fibreglass or acrylic?

[riverviewbrian]

I have a 3pc unit but I have no idea who manufactured it and i am trying to determine if its acrylic or fibreglass.
It looks like fibreglass from the access panel but its 14 years old I am told and still has a nice finish on it so would fibreglass look that good?
It has a crack in it that i want to fix but in that area it would appear to need support, I know you can get non slip permanent inlays for fibreglass, if its acrylic anyone know if they are available.
sorry if I appear to be rambling on but getting confused

 

[Jadnashua]

If it is just fiberglass, it will be fairly thin. Acrylic is usually thicker, but may also have some fiberglass reinforcements. Typical fiberglass is thin enough in some areas where you can fairly easily deflect or bend it. Acrylic is a thicker, harder, plastic. The gell coat on fiberglass is like a coat of paint, the acrylic is a thicker layer of plastic.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Leejosepho]

It has a crack in it that i want to fix but in that area it would appear to need support ...

If that crack is in the bottom, yes, it is going to need support. Plastic tubs need a bed of concrete or mortar underneath them.

 

[riverviewbrian]

Thanks for the input

So I have to get some support under the crack, will foam work or would it be better to cut out a pc and use a stronger support and then hopefully be able to replace the acrylic without it looking bad.

 

[Leejosepho]

I once tried using foam from a spray can to support the cracked bottom of a tub right after it first began leaking, and within a couple of weeks the crack had grown much bigger. I suspect foam would not have worked even if it had been there from the beginning. Its density is too low. Mortar can be injected almost as easily as foam:
http://www.capcityequipment.com/grout.html

I fixed that cracked bottom by cutting much of it out and re-'glassing it on top of well-supported plywood, then I found a waterproof finish in a color that was close, added some sand for no-slip and covered the entire bottom. The end result was obviously not a "factory finish", but even stainless pots and pans are sometimes "two-tone" with their copper bottoms!