Leaking aqua UV sterilizer.. Need help!

[xaznkewlguyx]

Did a test run and found out my UV leaks from both sides... Does anyone have any idea what I can do to stop it? It does not look fix-able other than sealing the outside.

I was thinking about using aquarium silicone or weld-on to seal the outside but I am not sure if they stick to PVC. Anyone know if it will work?

Or any other ideas how to seal this thing would be appreciated..

 

[TheBlackPearl]

did u try pluming glue it stopped mine from leaking

 

[xaznkewlguyx]

did u try pluming glue it stopped mine from leaking

I have not tried it yet. I don't want to go putting a bunch of glue's on it just yet unless I know for sure it will hold and seal..

But from the looks of it, the old owner tried that and it did not look like it worked since there is alot of dry/hard water spots where the leak occurs.

 

[vamptrev]

its not looking too good...

u must have used the wrong size fittings...

 

[xaznkewlguyx]

its not looking too good...

u must have used the wrong size fittings...

I did not do it.. I got it like that. But whoever did it left no room for me to fix it.

Supposedly it was working fine with him but again I do not believe it since there are lots of dry hard water spots coincidentally running along exactly where the leaking is occurring.

 

[Toby_H]

Silicone will not adhere to PVC well enough to ensure a water tight seal...

PVC Cement is the product mean exactly for this type of application though...

I'm assuming the fittings are already glued as if they weren't you could simply disassemble it and glue it when you rebuilt it...

I would remove it from the tank, dry it up real well and apply PVC Cement in bulk to the pipe/fitting seam. The way PVC Cement works is it dissolves the face of the PVC causing two faces to bond together as one continuous piece. As long as the leak isn't under pressure (water shooting out as opposed to slow drips) you have a decent chance at sealing it this way...

 

[xaznkewlguyx]

Silicone will not adhere to PVC well enough to ensure a water tight seal...

PVC Cement is the product mean exactly for this type of application though...

I'm assuming the fittings are already glued as if they weren't you could simply disassemble it and glue it when you rebuilt it...

I would remove it from the tank, dry it up real well and apply PVC Cement in bulk to the pipe/fitting seam. The way PVC Cement works is it dissolves the face of the PVC causing two faces to bond together as one continuous piece. As long as the leak isn't under pressure (water shooting out as opposed to slow drips) you have a decent chance at sealing it this way...

I hope this works.. Sanding off the previous PVC glue right now. Gonna give it another test run tomorrow.

If it fails.. time to sand it off again and then back to square one.

 

[Toby_H]

I've never tried this, so I'm simply theorizing with you at this point...

I suspect PVC cement would react to rubber very similar to the way it does PVC. If this is correct, find a piece of (about) 2" wide rubber (thickness isn't critical)... put PVC Cement around the leaking seam and extending the PVC cement coating 1" above and 1" below the leaky seam, then wrap the rubber over the leaky seam.

 

[kendragon]

Just go to home depot and buy a rubber coupling. It cames with two hose clamps. Looks like you have a union that would allow you disconnect and slip the coupling right over the leaking section. The hose clamp will hold the pressure.

 

[Scorponok]

Try using a thread sealant tape......

http://www.tfcoinc.com/PTFEThreadSealantTape.html