DIY 1" bulkheads

[ctreefer]

Here's a stab at some 1" bulkheads made out of a combo of PVC plumbing fittings and PVC electrical conduit fittings. I've been wanting to set up my makeup water room and needed some bulkheads and thought I'd give it a try. I needed a nice flange to support the thin walls of the brute trash can that will be my saltwater and RO water containers otherwise I'd have just used the conduit fittings as if the hole is small enough it should work.

The cost of materials was $2.63. You could probably get away with only one 1 1/2 inch cap if you were doing this for a glass drilled tank which would save about 48 cents. I was hoping to be able to apply this to larger diameter PVC for larger bulkheads, however, there isn't enough thread on the fittings to make it happen.

Anyways, here goes.

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Mark hole to determine center for drilling.

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[ctreefer]

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I used a larger forstner bit to drill a recess. Leave about 1/8 inch of material. This maximizes the amount of thread that can be used.

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[ctreefer]

I used the table saw to cut off the top of the cap. This is my flange. You can also use a band saw or a hack saw. Just try and cut it as perpindicular to the bottom as possible.

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[ctreefer]

Sand the bottom of the sawed off cap till its smooth. I finished it off with some 400 grit wet sand paper.

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file off the ends of the little raised bumps so the fitting fits into the recessed hole of the flange.

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[ctreefer]

Dry fit the parts to ensure they're square.

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Then glue together with PVC cement and PVC primer.

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[ctreefer]

Anyone know where to get a hold of sheets of neoprene so that I can cut the gaskets? I tried Joann fabrics and Home Depot with no luck.

thanks

 

[latazyo]

I just use gasket making material from lowes, a 6x6 sheet was $1.94 or something like that

mine is 1.5" PVC

many people say stuff like "why risk it to save a few bucks" well in my case I didnt care about the money, I wanted to fit a 1.5" pipe through a hole the same size as a 1" bulkhead

so 1" PVC or 1.5" PVC...hmmmmm, I'll go with the 1.5"

 

[ctreefer]

Thanks, I just tried Lowes and couldn't find the gasket material you found. Anywhere else I might be able to find soft gasket material?

 

[WharfRat]

sheet rubber material can be gotten at Amazon Rubber and Hose

 

[WZHANG]

cool diy bulkeheads. can you use rubber o-rings instead of a flat sheet of rubber?

 

[saltysteven]

hey check home depot for those sheets of rubber gasket. they should be in plumbing around the sink stuff. they were discontinued at the store i went to and marked down to one pennt each so i bought them all 18 cents was my total!

 

[rivdog]

u can get the neoprene at a local kayak/outfitter store, or i have purchased it from kayakoutfitting.com

 

[RandyStacyE]

ctreefer that's SWEET!

I never had a problem with gluing PVC fittings together like that so I imagine that your bulkhead design will give you more durability than the average DIY bulkhead with an O-ring.

 

[ctreefer]

Thanks everyone for the tips for gasket material. I've got some choices now.

SaltySteven, how long ago did you pick up the gasket material at HD? I couldn't find anything even in that area.

won digity, sent you a PM. O rings are worth a shot but I'm hoping for some more surface area contact between the gasket and the bulkhead.

Randy, Thanks, it was a little bit of a pain to get the "glue" into the recess and do it quickly so it didn't dry out too quickly. Other than that it was easy.

 

[saltysteven]

picked it up in derby about a week and a half ago.
im seeing more and more ct reefers

 

[ctreefer]

That's good news. Maybe there's still some in the Orange store.

There are lots of ct reefers. Are you going to the meeting tomorrow in New London?

 

[Keelay]

I just used o-rings. 1 year not a leak. Of course the pvc threads are a snug fit through the hole I drilled. This would likely be difficult to cut so close with glass. But through this rubbermaid tub it was easy. These are 1/2" fittings

 

[saltysteven]

- Keelay
ive used those too and they do work very well. I just cant find the right size sometimes so i make my own, they both get the job done but the O rings save lots of time.

- ctreefer
Meeting in New London? I had no idea. whats this about? give me all the info and ill see if i can make it, id love to go! thanx

 

[ctreefer]

Sorry for the late response. I just got back from a mountain bike ride. Check this thread out. It appears you haven't checked out the CTARs forum yet (CT. Area Reefers Society).

There's a meeting in New London at 2pm today till 5pm. Frag trades some people talking about their trip to MACNA and some raffles.

Definitely worth joining the club. There are at least 200 members currently and lots of cool stuff every month at different locations throughout the state.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=186

 

[saltysteven]

ahh... very cool- ill be joining asap, thanks for showing me. i guess i just missed octobers meeting but hopefully i can attend the next one.