Bulkhead - What am i doing wrong?

[ca1ore]

Yep, flange on the inside and nut on the outside. No ribs on the flange, either. Photo attached.

Hmmn, looks correct. 2” hole is right for a 11/4” schedule 40 bulkhead. Whatever you do don’t be sanding the acrylic tank surface; that’ll just make things worse. Is the white pvc threaded in? Make sure you didn’t crack the bulkhead. Clean the gasket and finger tighten plus 1/8 of a turn.

 

[Kent67]

Yep. Tried all of the above except sanding/razor blading it before asking. Threaded piece barely fits through the hole. The leak is a running drip or worse. It's been finger-tight to tightened with a wrench multiple times. -shrug-

 

[redfishbluefish]

@ca1ore , good point about the white pvc fitting....potentially cracking the brittle bulkhead.....made me go back and look at the picture, and looks like that fitting is almost "driven home." ( i.e. overtightened). This fitting should have had a little pipe thread compound (pipe dope) applied, and then snugged in.

I'd pull that apart and examine very closely to make sure the bulkhead isn't cracked.

 

[Kent67]

The white pvc is threaded into the bulkhead with thread sealant and loosely hand-tightened. Definitely not enough to crack the bulkhead (again).

 

[DanConnor]

Is the leak from around the bulkhead or between the white pvc and bulkhead?

I seem to recall in the past not getting a good seal between the black and white threaded fittings.

 

[lapin]

You know the right size bulkhead, it matched the old one, and your bulkhead is not cracked and the gasket is on the right side and not over tightened or damaged that will about cover it.
If its just small drop or 2 leaking under pressure you can try some silicone sealant. Reef safe stuff. While this is not ideal, I have done this in the past on used acrylic tanks. Put some on both sides of the gasket. Tighten and wipe off excess.

 

[Kent67]

You know the right size bulkhead, it matched the old one

Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention that part of the saga. When I purchased the tank they neglected to give me the full drain. It terminated at one side of a union, just below the bulkhead. I bought three different unions, trying to find a match, but they were either too small or the threads didn't match. Finally cut it off and am starting over. NONE of my local stores carry 1.25" bulkheads anymore so I had to order these on Ebay.

 

[Kent67]

I plan to add another union just below the bulkhead if/when I figure this out. I won't need to ever remove the bulkhead again.

Can I seal the bulkhead, gasket, flange, and nut with something permanent? (more permanent than silicone)

 

[Kent67]

Is the leak from around the bulkhead or between the white pvc and bulkhead?

I seem to recall in the past not getting a good seal between the black and white threaded fittings.

It's leaking from the top outside of the nut and from between the threads of the nut and the bulkhead body.

 

[motortrendz]

It's leaking from the top outside of the nut and from between the threads of the nut and the bulkhead body.

Then maybe like mentioned earlier the white pvc may be threaded in too tight causing the bulkhead to spread or mayne even have a hairline split. Me personally I like the slip slip bulkheads and then I glue the outside pipe in. And the inside one I just slip into place.

 

[Kent67]

Pulled the white pvc from the bulkhead and both look fine, no damage.

 

[DanConnor]

I plan to add another union just below the bulkhead if/when I figure this out. I won't need to ever remove the bulkhead again.

Can I seal the bulkhead, gasket, flange, and nut with something permanent? (more permanent than silicone)

Once you get it correct it will be permanent. No silicone should be involved anywhere.

 

[clm65]

Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention that part of the saga. When I purchased the tank they neglected to give me the full drain. It terminated at one side of a union, just below the bulkhead. I bought three different unions, trying to find a match, but they were either too small or the threads didn't match. Finally cut it off and am starting over. NONE of my local stores carry 1.25" bulkheads anymore so I had to order these on Ebay.

Not sure this is the case, but a lot of stuff on eBay is lacking in quality. Maybe the sealing surface is not completely smooth and flat.

 

[clm65]

Is the leak from around the bulkhead or between the white pvc and bulkhead?

I seem to recall in the past not getting a good seal between the black and white threaded fittings.

Any water leaking past that joint would end up inside the bulkhead fitting, not outside.

 

[Shirak]

Pulled the white pvc from the bulkhead and both look fine, no damage.

While inspecting for a split, did you try threading the white pvc into the bulkhead out of the tank to check for a crack? A tiny hairline split may not be visible until there is outward pressure from the inside threaded pipe.

 

[ca1ore]

You absolutely can use silicone sealant on a bulkhead as long as you put it on both sides of the gasket and give the sealant at least 48 hour to properly cure. I have done it on multiple occasions when access to the bulkhead once the tank is running is inconvenient. It's certainly not permanent, but it shouldn't be necessary for a bulkhead at the bottom of an overflow.