drilling a 10g bulkhead (pic)

[Bri Guy]

Any advice on drilling a 10g and putting a bulkhead on.

At first we drilled the tank and a piece of 6 x 6 glass (thicker than the 10g glass) then I siliconed the 2 together, after It dryed and I screwed on the bulkhead.....

There are actually 4 cracks coming from the hole.

Any suggestions on how to do it right, or how you have it done?

Do I even need that extra piece of glass, or can a bulkhead go through the thin glass of a 10g.
Or should I tighten the bulkhead before I silicone it?
Any help would be awsome so I don't have to go through this again!

 

[Lcattin]

I have only drilled a 65 gallon which had 5/16" glass. That was my first experience. I started with masking tape on the side I drilled from to try to keep the drill from walking on the glass. Duct tape on the inside to keep the plug from falling. I used a very light hand on the battery drill and my neighbor kept a flow of water from a garden hose going on the drill to keep it cool. I didn't have any problem at all.

I didn't use anything to seal my bulkheads. They sealed just fine with the rubber gasket. I made sure by test running with city water on the patio after I had it all done.

 

[oldsaltman]

I drilled a nice hole in a walmart 10g and put my bulkhead in and got her all plumbed up and running. First time I touched the pluming the thing cracked. IMO the glass is just to thin for drilling. I made a plastic slump.:smokin:

 

[Bri Guy]

The drill hole went fine, its putting the bulkhead on and it being secure is the problem.

Is a support piece of glass needed, or is a bulkhead through the thin glass OK?

 

[69vette]

There was a gap between the 2 pieces of glass because of the dried silicon. That's why it broke. Tighten the bulkhead BEFORE the silicon dries so it can push the pieces of glass together. And only use a very thin coat of silicon.