Bulkhead leaking

[Areeflover]

hey guys so I just replaced a bulk head on my reef tank and I’ve been dealing with little drips.. well I fixed the leak in my ballvalve but now my bulk head is leaking and not where the plastic meets the glass. No, I can see water traveling down the threads.. any ideas?

 

[hwntunda]

Can you post pics? You say not coming down the threads of the bulkhead. From the pvc going into the bulkhead?

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

did the rubber gasket seat properly on the wet side? sometime there are debris on the wet side with gasket and can cause a leak.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

It all depends on how you mounted the PVC into the bulkhead. If you glued the two together, then you have one of two options to fix it. First option is to replace the bulkhead and fittings that are leaking. The other is get a heat gun, lower the tank waterline below the bulkhead. Use the heat gun to carefully heat up the PVC around the glue joint. If done correctly the PVC in the joint will melt and seal the leak. On the other-hand, ff you used a NPT threaded nipple and and screwed that into the bulkhead using teflon tape then you're in luck. Well provided you can unscrew the threaded nipple from the bulkhead that is. If this is how you set the pipe into the bulkhead, then get clear silicone (rated safe for aquariums) remove the pipe and clean out any teflon tape. Now take the silicone and put a bead on the threads at the tip, then use a gloved finger smooth the silicone out so it fills at least 5-7 threads. then screw the nipple back into the bulkhead. Here's the downside to this. You need to let it cure. If you have two return lines, then just cap the one side off that you're working on. Once the silicone has cured, remove the cap and reinstall your LocLine. If you only have the one return line, then you need to point the powerheads up to the surface in the tank and circulate it like that until the minimum time for it to cure to be water tight. ( Usually 30 min to an hour.

 

[lapin]

hey guys so I just replaced a bulk head on my reef tank and I’ve been dealing with little drips.. well I fixed the leak in my ballvalve but now my bulk head is leaking and not where the plastic meets the glass. No, I can see water traveling down the threads.. any ideas?

If the water is running down the threads of the bulkhead (I assume you mean under and past the nut) you must have a leak between the tank and the gasket or gasket and flange of the bulkhead, or you have a cracked bulkhead. Once water enters the bulkhead it can only come out the end.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

If the water is running down the threads of the bulkhead (I assume you mean under and past the nut) you must have a leak between the tank and the gasket or gasket and flange of the bulkhead, or you have a cracked bulkhead. Once water enters the bulkhead it can only come out the end.

Agreed. If you're using those black plastic bulkheads commonly found at most LFS and online, most of them are actually ABS plastic instead of PVC. ABS plastic is very brittle compared to PVC, and you can easily crack it when you tighten down the bulkhead nut. Pay the little extra and get PVC bulkheads commonly used in pool plumbing as these can last for decades and not require any repairs.