Bulkhead leak

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knobhill

knobhill

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
May 2, 2007
1,592
608
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IN A PLACE
So my 2" bulkhead started a very slow leak last night. It is on the bottom panel of a 480g tank. Tank is full and it is going to be really difficult to redo plumbing on the inside. I was thinking about using a syringe to inject some silicone grease from under the tank. OR I could use silicone sealant but I am not crazy about the idea since it might contaminate the tank. Any thoughts or creative ideas?
 
A syringe full of silicone sounds pretty creative to me. I was wondering though, how much of a leak are we talking about? Is it a steady leak, or is it more like a drip of water ever few seconds? It is possible that the bulkhead has simply come loose slightly and just needs be re-tightened?
 
I would say there is a drip every minute or so. I caught it last night and put a bucket under it. There was probably 2 or 3 shot glasses worth of water. the same thing happened during the intial setup but i was able to reapply silicone grease before. It is very tight, maybe too tight that it is disturbing the the gasket? i really don't want to replace the gasket, that will be a large, daunting task!
 
knobhill said:
I would say there is a drip every minute or so. I caught it last night and put a bucket under it. There was probably 2 or 3 shot glasses worth of water. the same thing happened during the intial setup but i was able to reapply silicone grease before. It is very tight, maybe too tight that it is disturbing the the gasket? i really don't want to replace the gasket, that will be a large, daunting task!
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I would just leave it. Just empty the bucket every week or so.....

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1 drip a minute isn't bad. I only asked because when I first set mine up, I had meticulously prepped everything: all threads covered counter-clockwise with teflon tape; everything tightened with a wrench (I used mostly schedule 80 stuff for no reason); ect ect. I powered on the pump and I still noticed the very tiny leaks around the drain lines. I was really upset for 2 days, until I finally get under there with a wrench again, and wouldn't you know it, I got another 1/8-1/4 of a turn and the leaks stopped.

If that's not the case with you, then I think that a small amount of silicone and a heat gun or hairdryer would solve your problem. Are you planning on injecting it beneath the fitting thats under the tank? Wouldn't putting a light ring of silicone around the perimeter of the fitting work as well?
 
haha. What's up Zonies!

I had success doing this on the bulkhead that was leaking from my sump...I used silicone grease, not sealant.

I will give it another turn, if that doesn't work, i'm getting out the syringe set.

I don't know if putting silicone around the fitting will work as it is dripping out between the inside thread of the bulkhead nut and the outside thread of the fitting going into the bulkhead.
 
I don't think silicon is going to work. Bulkheads are made of poly or pvc and the silicon should be squashed under the large nut

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Did you try to tighten it a little to see if it stops

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I would tighten it a bit first. Silicone will not adhere in a wet situation. Sometimes, slow drips will actually cure themselves due to all the minerals and contaminants in the water. I've had multiple bulkheads stop leaking for this reason.
 
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