Mega Flow fitting problems.. Oh Joy!

[Creade]

Hey all, Im finally working on the 210 in wall, and trying to get the plumbing all sorted out.

Hoping someone else has run into this and can send me in the right direction .


The bulkhead fittings on the 210 are apparently larger than the ones on the smaller megaflow tanks, so no LFS has fittings to help me out.

The threads are extremely fine and nothing I can find at Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, Farm And Fleet, will fit.

Does anyone know of a way to get the correct fittings?

Im look for female threaded to go over the bulkhead threads, right to barbed for flex hose. I will however switch directly to hard PVC if needed.

I just cant find anything with the proper threads!!!!!
The only other option, is to glue PVC inside of the bulkhead fitting, thus restricting my flow further and making the fittings temporary.

Hope someone has a thought.

Creade

 

[dflint]

if you mean the threading on the outside of the bulkhead to tighten it against the tank, I don't think they are standard size pvc fittings. you can always check out the allglass website and maybe email or call them.... http://www.all-glass.com/

I ended up PVC glueing some thin walled pipe to the inside of mine and used flex to clamp to the thin walled PVC. hope that helps!

 

[landragon]

You will find it quite futile to search for the fitting. It is more like bolt thread than pipe thread. Is the bulkhead not threaded inside too?

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Did you get the "Megaflow Accessory Kit"?? and its the bulkhead from this that is giving you problems??

I just bought a AGA210....havent started plumbing though. This info might save me a bit of trouble.

I haven't checked, but I assume the holes will fit a standard 1" and 3/4" sch 40 bulkheads??

 

[Creade]

It is the standard megaflow kit, though I have had it since they first came out. I grabbed the tank at a super great price a few years ago and everything has just been sitting since I had to build an entire room around the tank first and life got a bit too hectic to worry about the tnak for a while.

They are not threaded on the inside, I assumed they would be as that was the case with any other AGA i ever had.

I will either switch bulkheads, or go ahead and glue PVC inside I guess.

Ill have to stop at home depot and see what they have for other bulkhead choices.

Thanks guys, Ill keep ya posted on what i find out.

 

[anutha newby]

I also have the megaflow overflow kit.

I also looked for PVC fittings to mate up with the bulkheads to no avail.

I re-read the directions, and realized that the All-Glass bulkheads are made to accept hose barb fittings, not NPT PVC fittings.

the hose barb fittings, supplied with the kit, are made to be glued into the all glass bulkhead fitting. From there you could attach a piece of tubing, then adapt to PVC off of that.

So, think tubing, not PVC. Not to bash on the All-glass kit, but my plan is to scrap the overflow kit, and order new bulkheads so I can use PVC only. (I'm plumbing to my basement, so I'd rather use all PVC.)

But if it is only a short run to your sump, a short piece of tubing would be fine IMO.

 

[Creade]

I didnt recieve any barbed fittings at all with my kit.
However, I do see that the new kits are boxed nicely etc.

As I mentioned, mine came from All Glass a few years ago, and the fittings were in a small cardboard box, not the accessory kit box they come in now.

 

[old salty]

Creade,

I know exactly what you are talking about. I wanted to use 100% PVC when I replumbed my tank, but couldn't find a female threaded PVC fitting that would work with the thread pitch. I had to use a small piece of tubing to connect to the bulkheads. I really didn't want to do this, but my search was futile. My tank was already up and running so I didn't want to pull the bulkhead fittings off. If I had a new setup as you may have, I would have cut off the hose barbs, dipped the fitting in liquid polyurethane and attached a PVC fitting. Sure there may be better ways to do this, but it is what I came up with after the fact.

 

[phallock]

The outside threads on bulkheads are for threading the nut, not for fitting PVC. Whatever is attached to the bulkhead is supposed to be attached to the inside - whether it's a slip or a female pipe thread (FPT) fitting. Been there done that I'm quite sure that the inside bulkhead fitting will be a standard size.

Custom Aquatics (customaquatics.com) does sell elbows that thread onto the outside of 1" bulkheads - don't know what size you have.

 

[Creade]

I sorted out a solution, didnt really want to glue to the inside, but Im going to try it and see how it works out.

 

[bljohnson]

I have the 180 gal AGA Megaflow and have 1 suggestion before you guys get to involved. Ditch the AGA Durso's - they are way to noisey. I have also tried the Stockman Pipes from PA which were a little better. I finally upgraded to Durso's from Durso's website and they are 100% quieter.

 

[Creade]

I always make my own, but I planned to try out the ones that came with the tank.

 

[bljohnson]

You will be very disappointed with the noise/flushing sounds if you use the stock stuff.

 

[Creade]

Only takes 10 minutes to make new ones and replace them if they are loud /shrug.

 

[KH971]

I used dual 1.5 durso's in each megaflow and brought my returns over the back of the tank. Dead!!!!Quiet!!!!,,,YES Dual 1.5 Durso's will fit and use 4 1 inch flex pipes to keep it quiet on the bulkheads.

 

[mnmnm1951]

I used the double-clamp rubber repair joint from Home Depo and a Male thread/slip on the other end. Slide one end over the bulkhead threads hanging under the tankand clamp it. Slip the Male adapter into the other end and clamp it. Glue whatever PVC you ant into the slip end of the male adapter. It makes for a good vibration dampe and you can very easily remove the fittings should plumbing changes be necesary.

One thing I noticed was that the hole diameter in the bulkhead was the real restriction on the flow. A one inch hole with two inch PVC on the other side will still only flow whatever volume can get through the 1 inch hole.