Help with bulkhead troubles

[ledford1]

I've been filling my 180 for a week now. The main problem seems to be with one of my bulkheads... it just won't seal. The other three have performed just fine. Everytime I fill the overflow chamber, the one bulkhead always leaks. When first installing them, I followed the advice of using some vegetable oil on the rubber o-ring to help form the seal. I'm not sure what is different about this one bulkhead, why it leaks but the others don't. :mad2:

Any advice on getting these to seal?

Thanks in advance.

Back to fighting the water...

[prsguy]

If you have it all setup the same as the others and it still leaks, you could

1. Replace it
2. Seal it with silicone

[fishox]

silicone is your friend

[Misfit6669]

I will 3rd the use of silicone. I did it on all of mine,why take a chance. If you need to break down your tank in the future, it's always wise to just replace them.
Silicone is also my friend.
Brian

[ledford1]

Thanks, I was just to ask about silicone. I ran to Lowe's after starting this thread looking to see, on the off chance, if they had any replacement o-rings for my bulkheads. They pointed me in the direction of silicone. Evidentally, one type, if not all silicone brands, can be taken off with some applied heat (I don't pretend to know anything about plumbing or silicone).

If you use silicone, do you still us the rubber ring under the flange? Or do you have it setup as you would normally, but add the silicone?

[ledford1]

Also, is the silicone with mold inhibitor an issue?

[Neurosis]

You shouldn't use the silicone w/ the mold inhibitor. Having said that I accidentally used that on my sump and didn't necessarily noticed any ill effects.

[Misfit6669]

not sure about the mold inhibitor, I think I would be a little scared of it just cause I'm not sure of what's in it. I would use the ring and add some silicone above and below it. Make sure the glass is really clean.
Brian

[prsguy]

Originally posted by Misfit6669
not sure about the mold inhibitor, I think I would be a little scared of it just cause I'm not sure of what's in it. I would use the ring and add some silicone above and below it. Make sure the glass is really clean.
Brian


It contains arsenic.

I used it in small doses with no problems at all however.

[drjrose]

Originally posted by ledford1
If you use silicone, do you still us the rubber ring under the flange?

Use silicone on the top and bottom of the rubber ring.

[Naturlis]

I hate when those bast**ds leak... I 4th the silicone on top and bottom.

[Drix]

Just out of curiosity- You have the O ring on the inside of the tank on the leaky side, right? I had this problem and it was cuz I was an idiot putting in my O rings.

[ledford1]

Yeah, the o-ring is on the wet side. I posted a thread about a month ago when I was putting them together, because I had no idea otherwise.

By any chance, would anyone be able to recommend a brand of good, silicone (without the mold inhibitor)?

I couldn't find anything at Wal-Mart tonight, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to head to Lowe's or Home Depot. There is a Pet Warehouse and a PetSmart here local, but I'm not sure if they would have anything. The lfs isn't that great either and is closed until Tuesday anyway.

[Ruu]

Go to Petsmart - they definitely have both small and large tubes of aquarium sealant that will do the job perfectly.

Dave

[manderx]

for small jobs, just get the 'aquarium silicone'. it costs more per ounce than the gun-tubes, but those will probably dry up before you need it again anyway. lowes/home depot has it with the glues.

[davidfrances]

Before you gum everything up with the silicone, is the leaking bulkhead on your delivery line or the return line? The reason I asked it I had the same problem on the return bulkhead fitting my 120. I glued the return pipe assembly onto the bulkhead, cut everthing exactly (or so I thought) to size, and assembled the bulkhead. Problem was, the bulkhead wasn't seating properly against the glass (becasue my return pipe was too short), and started to leak. I fixed it by installing and adjustable length PVC assembly (found at Lowes), installed the bulkhead and lowered the pipe to the correct length. If it's on your delivery line, no idea.

[Misfit6669]

I know Home Depot will carry the Aquarium silicone, I think it's in a blue tube.
Good luck.
Brian

[reef_collector]

i'm having the same problem.... the 1" bulkhead heading thru the tank to the sump has a slow leak, (i just filled my 75g), i used DAP aquarium silicone (made by DOW corning ), i put a bead aroud the inside of the tank (bulkhead cannont be removed now w/o cutting and replacing of checkvalve AND pvc leading up to nozzles), i waited 48 hrs and still a pinhole leak....in the same spot, at that.... so i just dried and put another bead over the leaky area....hopefully that will work, will try tomorrow (think it only needs 24 hrs).
-wish me luck

[tonym10]

O rings do not always go on the wet side. Depends which way you have bulkhead installed. The O ring must go on the nipple side of the bulkhead not the nut side, whether the nipple is on the wet or dry side, took me a while to figure that one out .
The bulkheads used on tanks are pretty cheap plastic compared to other types of bulkheads. I had one crack once just from hand tightening it on my 75g, it cracked at the seam , if you look close at these bulkheads they have a seem down the center where two haves join. I did not know it cracked when I installed it, but I couldn't figure out the leak, so I removed it to replace it and that's when I found the leak. Bulkheads should only need a small amount of liquid silicone to help when screwing them down, they should not need silicone to stop them from leaking.

[reef_collector]

to be fair , my tank was a slightly used tank. it had been set up for about 6 months, and when taking it apart they appeared to be in good shape. i rinsed and cleaned them and then installed them wet (i hear it creats a better seal), the problem is that if it needs to be removed , so does the plumbing that's glued to it.
and my salt water and rock are just sitting :(
hopefully it'll dry on try #2 and it'll hold

[Psyire]

Also, check to make sure your bulkhead is 'molded' properly. I've had one of mine molded so that the top wasn't exactly flat which causes problems.