Saltwater mixing station leaking !

[Kika]

Hey guys, I need some help.

So I am building a saltwater mixing station 1” pipes. Everything works as expected except that both tanks leaks through the bulkhead.

I am not sure if these are good bulkheads (got them on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0goh25Nf)… I drilled the tanks (55 g) with q 1 3/4 inch hole saw..

Also, gasket is securely installed on the inside of the tank. Not over tighten or anything.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[exnisstech]

Hopefully someone that knows for sure stops by buy I'm thinking regular bulkheads may not be designed to seal on a curved surface.

PS. Uniseal is what I was thinking of.

 

[Kika]

Hopefully someone that knows for sure stops by buy I'm thinking regular bulkheads may not be designed to seal on a curved surface.

Yea, that’s what I’m thinking too. Thank you ! If that’s the case then I’m wondering what kind of bulkhead should I use …

 

[13rodo]

You might try a Uniseal they work for me. They are cheap at BRS (or whereever).

Another thing that might work depending on where the leak is might be JB Weld WaterWeld. It’s also pretty cheap.

 

[redfishbluefish]

First off, I can not see your photo.

That said, gaskets need to go on the flange side of the bulkhead regardless of whether it's on the inside or outside the tank. To repeat, gasket on the FLANGE SIDE of the bulkhead.

 

[exnisstech]

Look up uniseal. I think that is the gasket needed for round barrels. I'm pretty sure you can swap out the gasket with the uniseal and not have to replace the bulkhead itself. Apologies if I'm misinformed, I'm pulling from my memory fragments

 

[redfishbluefish]

I was just able to open your picture......

The threads on the outside of the bulkhead are NOT for pipe fittings to be attached. They are for the nut only. All pipe connections to a bulkhead need to be made on the inside of the bulkhead....either slip or threaded, whatever type of bulkhead you purchased.

Because of the softness of the plastic drum, I think you can get away with conventional bulkheads and not need a Uniseal.

 

[Rob A]

Uniseal's are designed for applications like drums and barrels with curved surfaces. I have never had a leak using them. ProTip use a dead blow hammer to get the pipe through them.

 

[Kika]

I was just able to open your picture......

The threads on the outside of the bulkhead are NOT for pipe fittings to be attached. They are for the nut only. All pipe connections to a bulkhead need to be made on the inside of the bulkhead....either slip or threaded, whatever type of bulkhead you purchased.

Because of the softness of the plastic drum, I think you can get away with conventional bulkheads and not need a Uniseal.

So this means the bulkhead is backwards and they must be flipped ?

 

[Kika]

Thank you guys, I didn’t know the uniseal was supposed to be used for the bottom plumbing..

I do have couple of uniseal that I ordered (had to order a package on Amazon) 1 was used at the top part where the pipe goes into the salt container…

Question: I know the uniseal gets tight enough, but should I use any additional type of glue or something, or just plug and play?

 

[redfishbluefish]

So this means the bulkhead is backwards and they must be flipped ?

NO! It means you need to remove that threaded fitting on the outside of the bulkhead and look inside to see if it's threaded or slip (needing glue) and use the correct pipe to connect on the inside of the bulkhead.


EDIT TO ADD> When I say inside, I mean opposite the outside of the bulkhead....not inside and outside the tank. Bulkheads have two connection points on opposite ends of the bulkhead. They can be slip-slip, slip-thread, thread-thread or thread-slip. Find out what you have and connect accordingly. I hope I made myself clear.

 

[Kika]

So this means the bulkhead is backwards and they must be flipped ?

NO! It means you need to remove that threaded fitting on the outside of the bulkhead and look inside to see if it's threaded or slip (needing glue) and use the correct pipe to connect on the inside of the bulkhead.


EDIT TO ADD> When I say inside, I mean opposite the outside of the bulkhead....not inside and outside the tank. Bulkheads have two connection points on opposite ends of the bulkhead. They can be slip-slip, slip-thread, thread-thread or thread-slip. Find out what you have and connect accordingly. I hope I made myself clear.

I have thread x thread

 

[Rocks reef]

RFBF is correct.
However, where exactly is it leaking? You wrote "through the bulkhead". Are you saying its leaking where the PVC adapters are or where the bulkhead meets the tank?

 

[Kika]

RFBF is correct.
However, where exactly is it leaking? You wrote "through the bulkhead". Are you saying its leaking where the PVC adapters are or where the bulkhead meets the tank?

Where the bulkhead meets the tank

 

[UncommonSense]

Where the bulkhead meets the tank

So, bulkhead fittings are indeed capable of seating against curved tank surfaces, though there is a minimum tank diameter for each size of bulkhead…

As I recently discovered, Amazon bulkhead sellers in this day and age almost universally omit this info, along with even the most basic info like minimum tank hole diameter…. So, I’ll reference a know reliable brand’s product data sheet as a data point:

https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/...et_files/B/F/BFA_Series_DataSheet_EN_e405.pdf

As we can see, this chunky sch.80 bulkhead fitting can be used on a rigid tank with a minimum radius 11.75”, or 22.5” diameter… 21.4” diameter if the tank is thin enough to be considered flexible…



This said, you’re bordering too small of a tank at ~23” diameter for one of the above 1” sch.80 bulkheads, with its very thick gasket… so, you’ll need a best-case sealing scenario, and/or a thick gasket for your mystery bulkhead…

— Regarding a best-case scenario, did you thoroughly clean the bulkhead flange, gasket faces, and tank inside wall around the hole; deburring the tank hole and/or bulkhead flange as needed?

— are the bulkheads hand tight? Or did you use tools to tighten their nuts? (This particular install, with these particular bulkheads may require more clamping force than typical, to deform the gasket to the curved tank wall)

 

[Kika]

Update: the uniseal did the trick! Just did a leak test… thank you all for your help!!