Overflow and Plumbing Clog

[sethgmore]

Haha I don’t blame you!! I’ve always had this in the back of my head, but have personally never had an appreciable issue!

Great to hear that the bulkhead collar tightened back up! I usually go hand tight, then 1/4 turn with a tool… they love to leak! — keep an eye on that after reassembly! (There are multiple tricks that can be used to help them seal… consider snagging a small tube of plumber’s 100% silicone gasket lubricating grease if they have it at your store! — It works decently to help old bulkhead gaskets seal!)

Will do thanks!

 

[sethgmore]

Will do thanks!

Hallelujah gang we did it!! Drill bit into it dislodged it!

 

[UncommonSense]

Hallelujah gang we did it!! Drill bit into it dislodged it!

Poor lil’ guy! I suppose this is Darwinism in effect!

It’s awesome to hear that you resolved the issue!

Hopefully you’ve got your head wrapped around the plumbing repair too?

 

[sethgmore]

Poor lil’ guy! I suppose this is Darwinism in effect!

It’s awesome to hear that you resolved the issue!

Hopefully you’ve got your head wrapped around the plumbing repair too?

Ya wasn’t his fault just unlucky. Thank you for all the help! Might need help with the plumbing. Bulkhead is a little leaky very very small but tiny stream. I’ll add a pick of what the plumbing looks like cut and what you think I should do. I need to recut that bottom pipe because I cut it bad. I have slip slip couplers, 90 degree elbows, and plenty of 2” pipe

 

[UncommonSense]

Bulkhead is a little leaky very very small but tiny stream

I was afraid of this! The quick and dirty way to try to stop the leak is loosening the threaded bulkhead locking collar a turn or two, then retighten…

In the 50/50 shot that this doesn’t work; the next step would be to remove the bulkhead locking collar, and cut the 1.5” pipe… this lets you remove the bulkhead and standpipe from the overflow box… then, you can thoroughly clean the glass around the bulkhead hole, in addition to the bulkhead fitting/gasket themselves! — from there; a little silicone lubricant, and reinstall…

Gold standard fix would be replacing the bulkhead fitting completely… ideally with a gasket which has a ridge in its radius to provide more sealing pressure along the ridge(s)!

Example:

 

[sethgmore]

I was afraid of this! The quick and dirty way to try to stop the leak is loosening the threaded bulkhead locking collar a turn or two, then retighten…

In the 50/50 shot that this doesn’t work; the next step would be to remove the bulkhead locking collar, and cut the 1.5” pipe… this lets you remove the bulkhead and standpipe from the overflow box… then, you can thoroughly clean the glass around the bulkhead hole, in addition to the bulkhead fitting/gasket themselves! — from there; a little silicone lubricant, and reinstall…

Gold standard fix would be replacing the bulkhead fitting completely… ideally with a gasket which has a ridge in its radius to provide more sealing pressure along the ridge(s)!

Example:

Got it. I’ll try step one if it doesn’t work I’ll move to the next step of removing and cleaning.

 

[Hairyteeth]

Agree best practice is rip and replace but it’s worth a retightening try…..but most likely needs the water and crud cleaned out that probably slipped under the gasket when loosened

 

[Hairyteeth]

That being said I’ve also lived with a drip that landed in my sump

 

[UncommonSense]

I have slip slip couplers, 90 degree elbows, and plenty of 2” pipe

I think the only thing you might want to add to your parts list is two 2” slip/slip union!

This will turn the segment you need to replace into a drop in assembly; allowing you to do your gluing on both sides comfortably… I don’t know how much flex the badly cut pipe has for hard plumbing without unions, but I don’t think it’s wise to test it…

possibly a 2” slip union (in place of a coupler) where the pipe goes into the wall so it can be re-plumbed again later without cutting the pipe… then, a second 2” slip union (also in place of a coupler) on the vertical plumbing that’s cut? Then it’s just pipe and two elbows that can pop in and out!

 

[sethgmore]

Agree best practice is rip and replace but it’s worth a retightening try…..but most likely needs the water and crud cleaned out that probably slipped under the gasket when loosened

I took it out completely cleaned the overflow area, cleaned the gasket and retightened. I didn’t have any silicone or anything on me. When I tightened again I’m having a small drip

 

[sethgmore]

I think the only thing you might want to add to your parts list is two 2” slip/slip union!

This will turn the segment you need to replace into a drop in assembly; allowing you to do your gluing on both sides comfortably… I don’t know how much flex the badly cut pipe has for hard plumbing without unions, but I don’t think it’s wise to test it…

possibly a 2” slip union (in place of a coupler) where the pipe goes into the wall so it can be re-plumbed again later without cutting the pipe… then, a second 2” slip union (also in place of a coupler) on the vertical plumbing that’s cut? Then it’s just pipe and two elbows that can pop in and out!

I like that thank you! I actually did buy a 2” slip union so that’ll work great! What was the stuff you said to put between the gasket of the standpipe and the tank? I cleaned it all off and retightened the union to the tank but getting the tiniest of leaks.

 

[UncommonSense]

I like that thank you! I actually did buy a 2” slip union so that’ll work great! What was the stuff you said to put between the gasket of the standpipe and the tank? I cleaned it all off and retightened the union to the tank but getting the tiniest of leaks.

Well perfect! No second store run needed then!

Ah, that would be silicone o-ring lubricant/grease! As far as I’ve found, the stuff that plumbers use for rubber o-rings and gaskets which is labeled as 100% silicone is aquarium safe!

You might also consider just ordering a new bulkhead gasket sized for your bulkhead!

 

[Hairyteeth]

Of your gonna replace the gasket just replace the bulkhead, if it’s out it’s just as easy

 

[sethgmore]

Of your gonna replace the gasket just replace the bulkhead, if it’s out it’s just as easy

Sounds good

 

[sethgmore]

Well perfect! No second store run needed then!

Ah, that would be silicone o-ring lubricant/grease! As far as I’ve found, the stuff that plumbers use for rubber o-rings and gaskets which is labeled as 100% silicone is aquarium safe!

You might also consider just ordering a new bulkhead gasket sized for your bulkhead!

Sounds good thanks. Also thoughts on this for over the intake just as backup now. It won’t affect the way the durso runs right?

 

[Hairyteeth]

Nope their nice to have on drain pipes for sure

 

[sethgmore]

Nope their nice to have on drain pipes for sure

Ordering right now haha

 

[sethgmore]

Nope their nice to have on drain pipes for sure

Also a whole new bulkhead refers to what parts of it exactly?

 

[sethgmore]

Also a whole new bulkhead refers to what parts of it exactly?

And what part do I measure to order the right size

 

[UncommonSense]

And what part do I measure to order the right size

The bulkhead refers to the assembly of three parts as a fitting, which makes a watertight seal for plumbing to pass through the tank wall!

The parts are the bulkhead body (flange, external threads, internal slip coupler(s) and/or thread(s)), the rubber gasket, and the threaded locking collar (aka “nut”)!

The part which is most critical to measure is the diameter of the drilled hole in the glass… you want your replacement bulkhead’s external threads to be a close fit to the drilled glass hole in the tank (measurement C in diagram), but you never want the external threads to be larger in outside diameter than the hole… things simply won’t fit!



Your current bulkhead is sized for 1.5” pipe, and is sch.80… it appears to be NPT on the “nut” side (this is typically preferred for service/disassembly reasons)… I would assume the standpipe side is also NPT… You MIGHT find this locally at a irrigation supply, or plumber’s supply store… otherwise, it will need to be ordered online…

Schedule 80 bulkheads are the thickest (most durable) plastic bulkheads commonly available; this means that a Schedule 80 bulkhead which fits 1.5” pipe may require the same size tank hole as a thinner (weaker) ABS bulkhead, which fits 2” pipe! — this might be worth considering too, just to open your drain up to 2”… the thinner (and typically far more cheaply made) ABS bulkhead is the primary concern there…

Ideally, get bulkheads with gaskets which have at least two raised ridges in one face of the gasket (as shown in earlier example photo) some come with the nicer gasket; sometimes you just gotta source/order it separate!