Cracked glass due to overtightened bulkhead?

[Squadir]

I hope this is the right forum for this....

anyone ever cracked their glass when 'over'-tightening their bulkheads? what was the end result? did you repair it or change out the panel?

I ask because I was repairing a leak, took out the bulkhead and replaced it and apparently tightened it too much (this was by hand btw.....) and heard a distinctive 'plix' so I stopped...... couldn't be!!! Upon inspection noticed a hairline crack running from the bulkhead hole down about an inch and a half..... I was like **** no!!! water wasn't leaking from it and the crack could not be felt running a pin across it but looking at an angle you can see the defect in the glass. the majority of the 'crack' is inside of the overflow box area though. This sketch may help you understand the scenario a little better.

I siliconed a piece of 1/4" glass (glass panel in the sketch) across the area quite a bit wider than the area that was damaged and its still fine this morning. No signs of leakage or spreading up till this morning when I left home.

anyone have any advice? will this hold out or should I look into getting a new panel/tank?

 

[143MPCo]

Is that the bottom of the tank?
Assuming it's not as most glass on the bottom is tempered and would have shattered.
If it is and the manufactured made it tempered, you are living on borrowed time before you have a catastrophic failure (not trying to be over-dramatic).

Poor casting/molding of plastic bulkheads sometimes leave a high point that can over-stress the glass and cause this sort of issue, in any case the pressure on that panel from the water weight will be a constant factor and the overall integrity of the panel has now been compromised.

You can try and change it out but you have to REALLY clean the tank and glass of any old silicon adhesive before attempting to install the new one. If this was my tank letting it sit as is, with the reinforcement made to that area wouldn't give me peace of mind and I would opt to just replace the tank.

 

[Vpham]

That's no good...it ll spread out over time with weight of rocks sitting on that panel...that's y they r not recommended a body builder to install bulkhead.......jk

 

[Squadir]

oh my bad, that's actually the left side panel and the overflow box is at the top corner. like this.

 

[143MPCo]

oh my bad, that's actually the left side panel and the overflow box is at the top corner. like this.

is the crack on the overflow panels themselves, and not one of the tank panels?

EDITED:

Depending on how long that crack is you might be able to over-drill as Chameleon noted below and overlap a new panel into place.

 

[Greengny]

Sorry to hear. I've done it to a 45g cube. The crack was about 3 inches. I put tons of silicon on the crack and around the bulkhead. Aside from a very little bit of salt creep around the bulkhead, I never had any problem with the tank for 3+ years. Then Sandy came......

IMHO... I would leave it, unless you start to see the crack expand or begin to leak...

 

[Chameleon]

If I were you I would drill a hole at the end of the crack to prevent it from following the crack and getting longer with time. Then put a panel over completely over all 3 holes. Then you can use your original two holes as a guide to drill holes through the new panel. This seems like a lot of work but it would prevent any issues associated with the crack getting bigger over time. I am still wondering how you can install a bulkhead with the unlevel glass in the diagram because the new glass panel goes right up to the side of your original hole?

 

[Chameleon]

Ummm now that I see this is the side with an internal overflow and not the bottom you can probably get away with just drilling a hole at the end of the crack to prevent it from getting bigger and then using a new panel to cover the hole you drilled and overlap onto the overflow side a little bit. This way you dont cover your overflow holes with the new panel and the low pressure in an overflow box will prevent issues with the portion of the crack inside the overflow box.

 

[Squadir]

thanks for the responses guys

is the crack on the overflow panels themselves, and not one of the tank panels? ?

its actually the tank panel itself that has the crack..

Sorry to hear. I've done it to a 45g cube. The crack was about 3 inches. I put tons of silicon on the crack and around the bulkhead. Aside from a very little bit of salt creep around the bulkhead, I never had any problem with the tank for 3+ years. Then Sandy came......

IMHO... I would leave it, unless you start to see the crack expand or begin to leak...

I was actually thinking that. I'll monitor it for a while and see how it goes with the repair that I did. Its fairly high up so pressure on it is not as much as it would have been lower down.

If I were you I would drill a hole at the end of the crack to prevent it from following the crack and getting longer with time. Then put a panel over completely over all 3 holes. Then you can use your original two holes as a guide to drill holes through the new panel. This seems like a lot of work but it would prevent any issues associated with the crack getting bigger over time. I am still wondering how you can install a bulkhead with the unlevel glass in the diagram because the new glass panel goes right up to the side of your original hole?

sorry the sketches aren't to scale, was just a quick draw up to give an idea . The bulkhead sits within the frame of the overflow box then the panel is just under that

 

[FL_Reefer]

I wouldn't risk it, no matter where the crack is, it is still a weak point and will break eventually. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing there's a crack in my tank. Just my opinion though. How many gallons is the tank?

 

[Squadir]

is the crack on the overflow panels themselves, and not one of the tank panels?

EDITED:

Depending on how long that crack is you might be able to over-drill as Chameleon noted below and overlap a new panel into place.

Ummm now that I see this is the side with an internal overflow and not the bottom you can probably get away with just drilling a hole at the end of the crack to prevent it from getting bigger and then using a new panel to cover the hole you drilled and overlap onto the overflow side a little bit. This way you dont cover your overflow holes with the new panel and the low pressure in an overflow box will prevent issues with the portion of the crack inside the overflow box.

you guys mean to put a panel on the outside of the tank right? just a little concerned if it would be able to handle the water pressure and not pop off?

 

[Squadir]

I wouldn't risk it, no matter where the crack is, it is still a weak point and will break eventually. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing there's a crack in my tank. Just my opinion though. How many gallons is the tank?

yeah last night was a sleepless night wondering if I was going to hear a crash......
its a 75g

 

[4FordFamily]

Op, I know you don't want to hear this... But I wouldn't trust that tank as far as I can throw it.

Take it from someone who has flooded a brand new build 300k house in the first 2 months being cheap, and caused a house fire within three months as well with another tank.

I do NOT trust used glass.

The house fire was due to an old corner tank that I moved several times and bought used. Moved to new house, didn't leak at old house. Put it in loft. A few months or so went by and I noticed the carpet was wet in front of it one day. I figured I made a splash mess aquascaping or something. A week later I am watching TV in the great room and my fire alarms went off. I ran upstairs to an inferno underneath the tank.

I put out the fire and all the fish and coral survived but my house... I was lucky that I needed to clean and repaint walls and install all new trim but the carpet is ruined. The entire upstairs now needs all new carpet.

The fire occurred because the leak originated at the back of the corner tank and dropped down wires in to power strips. I had chemicals and boxes and what functioned as kindling at the bottom to get the fire going. I was so lucky I was home..

Learned an important lesson about wiring too!

I'll always buy all new glass. My other issue was with a 180 that did 25k of damage to main level and finished basement...

Same house.

Long story short new glass is a drop in the bucket to a destroyed house and dead livestock. A crack is a ticking time bomb.

 

[Squadir]

Is that the bottom of the tank?
Assuming it's not as most glass on the bottom is tempered and would have shattered.
If it is and the manufactured made it tempered, you are living on borrowed time before you have a catastrophic failure (not trying to be over-dramatic).

Poor casting/molding of plastic bulkheads sometimes leave a high point that can over-stress the glass and cause this sort of issue, in any case the pressure on that panel from the water weight will be a constant factor and the overall integrity of the panel has now been compromised.

You can try and change it out but you have to REALLY clean the tank and glass of any old silicon adhesive before attempting to install the new one. If this was my tank letting it sit as is, with the reinforcement made to that area wouldn't give me peace of mind and I would opt to just replace the tank.

The panel isn't tempered, the defective bulkhead could have been the issue here as the bulkhead was not nearly as tight as it should have been. I doubt that I will be changing out that panel... it sits between the front and back glass so to make a proper seal would be hard without removing either the front or back glass. I assume most of the silicone will scrape off in the process of putting it in otherwise...
the only other option which is the hardest for me will be breaking down and starting over...
may not be so bad after all though... I always wanted to do over my plumbing and overflow setup and go rimless

 

[143MPCo]

you guys mean to put a panel on the outside of the tank right? just a little concerned if it would be able to handle the water pressure and not pop off?

Keep in mind I stated "might" be able to do this, in the end it's your call as you'll have to deal with it. IMHO 75-gallons tanks are in the middle of the road price wise so if you don't decide to take the risk it's not a big expend to replace.

 

[Squadir]

ok.. so now I went from worried to paranoid... lol.
I guess in the longrun a new tank would be the better option.....

 

[4FordFamily]

ok.. so now I went from worried to paranoid... lol.
I guess in the longrun a new tank would be the better option.....

Yes, yes, and yes. Please don't cheap out and regret it immensely later as I have many times... Very expensive lesson!

 

[Squadir]

ok so on another note... if I were to make a new tank what will be a safe thickness glass to use on a rimless 80g? 48 x 20 x 20

 

[143MPCo]

One thing I personally do on my plastic bulkheads (nut side) is sand the flat side down with 800-grit sandpaper this might seem a bit extreme for most ppl but it gives me peace of mind. On the inside you have a rubber ring cushioning the plastic to glass contact but on the other side its glass to bulkhead nut, most of the time not a problem any weakness in the glass and the bulkhead will find them!

 

[runzwithscissors]

Mmmmmm.....new panel/tank, or 75 gals of water on the floor? If the crack spreads it could go in a downward direction instead of across, and if you're not home at the time there goes livestock as well.