how strong is 1/8" plexi-glass?

[Andysam]

I am looking to build a fermentation chamber and found a really good deal on this. I was going to use this acrylic (plexi-glass) as the inside bottom over my insulation board so that it would be easy to clean up any spills. I found this used sheet for 10% of what 1/4" would cost. The chamber is going to be big enough to fit two 15.5 gallon kegs in it, so the bottom will be about 40"x19". Is 1/8" strong enough to hold two kegs with about 10-13 gallons of beer in them? (the weight will be spread out.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Is your chamber going to have a wood frame or some other kind of structure? 25 gallons of beer is a lot of weight....envision yourself standing on the plexiglas and jumping, because moving the kegs on/off the surface is a dynamic load and generates greater stress. Also consider scratching, because plexiglas gets ugly after a while. I'd probably throw some plywood under the plexiglas to help out if you're dead set on using it.....

 

[Andysam]

Sorry, here is a little more about the chamber I am going to build.
It will have a 2x2 perimeter frame with 3 2x2s across it. Then it will have a 1/2" plywood bottom, and a 1" (or 2 inch, not sure yet) insulation board bottom.

so, it will be plenty strong underneath it, I just want the plexi-glass for easy cleanup. Basically, if I were to put a sheet of 1/8" plexi-glass on the ground and put 2 full kegs on it, would it crack or hold up to the weight? The glass will only be so I can clean up any spills easy.

 

[zanemoseley]

So if I'm hearing you right you will have a pine frame with 1/2 ply and insulation. At that point the acrylic will carry literally no load, it will just transfer it via the 1/2 ply to the frame. The biggest problem you will have with acrylic is scratching as dragging sanke fermenters around will scratch it. There should be no problem of it breaking however. You could also just paint it with a gloss acrylic paint which would be easy to clean up. Or better yet just get some melamine coated particle board, it is easy to clean. Just make sure its sealed well as the edges will soak up water and humidity much more readily than ply.

 

[klyph]

Plexiglass will have plenty of compressive strength, it's when you start deflecting it that it breaks.

 

[brewmonk]

+1 on melamine, it's much more durable, and you can seal the edges with caulking.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Or just spray some good polyurethane finish on the inside and call it a day

 

[marzsit]

the .125 plexi over foam is strong enough, but plexi (acrylic) scratches and gouges very easily and won't look nice for very long if you plan on sliding full kegs across it..