Averhoeven
Active Member
I've been setting up my Reefer 750 and the plumbing has been the end of me. The rest of it all has been ready to go for a while. Initially my overflow pipes cracked (return pipe and main overflow) where they screwed into the union like couplers through the bulkheads. Red sea sent me replacements and I got them Monday.
I replaced them Monday night and still had a significant leak. I called red sea and posted on R2R. A poster and the Red Sea rep both gave me the same answer within minutes of each other. These connections are sealed by O-rings, so my thread sealant (Rectorseal 5) was working against means likely preventing a full seal at the O-rings. Great, I had an answer!
Last night, I spent 2 hours removing every drop of rectorseal I could using the tip of a bamboo skewer on both the pipe and the sealing ring. I got almost all of it off, though there's still kind of a "film" in some parts, but it's really minimal. However there's still a very minimal leak. A drop or 2 every 5-10 minutes. Not much, but it shouldn't be there. My only other though is that my piping isn't lined up to the millimeter like the Red Sea original pulling that I spliced it on to was. If I put a little tension on it, sometimes it makes the leak slightly worse or apparently seals it up better (but I can't get it to hold that very specific position). We're talking itty, bitty changes here.
Soooo, given how little it is, should I just be done with this and seal the unions up with silicone? I have plenty of other union disconnects over the course of the pipes, so not being able to disconnect easily at the bulkhead won't be a huge issue for me. The silicone would also be removable if I really have to get in there.
If so, is there a good, widely available aquarium safe silicone I can pick up at Lowes? There's not really an LFS here. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. I'm so tired of these stupid pipes.
I replaced them Monday night and still had a significant leak. I called red sea and posted on R2R. A poster and the Red Sea rep both gave me the same answer within minutes of each other. These connections are sealed by O-rings, so my thread sealant (Rectorseal 5) was working against means likely preventing a full seal at the O-rings. Great, I had an answer!
Last night, I spent 2 hours removing every drop of rectorseal I could using the tip of a bamboo skewer on both the pipe and the sealing ring. I got almost all of it off, though there's still kind of a "film" in some parts, but it's really minimal. However there's still a very minimal leak. A drop or 2 every 5-10 minutes. Not much, but it shouldn't be there. My only other though is that my piping isn't lined up to the millimeter like the Red Sea original pulling that I spliced it on to was. If I put a little tension on it, sometimes it makes the leak slightly worse or apparently seals it up better (but I can't get it to hold that very specific position). We're talking itty, bitty changes here.
Soooo, given how little it is, should I just be done with this and seal the unions up with silicone? I have plenty of other union disconnects over the course of the pipes, so not being able to disconnect easily at the bulkhead won't be a huge issue for me. The silicone would also be removable if I really have to get in there.
If so, is there a good, widely available aquarium safe silicone I can pick up at Lowes? There's not really an LFS here. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. I'm so tired of these stupid pipes.
