Plumbing help - small leak

[harryk]

Hello all,

I recently connected all my plumbing on my 215 and i have a small leak on both of my return lines. First some back ground. MY retuns are 3/4 inch. I have 1" lines coming to my return bulkhead and it is being reduced at the bulkhead. The pipe inside the overflow is 3/4". Is the small leak being caused by the buildup in pressure because it is being reduced at the bulkhead?? Or should it be reduced coming of the pump. Also i have a 1 1/4" threaded adapter which make it a 1" fitting on the bulkhead fitting. I also used the nut that comes with the bulkhead. Should i only use the threaded fitting or use both?? With the threaded nut tightening the bulkhead it does not leave enough room to screw the fitting on. I'm sorry if this is confusing but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Harry

 

[Phyl]

We reduce at our bulkhead as well so that we carry the greater head to the tank and then drop down. I think we have our fitting screwed into, rather than on the outside of the bulkhead. All of our screw in connections are taped to prevent leaking. Hasn't been a problem. I would think that if you're trying to screw around the bulkhead rather than inside of it that might be the cause of your leaking?

 

[stcreef]

I gave up on internally threaded bulkheads a long time ago. Pipe thread needs to be tapered in order to seal proberly, bulkheads are not, internally or externally. You can try teflon based pipe dope, but i found it to be hit or miss. If you tighten to much, you risk cracking the bulkhead. I had one that cracked after a few years of being in service. So I only use slip these days and glue them. Pain in the butt if you need to change things in the future. But, it outways the risk of coming home to a flood. Just my 2 cents............

 

[harryk]

I am using teflon tape, I can't seem to determine if it's leaking where the bulkhead is tighened against the glass or at the adapter that is threaded on. Is there anything i can use to see where it is leaking??

Harry

 

[danthemanj]

Flashlight. Follow the salt trail. If its leaking, you should be able to see salt build up once you stop the water and let it dry a bit. The outer threads of bulkheads are straight threads and hence do not seal well. The inside threads on the other hand are designed to seal. You are better off either glueing into or threading into the bulkhead for the long run. I always use silicone when I'm installing my bulkheads and it has seemed to work so far. Make sure that when you do use silicone on a bulkhead, it doesn't get between the rubber gasket and the glass. Hold the bulkhead in place with the rubber gasket against the glass and then silicone the gap between the bulkhead and the glass. Once you screw on the nut, it will compress the silicone and once dry, will be leak free.

 

[DaveK]

It's been my experience that leaks from bulkhead fittings are usually from the threaded fittings connected to it. Since the bulkhead itself usually uses a wide, flat washer to form it's seal, it's usually good if you installed it correctly. Usually you want to make it hand tight plus about 1/8 to 1/4 turn.

Teflon tape works well on threaded fittings, but it is not necessary to use it on the threaded nut used with the bulk head fitting. You usually need about 3 turns of tape to make a good seal. Do not over tighten, hand tight plus about 1/4 to 1/2 turn.

Sometimes the threads on the bulkhead and the fitting never seem to work together quite right and it's difficult to get a good seal with Teflon tape. In that case, you can glue the bulkhead and fitting together, but then you can not take it apart. If I have this problem, and had to glue it, but still need to disconnect the pipe, I add a union at that location.

 

[DaveK]

F... The outer threads of bulkheads are straight threads and hence do not seal well. The inside threads on the other hand are designed to seal. You are better off either glueing into or threading into the bulkhead for the long run. ...

This is an excellent point.

In addition, you can use silicone in place of Teflon tape. Apply a thin layer to both sets of threads, and screw them together. You'll need to then wait 24 hours for the silicone to set.

The results almost always don't leak, and you can take them apart by using two pipe wrenches. Of course this breaks the silicon seal and you'll have to reseal them with new silicon and wait 24 hours again, so you don't do that often.

 

[AqOb]

I gave up on internally threaded bulkheads a long time ago. Pipe thread needs to be tapered in order to seal proberly, bulkheads are not, internally or externally. You can try teflon based pipe dope, but i found it to be hit or miss. If you tighten to much, you risk cracking the bulkhead. I had one that cracked after a few years of being in service. So I only use slip these days and glue them. Pain in the butt if you need to change things in the future. But, it outways the risk of coming home to a flood. Just my 2 cents............

+1

 

[harryk]

Thanks for all the input. I am using the bulkheads that came with the overflow kits. i am using the universal for the returns because the regular 3/4" bulkhead looked to small for the whole. Both holes in the bottom of the tank are the same and i was nervous about leaks because there would be a lot of space because the hole would be oversized for the 3/4" bulkhead. Maybe i was over analyzing. The consensus seems to be that screwing on fittings to bulkheads seem to leak. But i'm thinking that there weren't enough threads left for the reducing fitting to get a tight seal. there were maybe 1/4" to 1/2" max of thread showing after the bulkhead went into he hole and the washer added. I'm guessing regular bulkheads are longer. I had to cut the nipple part off of the bulkhead so i could use it. I hope this all makes sense.

Harry