Plumbing help

[Joeype]

Any suggestions on how to get these guys to stop seeping...please......I cannot get these any tighter on my new setup. Im at the point of defeat with them and im about to take it down and sell everything. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.....either way thank you!!

 

[Dom]

It would be helpful to know where, exactly it is leaking from. Looking at the pics, I can't tell.

 

[Joeype]

I apologize..... the bottom connector on the purple valve.

 

[Joeype]

It would be helpful to know where, exactly it is leaking from. Looking at the pics, I can't tell.

The bottom part

 

[mmorrison55]

Are you certain the o-ring is intact, or it’s not cross threaded ?

Unless it’s leaking from the place where the pvc pipe is glued to the valve, it should only leak if the o-ring is missing or has been compromised in some way.

 

[Joeype]

Everything should be good, crossthreaded no. Is Teflon an option on these?

 

[Jamie814]

Teflon an option on these?

Teflon thread tape on the threads is not where the seal is made on those check valves.

Did you try some oring lube on the rubber o rings and make sure they are seated properly?

 

[UncommonSense]

This particular component is a check valve (AKA: one-way valve)!

Check valves are notoriously unreliable in the reefing hobby, given that it only takes one chunk of organic matter/life on the valve seal to make the check valve non-functional!

If I was in your place; I’d cut that check valve out, replace it with a length of pipe, and drill a 1/8”-1/4” hole right around the water line on the in-tank return plumbing! (serving as your power outage siphon break, instead of that unreliable check valve!)

 

[Joeype]

Teflon thread tape on the threads is not where the seal is made on those check valves.

Did you try some oring lube on the rubber o rings and make sure they are seated properly?

I did not try o ring lube. It seeps up every so slightly. I cannot go any tighter. Im going to shut the valve below and drain one side and take it apart. I dont know what else to do. Thank you for the reply!

 

[Ernie Mccracken]

Something I've noticed over the past few years is that even though the price of everything has doubled, these parts that come with washers use the cheapest, worst, thinnest, stiffest o-rings possible. And a bunch of them leak, right out of the box. Even bulkheads.

I throw them in the trash now and replace with a decent quality o-ring or rubber washer now. Even garden hose fittings. I guess that's just how the world works now. /old man rant

 

[Jamie814]

Check valves are notoriously unreliable in the reefing hobby, given that it only takes one chunk of organic matter/life on the valve seal to make the check valve non-functional!

I do agree that they will not seal 100% in a reef environment but they still will stop a surge backwash during a power outage. Your sump still needs to be designed to handle the full back siphon potential that could happen over an extended outage.

Also if you run 2 return pumps you really should use check valves on each pump to prevent water from bypassing your filtration and just circulating mainly within your return pump chamber should 1 pump fail or be turned off and the other continue to run.

 

[Jamie814]

I did not try o ring lube. It seeps up every so slightly. I cannot go any tighter. Im going to shut the valve below and drain one side and take it apart. I dont know what else to do. Thank you for the reply!

Take the o-rings completely out of the check valve and rub a good even coat of silicon O-ring lube on them and reseat them. They should seal then.

 

[Joeype]

I do agree that they will not seal 100% in a reef environment but they still will stop a surge backwash during a power outage. Your sump still needs to be designed to handle the full back siphon potential that could happen over an extended outage.

Also if you run 2 return pumps you really should use check valves on each pump to prevent water from bypassing your filtration and just circulating mainly within your return pump chamber should 1 pump fail or be turned off and the other continue to run.

The Teflon worked! Yes, i agree on the check valve because of what you said. I do have two sicce pumps running, one on each valve. Being a 400g im already nervous enough! Lol

 

[Joeype]

Take the o-rings completely out of the check valve and rub a good even coat of silicon O-ring lube on them and reseat them. They should seal then.

Thank you, I will one the other valve. The Teflon worked perfectly. It was the tiniest of leaks but still leaking.

 

[UncommonSense]

Your sump still needs to be designed to handle the full back siphon potential that could happen over an extended outage.

This is why mechanical siphon breaks are employed, such as the drilled plumbing I described above! Break the siphon as soon as it starts, and all that! (This means you only need sump volume for the drains trickling down the display to the bottom of your weir teeth)

Also if you run 2 return pumps you really should use check valves on each pump to prevent water from bypassing your filtration and just circulating mainly within your return pump chamber should 1 pump fail or be turned off and the other continue to run.

This only applies to return pumps in parallel on a single return plumbing line! if each return pump has an independently plumbed return line, no check valves are necessary!

In the event that parallel pumps without outlet check valves on a single return plumbing line have a single pump failure, 100% of the water will be pumped out of one pump by the other pump!

 

[Joeype]

Its a very nice and modern setup. Each pump does have a separate line. They both have check valves.....need as much safety as possible. I tested every possible scenario in the event of a power loss or 1 pump failure.......all good!!

 

[Jamie814]

This only applies to return pumps in parallel on a single return plumbing line! if each return pump has an independently plumbed return line, no check valves are necessary!

I disagree with this. Even if they are independent the water will still flow back down the other return line acting as a drain right back into the return chamber and just get pumped back up the other return line reducing the amount that goes through the sump filtration.

 

[Dom]

The bottom part

The bottom part, where? Is it leaking from the threads? Is it leaking where the pipe goes in to the coupler?

If it is coming from the thread, you could coat the threads with a touch of petroleum jelly or some other lube.

 

[Jamie814]

The Teflon worked perfectly. It was the tiniest of leaks but still leaking.

You put teflon tape on the threads? Is it still leak free this morning? I would think doing this would just cause it to leak around the top of the nut then instead of the through the threads?

The designed seal is made with the oring compressed between the two halves. If water gets past that it can leak out through the threads or the top of the nut as there is no seal there.

 

[commod0re]

I cannot get these any tighter on my new setup.

This makes me think there’s a chance that it’s over-tightened and leaking because the o-ring is crushed. O-ring seals need to be tightened a certain amount, too tight and little gaps get introduced