Bulkheads leaking

bluecheese

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So I finished the plumbing on my office tank yesterday. This morning I started water testing by putting a some water in the overflow boxes. A bulkhead on each overflow is leaking.

Because of how small the holes in the stand are, I would have to cut out the plumbing to be able to tighten/loosen/remove the bulkheads. I'd rather avoid that if I can.

The tank is acrylic, so I don't think silicone would work.

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can fix this without having to cut the pluming out and starting all over?
 

Jedi1199

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Did you glue the bulkheads to the plumbing system? If not, you should still be able to remove them. If you did, you will probably have to redo it. I know its not what you want to hear, but it really is the best long term solution.. fix it right now, or fix it right after you drain your tank on the floor and lose $10,000 worth of fish and corals?

When I plumbed in my 180, I thought I had cleaned the overflows quite thoroughly (got the tank used)... water test and leaks from all 4 pipes. Got all new pipework.. Must have been the garbage old stuff right? Couldn't possibly be my own shoddy workmanship, that's impossible! Reinstalled, and leaks from 2 pipes.. an improvement, but not acceptable. I whined and complained on here about it (The thread is around somewhere I'm sure) and finally removed the offending pipes and gave another thorough cleaning paying very careful attention that not even a grain of sand got under the gasket. Finally success!!

PS... If you do end up redoing it, I suggest a soft joint from the bulkheads to the hard plumbing. What if you want or need to move the tank in the future?
 

KC's CNC Creations

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if they are threaded bulkhead fittings and are leaking at the thread joint, you can loosen the nut on the bulkhead fitting and turn the bulkhead to tighten it, then retighten the nut.

if it's just the bulkhead leaking, tighten the nut......
 
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bluecheese

bluecheese

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if they are threaded bulkhead fittings and are leaking at the thread joint, you can loosen the nut on the bulkhead fitting and turn the bulkhead to tighten it, then retighten the nut.

if it's just the bulkhead leaking, tighten the nut......

Unfortunately the only way I can tighten or loosen the nut is with a socket. I can't get into the hole in the stand with a wrench or pliers; it's too small.
 
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bluecheese

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Sorry for the bad picture. I've already left the office for the day, so this is the only picture that I have right now.

It's the pipe with the valve on it. Its definitely leaking from where the bulkhead meets the tank, not from where the pvc inserts into the bulkhead.
 

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KC's CNC Creations

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no you can cut it with the tank and plumbing all installed

you MIGHT also disconnect the union on that gate valve and make a full turn of the plumbing and bulkhead and it MIGHT have enough friction at the nut to tighten. normally a leak at the bulkhead to glass is due to trash on the gasket, or you put the gasket on the nut side not the flange. EDIT: looks like your other plumbing is too close to allow that...........
 
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bluecheese

bluecheese

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no you can cut it with the tank and plumbing all installed

you MIGHT also disconnect the union on that gate valve and make a full turn of the plumbing and bulkhead and it MIGHT have enough friction at the nut to tighten. normally a leak at the bulkhead to glass is due to trash on the gasket, or you put the gasket on the nut side not the flange. EDIT: looks like your other plumbing is too close to allow that...........
Thanks for the suggestion on the multitool. I'll give that a look when I get back to the office.

But yeah, space is at a premium under this tank.

In my defense, my boss decided to ignore all my suggestions and have the stand built how he thought it should.
 
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