has anyone ever seen this before?

[reef chicken]

i just got done plumbing my fiji cube 32 and to my surprise there is a leak. but it looks like it’s leaking water through the bulk head. has anyone ever seen this before. this tank is brand new along with the plumbing. any thoughts on how to fix this without having to rip out the whole drain section.

 

[reef chicken]

i just got done plumbing my fiji cube 32 and to my surprise there is a leak. but it looks like it’s leaking water through the bulk head. has anyone ever seen this before. this tank is brand new along with the plumbing. any thoughts on how to fix this without having to rip out the whole drain section.

 

[reef chicken]

pic

 

[bluemon]

Unscrew the bulkhead, and apply some plumbers tape within the threads.

Plumbers tape is a good idea for most aquarium plumbing that need threads

 

[bluemon]

Replied to you in the other thread. Please refrain from having duplicate posts

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

It is already glued... So just to make sure. the rubber gasket was installed on the wet side of the bulkhead? If that is true you need to loosen up the bulkhead, clean the gasket and the glass free of foreign matter. If that does not work, you can use a bit of aquarium safe silicone as a sealant on the gasket

 

[reef chicken]

i only made one post?

 

[bluemon]

i only made one post?

No, you have two. I replied to you in the other one about plumbers tape

 

[reef chicken]

well sorry im new here. i made one post in the reef discussion tab. i don’t how there ended up being a duplicate?

 

[KrisReef]

Yes, I have seen bulkhead fittings that leak. Sometimes they are cracked and other times they are over tightened, and sometimes they are under tightened and they can leak.

It is ok to use silicone grease on the threads and gasket to help them tighten properly but do not use silicone sealant, or any other sealant on these fittings. They are made to be hand tightened, and maybe snugged up with a wrench but over wrenching causes a lot of leaks in these fittings.

 

[UncommonSense]

I second removing the bulkhead partially to clean the gasket on both faces, plus the glass. then tighten it back down; hand tight only, then test…

you can add up to 1/4 turn after hand tight using a tool if needed, then test again…

If this fails; replace the bulkhead gasket (ideally with one which has ridges on one face, giving it better sealing pressure)… or, in your case; replace the entire bulkhead, as it’s already been cemented permanently to that downstream plumbing!

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Yes, I have seen bulkhead fittings that leak. Sometimes they are cracked and other times they are over tightened, and sometimes they are under tightened and they can leak.

It is ok to use silicone grease on the threads and gasket to help them tighten properly but do not use silicone sealant, or any other sealant on these fittings. They are made to be hand tightened, and maybe snugged up with a wrench but over wrenching causes a lot of leaks in these fittings.

Why do you advocate NOT using silicone sealant? Just curious, because I use silicone sealants every day in my 9-5 in low to 50 PSI situations.

 

[UncommonSense]

Why do you advocate NOT using silicone sealant? Just curious, because I use silicone sealants every day in my 9-5 in low to 50 PSI situations.

I was wondering about this too…

I know Red Sea silicones down their bulkheads from the factory, or at least they used to… Just another trap of the brand should you ever need to replace a bulkhead…

 

[KrisReef]

Why do you advocate NOT using silicone sealant? Just curious, because I use silicone sealants every day in my 9-5 in low to 50 PSI situations.

These fittings are designed to be assembled and create a watertight seal without silicone sealant.

If you ever want to disassemble them or if they need to be replaced or refitted (as in the original post) it can make swapping out the old fitting a lot cleaner if there is no silicone sealant that needs to be removed.

 

[salty joe]

Make sure the nut is snugged up. Don't go crazy, you are working with plastic. See if you can turn it by hand, if not put a wrench and see if it is easy to get a 1/4 turn.

That's not typically where Teflon tape is used but if it works, it works.

 

[Subsea]

Make sure the nut is snugged up. Don't go crazy, you are working with plastic. See if you can turn it by hand, if not put a wrench and see if it is easy to get a 1/4 turn.

That's not typically where Teflon tape is used but if it works, it works.

Teflon is good for lubrication of threads and is a sealant on tapered pipe thread. However, the gland nut on bulkhead is not tapered thread. The gland nut compresses the rubber washer that seals the bulkhead.

 

[OrionN]

The seal for this is the gasket between the glass and the bulkhead on the inside. often overtight will cause problem with leaking by warp the inside bulkhead or wrinkle the gasket. Teflon on the thread will not help, but taken it apart and put it back may help.
Hope it work for you.

 

[rhitee93]

I agree with Orion. I'd loosen the bulkhead nut so that you can get the rubber washer away from the glass to make sure both the glass and washer are perfectly clean. Then tighten the nut by hand and sneak up on tightening it further until there is no leak.

 

[Subsea]

i just got done plumbing my fiji cube 32 and to my surprise there is a leak. but it looks like it’s leaking water through the bulk head. has anyone ever seen this before. this tank is brand new along with the plumbing. any thoughts on how to fix this without having to rip out the whole drain section.

Note the rubber gasket which is compressed by gland nut. As gland nut compresses against rubber gasket, it will flatten & as nut is turned a 1/4 turn the gasket rubber should begin to expand outward. In looking at your picture, the rubber has not been compressed enough.

PS:
consider draining water from tank, backing off gland nut, putting Vaseline on both surfaces of rubber washer, retighten gland nut and compress gasket.

Because, I have done this before, I would tighten nut 1/4 turn and observe rubber gasket.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

One thing I learned recently was a trick. (To me a trick, I’m easy like that). Take the thickness of the glass, mark the thread of your bulkhead. Then with some real aquarium silicon, what they use for seams (I used ASI I think) apply about 1/4 or less wide but heavy handed. So if you are looking at a bulkhead, and you glass is 1/2”, measure 1/2” from the flange, then apply the silicon from basically the 1/2” mark to what would be 3/4” mark from the flange. Heavy handedly. Now when you going to install it as you start to feel that you are starting to notice the resistance from the silicon spin it oblongly like. This allows for total silicon between the threads of the bulk head and the glass that makes up the cut hole. It’s also super super important to get all your plumbing 100% done in that area so that you won’t disturb the silicon by rocking it around (not necessarily here but anywhere you use it). Ideally let silicone cure for 7 days before it gets wet. I followed this one a pretty bad clam shell I did on a display I just got wet. Worked really really well. The tighter the clearance the better.