Fixing a calcium reactor manifold

[Reefpharmer]

So I broke the manifold on the geo 618 reactor and when I priced out a replacement, it came out to $50 for the manifold and 90 for the lid because the old style unions are no longer manufactured.
I am trying to save the money and repair it. It’s a fairly clean break so I was wondering if I can just prime and use pvc cement on it. I have never done pvc cement on pieces that just sit on top like that so I’m not sure if it will work...

 

[Billldg]

Honestly, I wouldn't trust it. It can be fixed DIY style, you will just have to go to a good plumbing place to find the fittings.

 

[Reefpharmer]

Yep I was going to do that and stopped hardware store but their unions don’t match up. They were larger even though they were 1/2 pipe size. That’s why I thought of maybe doing it this way and see if it works

 

[ithk21620]

If you have multiple stores around that sell unions try them all. I had a similar situation and it took three stops but I was able to find a union that was very close to the same size. Doesn't have to be exact but close. As long as the union piece fits into the threaded piece and the o-ring sits on the flat face of the mating piece you should be fine.

If I remember correctly it was Ace Hardware that had the smaller unions. The big box stores had the larger ones.

 

[me & my baby]

Home Depot and Lowe’s have always carried different ones . But they have both changed over the last few months. I just ran in to same problem . I cut the pvc on the lid off glued a piece of acrylic over it . Ordered a 1/2 uniseal drilled the lid out and re did my plumbing to it . Less then 30.00 and it’s back up and running

 

[Reefpharmer]

Any chance you have a picture ? Ty

 

[Shorething]

Why not thread the inside of the broken manifold with a pipe tap and use a threaded nipple or pipe fitting to remake the manifold

 

[Sgolden]

I am a plumber . Sorry, but you need to remove at the plate. If possible . Do not attempt to glue any piping unless it’s with a new fitting.
Not sure if you can unscrew at the reactor plate ? Work your way back with new fittings and pipe. Then, yes pvc glue is good to go.

 

[Reefpharmer]

Unfortunately they are not “removable”. Geo glued them into the top of the reactor. The only possibility here is to “drill” it out with a 1/2 inch drill bit of some sort. The other option is to use some epoxy to glue the pieces because it really has no actual pressure inside the reactor. I use a masterflex to pull the effluent. If I can figure out a way to cleanly remove the old piece of half inch pipe, I’d rebuild the manifold. I just don’t think drilling it out is a clean option

 

[Sgolden]

Yes, I have been faced with same thing. I normally drill it out . Maybe replace with bulkhead fitting ?

 

[Sgolden]

Or cut pipe flush to the next fitting. Use a dremmel to remove the pipe within the fitting. A bit tricky, but, it’s a low pressure system. It will be good as new.

 

[PerplexyHexy]

That sucks... sorry man... So, If it was me... I would do a true fix and not rig it... When any of my equipment breaks, I know it sucks, but ultimately you wanna do whatever holds that equipments value... You never know whats gonna happen, example; you get out of the hobby, you wanna get the most you can money wise from that piece of equipment since its already pretty much lost 1/2 its value being used... If people see its rigged, goodluck getting 1/2 its value if any... If you keep it and fix it the proper way, that piece of equipment will not fail and you will have 100% faith that it will work properly... Ultimately I treat all my equipment as investments... I want it to look as clean as possible and work at 100% efficiency... I know money can be an issue, but if vendor has parts that are easily obtained from them and its direct bolt on, take in the value of your time as well if your gonna do this fix yourself and rig it... $140 is eh kinda fair compared to $30-50 worth parts plus your time... this is just me of course... sorry the long post... I know how it feels when things break... it sucks... I also know it REALLY sucks when you rig something and it fails and floods your house as well!!!

 

[Shorething]

Can you show me a better picture of the top of the reactor? Particularly the broken fitting. I have a geo as well. I also know a really good trick to get the broken piece out possibly.

 

[Shorething]

It's hard to tell from your picture but it looks like it's a 1/2" street elbow glued into the top of the union. I just looked at my geo reactor and that was the way it is set up. Every time I'm doing an aquarium plumbing project with unions it seems like the hardware stores carry different brands from different vendors and the unions will not thread up to one another. There is a trick that works like magic. It requires heating the inside of the broken piece of street elbow inside of your union and it will peel right out of the union like butter.

 

[Shorething]

 

[Reefpharmer]

Oh wow that’s a pretty neat trick. If pvc glue and epoxy don’t do it, I’ll try this method

 

[Reefpharmer]

I know some people just buy a new lid and manifold. I don’t have the money to do it. If possible, I can diy and spend the extra money on something else

 

[Shorething]

I personally have used this trick many times. I surprising how well it works.

 

[Nomadic1]

Go look at this thread for how to fix this problem. It was used on a GEO 818.

Kirk's 350-ish build

Nice catch on the Mosfet!

lareefclub.com

 

[Reefpharmer]

Will do. Quite slick