Replacing Bulkhead

[MidTnMike41]

I made a few rookie mistakes when plumbing my sump tank. I have a 90 gallon reef ready with corner overflow. I am wanting to redo my plumbing now that I have a little better idea what I want to do in my sump. I glued the pvc in the bulkheads. My question is, can I just drain the overflow area and replace the bulkheads without draining the tank? I was not sure if the plastic piece in the corner would withstand the pressure of the water in the tank.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Better late than never, Don't EVER GLUE BULKHEADS! They don't need it, the gasket is all the seal you need.

All you can do now is pull away as much of the silicone as you can and get them freed up. Do you have to drain the tank? probably not. Turn off your return pump and let it settle into the sump. You may have enough room to get your hands in there to work on it without taking off your overflow.

Good Luck and please let us know how it comes out. PS Don't use silicone or any glue on the new bulkheads!

 

[billsreef]

The overflow should be able to hold back the water just fine. For future reference, if think there is any chance you might change the plumbing or otherwise need to take it apart, use threaded bulkheads instead of slip (glue).

 

[Sapelo]

Oh my.
A couple of months ago, we purchased a used 300 gallon. Unknown to us until we got ready to replumb it, the previous owner used silicone to try to stop a leak around a bulkhead.
We were eventually able to removed enough silicone to unscrew the bulkhead (which then had to be trashed). It took a long time to reach down into the overflow box and scrape every last bit of remaining silicone (the guy was not exactly careful and there was silicone on everything from the bulkhead to the glass). Try to get ALL of the glue off (and I'm hoping you used silicone and not pvc glue...in that case I guess you'd be trying to cut the bulkhead out at the base? not sure on that).
+1 to bulkheads do not need glue -- a lesson we've learned the hard way.
Insert bulkhead, hand tighten and then tighten 1.4 turn - no more. Even if it leaks a little. A little leak around new bulkhead will not last long. I promise.

But to answer your original question, your overflow (aka plastic in the corner) is already withstanding the pressure of the water against it every day. If it didn't, your overflow wouldn't really work.
Unless you have other structural problems, the overflow should hold against 90 gallons -- ours held against 300 gallons for days on end while we learned tank plumbing 101.

Good luck!

 

[Dkuhlmann]

The overflow should be able to hold back the water just fine. For future reference, if think there is any chance you might change the plumbing or otherwise need to take it apart, use threaded bulkheads instead of slip (glue).

Hmmm I never would have thought someone to use slip fit for the bulkheads. I assumed everyone used threaded.

 

[MidTnMike41]

Yeah I really wished I would have used threaded bulkheads when I did the initial setup. The tank came with slip bulkheads so I really didn't think much about it.... Until I wanted to do my plumbing a little different. So my next question, do you use pvc sealant on the threads, tape seal, or nothing?

 

[billsreef]

I use Teflon pipe dope on the threads.

 

[billdogg]

Teflon paste only! Teflon Tape is not meant to be used on PVC threaded fittings, despite it commonly being sold for that purpose.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Yeah I really wished I would have used threaded bulkheads when I did the initial setup. The tank came with slip bulkheads so I really didn't think much about it.... Until I wanted to do my plumbing a little different. So my next question, do you use pvc sealant on the threads, tape seal, or nothing?

I wouldn't use teflon tape but not really needed as the threads are wedge fit, I don';t have it on mine and no leaks.

 

[RayAllen3422]

Do people really not glue the external piece of the bulkhead under the tank?

 

[CStrickland]

Most people don't use the slip fittings, so there's no need to. This thread is why.

 

[RayAllen3422]

Mine came with slip fittings so that's what I am using. Planning to glue the external pieces which is what I did in the past.

 

[Drewl117]

If you use slip fittings just put a union right below the bulkhead that way you can just change out the piping and not have to re-do ur bulkheads.

 

[ca1ore]

Funny, I always use slip/weld bulkheads simply because the threaded ones are notorious for leaks. At $5 a pop, really not a big deal to replace - and how often do you redo the plumbing anyhow. Heck, even if you must redo, use PVC snips to cut the pipe an inch off two below the bulkhead and re-weld a slip coupler. Easy peasy.