'New' Overflow with Uniseals leaking, one of three holes isn't round. What are my options to seal?

[October Sky]

So I've been building a tank for almost five years! I literally bought the overflow box first and my receipts say June 2017. I was trying to piece it together with purchases I found on sale, then life got in the way, and then COVID hit and I didn't finish. Over the last 3 weeks I finally got everything together only to learn one of my overflow drain holes isn't perfectly round, so there's a leak (just tried a new Uniseal, it didn't work).

But I'm too deep into this and just need to, probably, silicone the thing into the overflow box, but I can't figure out how?

It's a Modular Marine, with a bean animal setup. I have the primary and secondary working flawlessly. But the emergency drain hole isn't perfectly round, it's got a miscut and is a bit oval.

I note the make to say it's acrylic, the plumbing is PVC (1" if it matters) and the uniseal is, well, a uniseal.

What are my options? Just silicone the heck out of it? Bond a piece of PVC into the box? I have no idea?! There is VERY little room to work with in this box, so silicone is probably the only option. But where do I put it? On top of the hole then punch in the uniseal? On top and bottom? Put the seal in first? Or put the seal in second? That's where I'm at a loss.

EDIT: And when do I put in the emergency drain pipe? Do I silicone the hole, punch in the uniseal, silicone the bottom of the uniseal, insert the pipe to make it tight, then let it dry?!? I am out of my element here, and really looking for advice.

Any and all opinions are welcome.

 

[October Sky]

I may have figured this out, might have found a bulk head that can fit in the tiny box. Wish me luck.

 

[csund]

Was the box designed to use uniseal? My modular marine overflow uses all bulkheads.

 

[October Sky]

Was the box designed to use uniseal? My modular marine overflow uses all bulkheads.

It's uniseal, again, it's 2017, so maybe they upgraded?

 

[AlexG]

Would need to see a picture of this to get a better idea on solutions if your bulkhead does not work.

 

[October Sky]

There's really little room in this overflow box. I have it set up as, left to right, Emergency (where the problem is), Primary Drain, Secondary Drain on the right (with the double elbow, not pictured).

Give me a sec to see the order of the photos and I'll explain each...

Photo 1 is a bulkhead held under the hole. The "oval" shape is at the 3pm mark. Note, there are reflections, it's not a labyrinth of holes.

Photo 2 is the same hole bulkhead under the hole, but to the side to better point out the "oval" part.

Photo 3 is the bulkhead in the hole, it fits with no issues.

Photo 4 is the bulkhead upside down in the hole, to try and show the "oval" part of the hole. Note, this bulkhead is "cut" (cut the threads off about halfway down the stem) because I used it elsewhere, it's not going to be the one I'm using. I ordered 2 identical (I hope) to it.

Photo 5 is a piece of coupling under the hole which best demonstrates the "oval" part, it's not dramatic, but apparently enough to cause a leak. The leak always occurs in that exact spot.

Photo 6 is a top down of my Primary Drain pipe, and a bit of the Secondary Drain pipe. It's mainly to show how little room there is to work with.

Final note, the bottom of the box is entirely flat, on both sides, so it should seal perfectly. In hindsight, I probably should have used bulkheads for all three holes.

 

[October Sky]

Would need to see a picture of this to get a better idea on solutions if your bulkhead does not work.

The bulkhead worked (after I had to run to the store for a second one, because Amazon shipped the threaded when I wanted slip).

I'll start taking pictures and eventually post a tank thread. Thanks for your offer to help.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Is this in Glass or Acrylic? If it’s Acrylic you could redrill it, or enlarge it with files, to fit a Bulkhead. The Bulkhead holes on my aquarium are too large, and an oddball size. I used “O” rings from the local ACE, on the Bulkhead to make sure it’s centered in the hole. Every time I’ve used Silicone on a Bulkhead, I’ve had a leak down the road. If re-drilling, in Acrylic only!! Not Glass! Hold the drill at an angle, use dish soap as a lube, slow speed and slowly take the drill back to a right angle.

 

[October Sky]

Is this in Glass or Acrylic? If it’s Acrylic you could redrill it, or enlarge it with files, to fit a Bulkhead. The Bulkhead holes on my aquarium are too large, and an oddball size. I used “O” rings from the local ACE, on the Bulkhead to make sure it’s centered in the hole. Every time I’ve used Silicone on a Bulkhead, I’ve had a leak down the road. If re-drilling, in Acrylic only!! Not Glass! Hold the drill at an angle, use dish soap as a lube, slow speed and slowly take the drill back to a right angle.

The box is acrylic, but I was able to fix it with a bulkhead.

Fun side note, the actual bulkheads from the tank into the overflow box were also leaking. The box is so dang small it's almost impossible to get a wrench in there to tighten it (because the Bean Animal secondary pipe is blocking the bulk head). I tightened it as best I could, which resulted in about a drip a day, and let salt creep do the rest. Took about 5 days for the salt creep to seal it all up. It's been about 10 days since it sealed itself and it's perfect.