Plumbing advice please

Gordonious

Gordonious

Active member
Couple of quick questions.

Do I have to use the purple primer? I believe I asked this question in the newbie forum a long time ago and got mixed answers.

Does anything that is inside of the tank need to be glued at all? Such as a durso pipe or other drain pipes?

Once a piece is glued how long does it need to dry before I can use it and should I let it soak in tank water/fresh water or anything of the sort incase the cleaner, primer, or glue leaches out at all?

I wanted to show my whole plan, but it is taking me sooo long to draw it all out. I will post a link when I have it a little further along.


Jon
 
Jon,

Yes use the purple primer.

Are the pipes inside the tank threaded to the bulkhead? If yes then No they do not need to be glued, but let one of the experts confirm that. I don't wat to be responcible for flooding your basement.

PVC glue dries in a matter of seconds. but I would give it a little while to cure just to be certain, we all know patience is a plus with this hobby. I would think a quick freshwater dip would be beneficial to ensure nothing is going to leach in to your system, can't hurt anyway.

Craig
 
The pvc inside the tank does not need to be glued but must be tight. the purple primer is safe but must dry. That pet place uses the purple primer on some of there pvc. I let mine dry overnight before putting it in the tank
AL
 
if the joint will be seen, and you don't like the purple they do make a clear primer, but it makes it difficul to varify that you got the joint properly primed (for obvious reasons) this is the reason the normal primer is purple.
 
Ok I need to make/have someone make dividers baffels and an overflow box in order to complete my plans. If I go to a glass shop and ask them to make me a square piece to fit in as a divider then the corners will be affected by the globs of glue AGA puts on there tanks. What can I tell them to get them to round the corners or should I remove the glue in these areas? Should I ask them to smooth the edges so they are not as sharp and difficult to work with?

I already messed up one of my little connections by glueing the wrong sized adapters into the wrong ends of a T peice. This is going to cost me another day and at least another $6 worth of fittings. I suppose this is what you get when you try to work on your set up after being awake for 35+ hours.

Jon
 
You do not have to ask them to do anything to the edges.

When I did my baffles I went to Sears and told them the dimensions (Make sure that you give them the inner dimensions not the outer) and they will cut the pieces for you. Then sylicon them in place.

If you are going to be making a corner overflow I would suggest making the angle first. Take the two pieces of glass that you get for the overflow and use clamps that allow you to make 90 degree angles or make some kind of makeshift clamp to hold them in place as the sylicon dries.

Also while the baffles are drying you might want to have something to keep them in there place because if the glass is not cut quite as big as you want it, it will not stay in place.
 
you really don't need to use the primer. all it does is clean the surface, but the glue actually melts/welds the two part together. half of my plumbing was done with primer and the other with out and ive had no leaks in over 3 years.

the mfg recommends 24 hours cure time before it gets wet but ive replaced fittings, rerouted pipes ect. and had it running again in an hour
 
I would make your sump baffles out of 1/4 inch plexi and then silcone them in place. the big difference is safety when you want to remove them or modify your sump and move them later. the glass will break when you try to pry it free of silicone. the plexi is much more forgiving.

and plexi is easier to work with. cut with a circular saw or table saw. if you cut it just a hair over sized, you can fine tune the fit but sanding some off the edge with a sanding block or belt sander. the silicone will flex when the tank walls bow out a little from the water inside.
 
I've even seen articles online that instead of silicone to seal the glass, use weather stripping it makes a snug fit and is removeable. Al
 
Hi Jon,

Regarding PVC cement: Yes, use the purple primer on both parts of every connection (outside of pipe & inside of fitting). Make sure you clean a solid inch of material with the small brush. You do not need to let it dry before you apply the glue in the exact same procedure, covering a full 1" of pipe and socket. Press together, twist 1/8" to seat, run your finger around the seam to wipe away excess and create a nice fillet of solvent to assure no leaks.

Let it cure for a bit (30 minutes at least). If you can, glue everything possible, then rinse it outside with a gardenhose or inside in the sink or bathtub. Rinse it out well to wash away solvents. Now you can install or glue the final connection. Let that cure for 30 minutes or so, and you can start it up.

Yesterday, I spent about 10 hours under a reef tank in Dallas installing a new sump with all new plumbing, external pump, skimmer - the works. We finally got everything running again around midnight. The skimmer was pulling stuff out this morning, all the livestock was perfectly healthy, and there were no leaks.

Gluing connections in the tank: You can glue together the durso if you want to pull it out as one piece. Most people just press them together, since it is the drain line anyway. The returns should be fully glued together as you don't want those blowing apart or loose. The last thing we want is water shooting straight up into the lighting. Any connection that is NOT underwater must be glued to avoid vortexing in small amounts of air to avoid the resulting microbubbles.

Glass baffles in the sump: You should have the baffles cut 1/4" thinner than the internal space inside the sump. That will leave 1/8" of space on each end, a gap that will be filled with silicone. That gap will also deal with the silicone seams along the base of the sump. It'll be fine. Be sure they polish all edges so that you won't be cut during construction as well as <i>every time</i> you reach in the sump in the future.

Let the silicone cure for 24 hours before adding any water.
 
I don't know how many times I've found something else I need at the hardware store 30 minutes after I get home from being there! Errrr.

Thanks for the advice Melev. Btw I love that talking... thingy mabob show you do.(don't want to be acused of cursing)

AAAAAAHHHHHH My bulk heads are leaking! gtg
 
Bulkheads should be installedd with the rubber washer on the inside of the tank. The nut should be HAND tightened, and then maybe a tiny bit more with a wrench to make it snug. No more.

When shopping for plumbing parts, it is always best to buy extras and take back what you don't need. That way you can complete your project that day.
 
I wrote this response once, but my computer locked up completely. Tonight has not been my night. I may have a bigger problem then I originally thought. Around the black plastic at the bottom of the tank was lined with water. I'm hoping all of this was from the bulk heads as well, but it's possible the tank leaks in my places then I thought.

Upon reexamining one of the holes for the bulk heads I found that some glass may have chipped off from where the hole was drilled for a closed loop, I'm hoping this will show up in some photos I just took.

I did install the bulk heads like everyone says they should be. I put the gasket between the flange and the tank on the inside and snugly hand tightened it. I figured I did it snug enough that I did not even use a tool.
 
If it is securely installed, when you grasp it (with the plumbing attached) it should not wiggle. I don't mean wrench at it, but tug and push a tad just to 'test the waters' (hey, I didn't invent that phrase!)

I hope you can figure out what is going on.

If you can't solve it, you may need to apply a bead of silicone inside the perimeter of the hole first, then install the bulkhead. That will will in the chipped areas, but it will also act like grease in that the washer may just to slip or pop out from under the bulkhead's flange. It squishes out quite easily once silicone is introduced into the equation.

EDIT: Just saw the pictures. You'll need to use silicone.
 
I'm thinking of getting two little squares of glass or acrylic with the same size holes in them and siliconing them to the glass as well as putting a bit of silicone in the cracked area. Then the bulk head will go through all three(square then tank then square) and the nut and gasket will both touch flat surfaces. I may also elect to use gaskets on both sides if I can find some cheap ones somewhere.

<CENTER><IMG SRC="http://www.gordonious.com/RC/HPIM6840cs.JPG"></CENTER>

I emptied most of the tank incase anything besides the bulk heads is leaking and I dragged my dehumidifier back in my room. Which of course trips the circuit break half the time it comes on if I don't forget to leave half of the things in my room turned off. While I was doing all of this the CPU fan on my computer that monitors my X10 devices started screaming bloody murder. Meanwhile it's 5am when I had already stayed up more then 35 hours the day before to try to get back on a normal sleeping schedule. To say the least it is time for me to go to bed. :-(

Jon
 
BTW dehumidifier = no heater as the two together would overload the power lines coming to my room. Yet another thing I will have to find a way to work through before I can use the new pump and upgrade my lighting.

Jon
 
The Dehumidifiers I tested with my Killowatt meter used 750w each. That is 7.5 amps of power. Ugh.

I don't think gluing more acrylic on the glass is the answer. Just fill the void with silicone and install the bulkhead properly. You can run a bead around the top flange where it touches the glass, and make sure you have enough on the bottom gap before you screw on the nut.

It'll be a hassle when you eventually have to remove it, but it is not impossible.
 
So what I think I need to do is to have someone make some sort of glass or acrylic washers. I tried to draw some diagrams to explain what I mean.

<CENTER><IMG SRC="http://www.gordonious.com/RC/nuts.bmp">

<IMG SRC="http://www.gordonious.com/RC/smallnuts.bmp"></CENTER>
 
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