoping they're stronger than the cedar ones, but I would have to use two shims together to achieve the height difference.

Sooo, here's the questions;

Is this safe? Using two shims per leg to achieve the difference?

Also are these stands safe? They feel shaky and tends to vibrate and sway slightly when full. Anyone else ever experience this in a tube stand?

Thanks for any input.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Those stands are made of relatively small tubing with very thin wall thickness. They are a little shaky but not unsafe. As to the shims, as long as they can't move you should be ok. Having slope in a basement is not unusual, but it can be difficult to shim at times because the bottom of the leg and the shim are not always in the same plane. I used some aluminum pieces I had to shim one wrought iron stand I have. The tubular stands I built include socket head cap screws in the bottom of the legs that act as leveling screws.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

BillD said:


> Those stands are made of relatively small tubing with very thin wall thickness. They are a little shaky but not unsafe. As to the shims, as long as they can't move you should be ok. Having slope in a basement is not unusual, but it can be difficult to shim at times because the bottom of the leg and the shim are not always in the same plane. I used some aluminum pieces I had to shim one wrought iron stand I have. The tubular stands I built include socket head cap screws in the bottom of the legs that act as leveling screws.


Shaky but not unsafe  scary
I hope this thing holds.. Gonna fill her up again tonight.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I cut up an old plastic tank lid into little squares to level tanks. I recommend something that won't compress over time like wood can and won't rust or decompose. The plastic from an old tank hood seemed like a good idea to me.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

pyrrolin said:


> I cut up an old plastic tank lid into little squares to level tanks. I recommend something that won't compress over time like wood can and won't rust or decompose. The plastic from an old tank hood seemed like a good idea to me.


Oh yea, I use the composite ones which are basically plastic with wood blended in. Suppose to not rot or compress.

However my tube stands the legs are leaning right or left.. Hard to explain via words, but the rear legs would be unleveled to the left or right by a mm or two. Is that a problem?


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

a couple mm from the far left to far right of the tank is within acceptable range, My 90 to the right of me is off 3 or 4 mm left/right


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## alreu (Aug 30, 2012)

I have found the best for shimming is to go to Home Depot, etc and just buy some tin used for heating ducts - pretty cheap stuff. With a pair of snips you're in business and the thin material can shim to some great tolerances. I have also used decking plates (used for wood decks, steel plate with nail holes in it) when I have needed thicker shimming and then used the tin to fine tune. I have a couple of the cheap 75G tubular stands and yes, they don't feel all that solid if you bang up against the tank but they do the job. As you get to larger sizes, the tubing will obviously get larger. I have a couple of 125G metal stands from BA and they are stronger but still nothing like the tubular stand that I had made by Miracles.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

The sheet metal is a great idea, and one I have used. Sources of metal can be pop cans, which made of aluminum won't rust. In the past, when I worked in the trade, we often used pennies as shims when leveling machinery, because they were cheap and you usually had some in your pocket.


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