Finding and fixing a leak

Gordonious

Gordonious

Active member
I bought a 30g oceanic sump at That Pet Place’s tent sale that was used and returned in less then a day. It was marked as leaking and figured I might be able to patch it up. I almost came in the threads yesterday bragging about the great find I had made because I filled the tank in my drive way and it appeared that that was no leaks. Well I brought it inside last night and filled in the basement and let it sit over night. Turns out it leaks about one gallon, if that, every 10-12 hours.

I can not find where it is leaking to begin with. Around the side of the glass on the bottom near the trim it is wet on one entire side. Should I just strip all the glue and reseal it? If so what sort of glue should I use.

Jon
 
well, since you got a basement floor to leak on. try this to pinpoint the leak. empty and dry the whole tank. inside and out. then set it on newspaper spread out on a level spot of the floor. then fill it with one inch of water at a time. dab the outside edges with tissue paper to look for side seam leaks. and watch the paper underneath it for the first sign of water spreading out. maybe a little food color in the water too, if you got some. actually a little bright red food color might help see where its getting under the silicone. like after first spotting a leak, and then draining. some should remain under the silicone and might show the path.
 
Hum that may work. Unfortunately though the basement is carpeted, really cheap carpet but carpet none the less. I wish I had a level as well because I think it would be easier to find the leak if I could make the tank level. I think the reason one hole side was wet was because it leaked at one end then went down hill before dripping.
 
Jon,

Try this method if you can - the hard part is finding a large enough container to do it - but your bathtub may work.
...............


Empty out your 30g tank.
Fill bathtub or larger tank with water.
Turn 30g upside down and slowly submerge in to tub.
Look for air-bubbles escaping from 30g.


When you push your leaking tank in to the water you create an air-pocket inside the tank. When the water pressure increases inside the tank it will force the air out of any available openings i.e. your leaks. Air bubbles escaping will show you exactly where you need to seal. Just make sure you mark it so you don't seal the wrong side of the tank when you turn it over.

Quick no mess solution to finding a leak.
 
I don't know if this will help. But when I worked at an auto shop. We would put the tire in a tub of water and look for bubbles. So Maybe if you could put the sump in a bigger tank of water and turn it upside down, that way air is trapped inside. Then air will obviously rise and should leak out of where ever the hole is. May be worth a shot. If not, if you know what corner atleast it is leaking on, then I would replace that hole strip of glue. Where there is one hole/problem, there usually is another.
 
Silicone does not hold well to dried silicone. You will have to remove all the silicone on that side once you find the leak, but you wont have to pull the tank apart. If you cant find the leak remove all the silicone on the inside with a razor then rubbing alcohol. Blue painters tape can be used to give nice lines and a plastic spoon should give you a nice round bead
Al
 
Thanks for the input everyone. Unfortunately I don't think I have anything larger to put the 30g into so I am kind of out of luck there. Blue painters tape and the spoon I'm sure will come in handy. I even already have both of those in my room!

Jon
 
Its just as well that you dont have a small pool to try and submerge the inverted sump tank into to look for leak bubbles. a 30 gallon tank of air would provide 250 pounds of buoyancy. and I don't think you weigh enough, Jon, to hold it under water..
 
I picked up a "GE Silicone I 100% Silicone Rubber Sealant" which Al suggested to me at the meeting.

I've been told in other threads that I should completely take it apart, but I think I am going to try to just remove the inside globs of sealant first and see if that works. If not then I will need to figure out someway to hold the walls up at a 90* while the silicone settles.
 
i still recomend finding the leak spot by slow filling of the tank while sitting on dry paper to spot the leak. then just cut out a small portion of the sealant.
 
"toy"? I actually haven't been able to mess with it at all because I tried to work on the plumbing for my 75 and now it leaks. Then I actually went down to lower DE to visit the fam a bit for spring break. Al your not thinking about that animal in your icon are you? lol
One of the problems with fixing the leak at a specific location is that I have been told that the new silicon will not seal to the old stuff.
 
well, one sure way to find out. smear a dab across a seal and onto the glass, wait a day and see for sure. then try to pull it off.
 
I have tried to "fix" a leak before and it does not hold water for long. Afetr being exposed to the water, lights and heat it comes right off
 
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