If you have the means to make your own tools that is the way to go, but you can buy them at any decent plumbing-supply house as well. They make a variety of aluminum wrenches for bulkhead/strainer nuts. There are also basin-wrenches available in any size that can reach up and turn nuts in close quarters.
plumbing aces needed.. bulkhead under tank. what adapts to standard pvc fittings?
- Thread starter WildCAught
- Start date
If you have the means to make your own tools that is the way to go, but you can buy them at any decent plumbing-supply house as well. They make a variety of aluminum wrenches for bulkhead/strainer nuts. There are also basin-wrenches available in any size that can reach up and turn nuts in close quarters.
Sometimes, well most of the time I'm a dork. I went to sears and got a frikking huge socket. Of course it was 3/4" drive and I only have 1/2" and smaller so I got an adapter too......... I don't want to say how much that costs.
Thanks for the info.
On a side note - let's try to keep this civil, please. It is hard to understand why a simple conversation on bulkheads can turn ugly...
I agree. I didn't mean to offend anyone. My comment that disappeared was meant as light hearted, but sorry I offended anyone.
This was my issue with suggesting clamping a hose on the bulkhead or showing the picture of the adapter screwed on the bulkhead. I thought these suggestions should've came with a disclaimer that it's not the proper way to do it and there's a higher risk of failure in doing it that way. If you were in business where you were using bulkheads you couldn't legally use them in either of those ways or wouldn't if you were a reputable business. Working on your own stuff though you can do things a little different. The OP was asking for advice, so if that bulkhead in the picture was a non standard bulkhead it shouldn't even have been posted at all, because it wouldn't be helpful to the subject, because he can't change bulkheads. Hopefully the OP got some helpful advice and gets something to work for him.
As Dan explained the different types of threads in plumbing there are specialty fittings that can adapter to almost any situation. You can have a non-std bulkhead ftg to accept std threaded PVC ftgs or a std bulkhead ftg with a specialty adapter. These specialty adapters incorporate a gasket or o-ring for sealing.
Here's a std bulkhead with a union style adapter. I can't find my other ftgs that takes it to slip but you get the idea. This type of union is common in pump designs because it can handle high pressures.
Here's a std bulkhead with a union style adapter. I can't find my other ftgs that takes it to slip but you get the idea. This type of union is common in pump designs because it can handle high pressures.
Here's some of the bulkheads on the market today. Just wanted to show the union adapter with o-ring. I would advise installing a short piece of thick wall pipe in the bulkhead to increase the land area for the o-ring. Care must be taken when torquing the adapter because it's in the direction to loosen the bulkhead from the nut. Because of troubles like this in the field, Canada developed the lefthand nut on the bulkhead (made of poly not PVC) so when you tighten the adapter it tightens the bulkhead to the nut (right most ftg in the pic).
Man I love those union adapter bulkheads. I love union adapters PERIOD, especially on big external pumps.
