Bulkhead frustrations suggestions please

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
LukeOscar said:
It Will work both ways. But the gasket on the wet side is more practical. You have water force aiding your seal instead of fighting it.

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I will agree with that, the gasket does also stand more of a chance of drying out also being mounted outside.

I mount them backwards for a few reasons.

They take up so much room outside the tank with the flange in the tank. If the tank is against a wall, by the time I get the elbows or plumbing installed the tank has to be like 8 inches away from the wall, possibly even farther if I want room to work back there in the future

I usually only buy slipxslip bulkheads since the threaded ones force you to use threaded fittings which have a smaller inner diameter than the regular slip ones. If I ever want to be able to service the plumbing the glued pvc needs to be on the outside with the flange/gasket, and the unglued pvc/strainer needs to be inside with the nut. To take it apart all I need to do is spin the nut off, take the strainer off and everything else is fine. I guess this really isn't a big deal if you're drilling a tank to your liking, but on a store bought reef ready tank I like to try to makr the most of the tiny 1" bulkheads



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mudbuttjones said:
I will agree with that, the gasket does also stand more of a chance of drying out also being mounted outside.

I mount them backwards for a few reasons.

They take up so much room outside the tank with the flange in the tank. If the tank is against a wall, by the time I get the elbows or plumbing installed the tank has to be like 8 inches away from the wall, possibly even farther if I want room to work back there in the future

I usually only buy slipxslip bulkheads since the threaded ones force you to use threaded fittings which have a smaller inner diameter than the regular slip ones. If I ever want to be able to service the plumbing the glued pvc needs to be on the outside with the flange/gasket, and the unglued pvc/strainer needs to be inside with the nut. To take it apart all I need to do is spin the nut off, take the strainer off and everything else is fine. I guess this really isn't a big deal if you're drilling a tank to your liking, but on a store bought reef ready tank I like to try to makr the most of the tiny 1" bulkheads



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I can see where that would be a problem.

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joe jaskot said:
Normally, you want the water pressure on the inside to aid the seal. That is why you install the gasket on the wet side.
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I agree with that in some applications, but in the top 3" or so of a tank or in the bottom of a small overflow chamber with a couple gallons of water I don't think we are dealing with astronomical forces.

If you drill the bottom of a 30" tall tank and have a 20 something inch tall stand pipe with no overflow chamber, then i 100% agree.

My biggest concern about my backwards bulkheads is the rubber drying out, not the forces involved.

I did buy some heavyduty HDPE schedule 80 bulkheads, they came with 2 gaskets. I wonder if this would work with standard bulkheads if I ordered extra gaskets? Then the gasket outside the tank would only really be holding back the tiny amount of water that would get between the external threads and the nut inside the tank

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I use silicone grease on both sides of gasket. Just a very thin bead. Hand tighten till you see the gasket just begin to squeeze out. Glass Holes always recommend this and I have never fought a leak doing it this way. Before I discovered the grease I sometimes had leaks.

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Mostly because its just not necessary. If you mess it up its a giant mess to clean up for your next reattempt if you can get it off without deforming it. And there is not curing time wait. With a gasket.. there is no prep.. you just try it again even if its all wet, which actually helps. I would also avoid the over tightening suggestions.. hand tight is supposed to work.

I would opt for a fat cork or rubber gasket, it should conform to any irregularities and seal.
 
spiff44 said:
Mostly because its just not necessary. If you mess it up its a giant mess to clean up for your next reattempt if you can get it off without deforming it. And there is not curing time wait. With a gasket.. there is no prep.. you just try it again even if its all wet, which actually helps. I would also avoid the over tightening suggestions.. hand tight is supposed to work.

I would opt for a fat cork or rubber gasket, it should conform to any irregularities and seal.
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100% agree

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I didn't read the whole post. ..but the holes could be cut for sch 80 bulkheads. So much thicker and more durable than sch 40. Just throwing it out there. I had the same issue.
 
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