Leaking bulkheads now what?

[achilles1]

When will I ever learn? I was doing leak testing of my new system and a couple of my bulkheads have very minor leaks. Now what? I knew that I should have capped and tested them before attaching the rest of the plumbing. I tefloned the male adapters into my 2" and 1-1/2" bulkheads and for the first time ever got leaky seals in the most awkward to reach places at this point.

Do I...

Let the salt creep seal them because they are ever so slight? Experience tells me that these are the types of leaks that stop themselves, but I will have nasty creep for a pit and I want the system to look primo.

Try to tighten the male adapter more? PIA because all of the plumbing is in place. which means I would have to contort myself around the sump and plumbing loosen the bulkhead nuts. Or, turn the bulkheads from within the overflow boxes (topside) which means I have to climb into the aquarium which is about 1/4 full. The last think I want is a picture of me swimming in my tank! LoL (FW water only right now for testing)

Remove the bulkheads and seal them with silicone instead of Teflon?

Glue the male adapters into the bulkheads which completely defeats the purpose of buying threaded bulkheads.

All solutions seem to be a pain in the rear! Any suggestions?

thanks in adveance

 

[george1098]

ohh i hate little leaks like that. The salt creep will seal them but you're going to have to clean it every now and again. Silicone will deffinatly do the trick if you get ambitious and want to take everything apart. you seem like you know what you're doing, so it is up to you!
may the force be with you

 

[David Grigor]

IMO, now is the time to fix them. If you decide to do it later it will be even more difficult. Take your lumps now and do whatever rework is involved.

 

[Stile2]

IME the only thing that really works is the silicone.

 

[achilles1]

It's looking more and more like I will be removing the bulkheads. Will I ever get fish into this tank? It has taken me a month to get to this point. Such stupid little leaks.

 

[Stile2]

Ok, that's funny. A month to get to this point!! Check my little red house. It took me over a year to get my tank up and running. Don't feel too bad.

 

[achilles1]

That is quite an impressive build. I clicked through, but I will have to go back and read it. Can I borrow some of your tools? lol

Correction, I have had the tank for five weeks, I am been preparing for and anticipating this install for probably about 1-1.5 years. Building skimmer, water change system, extra breaker, misc equipment. And in the last month I have relocated my 125, removed carpet and built and expoxied the stand for the new tank. My plumbing looks like a bowl of noodles on one side, but I think that it is an easy and practical setup. Just gotta get rid of the drips.

 

[Stile2]

Show us some pictures. It is always good to learn from others.

Keith

 

[achilles1]

I'll snap some pics tonight? It's a construction warzone! Any request?

 

[MinibowMatt]

most plumbing on our tanks are NPT (tapered) thread, which means you shouldnt use teflon tape. it actually hampers the sealing ability of the threads. Im not really sure where your leak is, and where you used the teflon, but if their is teflon where its leaking, i would put money it being the teflon that caused your problem...

 

[easttn]

Did you use Sch40 or 80? I have cracked more Sch40 bulkheads than I care to remember. The split is always on the underside of the seal from the inside of the tank. If you did use 40 take it off and redo with 80. You may have to make the hole larger as well.

 

[achilles1]

MinibowMatt.

Good call on the tapered threads. I try to taper the tape when I wrap it, but it probably is the problem. I have done plenty of joints without the tape, but I was thinking that I could get things seated down better with the tape.

The bulkheads are all schedule 80.

Here are some pictures of the plumbing for those that wanted to see. I'm sure you can see why I don't want to take it apart.
The stand is waterproofed with with epoxy, and the bottom is water tight up to about 6". The bottom will also have a drain that directs water out of the stand through the wall and out into the yard. by by floods.

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m35/croomsg/