Closed Loop return through a bulkhead?

Here is what I did years ago when I had a bulkhead fail on the back side. It would work with one on the bottom as well, but you would have to clear the sand out of the way. I took a glass from the kitchen, put a bead of weatherstripping around the top, and covered the bulkhead. This allowed me to cut the pvc, and unscrew the bulkhead. I then had another one set up the same, and with an extra set of hands, it was placed covering the outside of the bulkhead. I could then remove the bulkhead from the inside of the tank, install the new one, and reverse the process. I lost a little bit of water, but not more than a half gallon or so. This took about a half hour to do, but it beat the heck out of draining the tank.
 
Use a good Sch80 bulkhead, IME this will help alleviate many fears of bulkhead gaskets leaking.
Might want to get the bulkheads prior to drillng holes though as different brands cn require different sized holes.

HTH,
James
 
Back
Top