Bulkhead leak (1 Viewer)

[ChrisB]

I'm looking for a good solution to a slight leak I have in my refugium. I have 3/4" threaded bulkheads installed in the fuge. One for the return pump and 1 for my protein skimmer. The threaded adapters I screwed into the bulkheads did not tighten enough even with teflon tape. They bottomed out and never got really snug. I thought the teflon tape would give a good seal but I was wrong. I need a better solution but don't have alot of room to work with to the the left of those pumps. Or I need some way to get those adapters to seal tightly. Here's a pic of the setup.

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[ChrisB]

Ouch sorry about the size thought I had reduced it down before uploading it.

 

[Guest]

You can try putting a rubber O-ring on the male fitting, but you would have to pull it apart. Don't know if thats what you want to do but it would solve your problem.

 

[NewbieReefer24]

if you can, i would take out the bulkhead and make sure it isnt cracked. I had one of the threaded, 7 dollar one from premium aquatics. I installed the loc-line as far as it could go with the teflon. Walked away and heard a pop, checked the bulkhead and it split right on the mold line. That might be why you had a leak. I went through 2 before I decided to go with regular slip.

 

[ChrisB]

I figure I'm going to have to pull it out anyway to fix it so I'll just pump most of the water into a container and check the bulkhead for cracks and also install an O ring and see if it stops the leak. If that doesn't work I'll just have to replace it with non threaded types. Luckily my fuge only runs about 7 inches of water in it.

 

[Trey]

I had the same problem on my new tank. I broke one bulkhead fitting before I changed my ways. The second time I did not use any teflon but instead I used aquarium silicone as a thread sealant. No leaks!!

The o-ring has a good chance of working as well if you can find the right size.

Later,
Trey

 

[ChrisB]

Well after alot of thought I decided to just spin the bulkheads around and connect them with PVC. I did use the silicone instead of the teflon tape on all the threads. Just waiting now until the silicone cures to fire it back up. Trey, I went ahead and built the new Durso Standpipe out of 1 1/4" PVC, can't wait to see the new one at work.

 

[ChrisB]

Oosp meant to include the new pic.

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