Need a little help with a barely dripping bulkhead fix?

pelfiredc

New member
Need a little help with a leaking bulkhead. Picked up a used 90 gallon with a center overflow and replace the bulkhead with a new bulkhead which seems to be leaking very very slightly drip drip drip The leak was not apparent in the beginning believe one of the kids bumped the drainpipe and started the drip. The drainpipe is also a Durso. I have tried to tighten the knot down but that does not seem to work I also tried to drain the overflow box to reseat the bulkhead but a third of the way into emptying it it maintains its level and starts to empty the tank itself rather than completely draining to empty. I can definitely not tighten the nut any further did it with a pair of channel locks and am afraid any tighter will actually crack the nut. Do you think that caulk will work and any way of doing that while there is still a slight drip? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!:headwally:
 
It shouldn't be much more than hand tight. You may have wrinkled the rubber gasket. I tighten by hand and just a touch more with a bulkhead wrench, no torque required. It appears your overflow box must have a leak as well. You should be able to empty the overflow right out with no water entering it.
 
Ok ill back the nut off a touch and see if that helps......if not any bright ideas lol
Don't want to drain the 90 lol
 
You can try it but the gasket may be shot already. If you can't get it fixed you may consider draining it into brutes or something and resealing you overflow as well. Then if you have to do anything in there again you'll be good. That is if it isn't stocked yet. Good luck.
 
Lol it's stocked w coral and fish....... It was fine for the first few days until one of the kids bumped the pipe, The bulkhead and the gaskets are all brand-new. Loosened and retightened the bulkhead and not got the drip to almost not existing but it is still a hair there and leaking but almost nothing. God don't I want to caulk around the bottom of that not.
 
I like things fixed right away, but if tearing it down and repairing isn't possible right now I've seen very small leaks stop after a little salt creep has built up around them.

But that only lasts until it gets bumped again.. then it could be way worse.
 
+1 on only a hand tighten. I'd avoid using silicone, as in the future it adds a lot of headache when swapping out the bulkheads if that ever needs to happen. The gasket should seal itself. I'll also ask, is your durso pipe and other plumbing actually cemented to the bulkhead? I hate doing that but it will definitely help if it's not. Though if you do that you'll want to drain and dry the overflow weir entirely and leave it like that for a couple hours after cementing before you fire that return pump back on
 
The above suggestions may very well work to stop the leak, But my vote it to do it the right way - take it apart and try again. A more important issue is that your overflow box is leaking. If the power goes out or your return pump fails, that will allow the entire tank to drain into your sump (assuming it's big enough). It will more probably flood the floor. That needs to be fixed, and when you do that it will be the perfect opportunity to fix the bulkhead.
 
Remove the bulk head and swab the rubber gasket with silicone grease that you can get at your local hardware store. This should stop the leak.
 
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