uncleof6
Active member
I really don't expect the dry silicone to work either, and if at all, it will be short lived. But again, the wet silicone will cause the gasket to slip out of place. It is far from a solution, either way.
Silent and Failsafe Overflow System
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
I really don't expect the dry silicone to work either, and if at all, it will be short lived. But again, the wet silicone will cause the gasket to slip out of place. It is far from a solution, either way.
sleepydoc
Team RC
Plumbers putty? 
The one thing the OP has going for him is that the bulkheads are under very low (almost no) pressure, so even a poor seal may be adequate.
Voight - if you do go back and have the holes re-drilled, I would ask them to drill from the inside out. At least that way if there's a chip it will be on the outside where the gasket doesn't need to seal it. I agree with Uncle, though. For a 'professional' to do such a sloppy job is unacceptable. The fact that it happened on more than one hole says that they are either incompetent, or just plain rushed and sloppy. You may be better off asking for a refund, since the repeat job might be just as bad.
The one thing the OP has going for him is that the bulkheads are under very low (almost no) pressure, so even a poor seal may be adequate.
Voight - if you do go back and have the holes re-drilled, I would ask them to drill from the inside out. At least that way if there's a chip it will be on the outside where the gasket doesn't need to seal it. I agree with Uncle, though. For a 'professional' to do such a sloppy job is unacceptable. The fact that it happened on more than one hole says that they are either incompetent, or just plain rushed and sloppy. You may be better off asking for a refund, since the repeat job might be just as bad.
Voight
New member
As of now all bulkheads do not leak.
I emailed the glass company and complained and they apologized and said they would drill it again, but couldn't do it inside out because they do it w/ a large overhead drill, and there's no guarantee the chipping wouldn't happen again. Pretty BS about it. Maybe I should just try to get a refund.
Question. Does anybody know of a bulkheads brand that has an extra large flange & gasket? That would solve all of my problems. I believe my current BH brand is lifeguard aquatic.
Questio
I emailed the glass company and complained and they apologized and said they would drill it again, but couldn't do it inside out because they do it w/ a large overhead drill, and there's no guarantee the chipping wouldn't happen again. Pretty BS about it. Maybe I should just try to get a refund.
Question. Does anybody know of a bulkheads brand that has an extra large flange & gasket? That would solve all of my problems. I believe my current BH brand is lifeguard aquatic.
Questio
uncleof6
Active member
Well the truth is, if they had firmly supported the glass inside the tank, the odds against it chipping out would have been much greater. Using a hand drill motor, supporting the glass firmly, and going at it from both sides would have prevented chipping altogether. Basically, incompetence.
Good question, one for which I don't have an answer. I have not bought bulkheads for a very long time (have hundreds in storage.) One thing I will say, is sch80 bulkheads won't help, and will probably need a larger hole. (in case it comes up.)
For what it is worth, looking at the pics, I would change out the bulkheads to slip x thread (flange side,) cut them, and turn them around. As it is, this will last the longest. Better would be slip x slip and eliminate the threads outside the tank.
Last edited:
woodnaquanut
Active member
Well that's a bummer!
Have you looked at the BRS website? They have nice dimensioned drawings of the BHs they sell. If the hole is big enuf perhaps a Sch 80 would fit.
uncleof6
Active member
Not to add to your woes, there are plenty already, but even with a larger bulkhead, the chips can and often do damage the gasket. Back to square one.
Voight
New member
Do you think I would have enough room to do that w/ a 3 1/4" wide OB, even after I cut it? Don't you need an inch or at least half an inch for each side to glue pvc in? I know it depends on the BH, but most are around 2". If so I would see that as my best option.
uncleof6
Active member
Glue surface of a DWV sanitary-tee (at least those I use) is ~1/2". You simply have to use good solvent welding technique. Inside the box, you don't *need* strength, just water and air tight. Using SPIGOT street ells, you can also cut the elbow down, for additional clearance.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Voight, I haven't read every one of the posts related to your problem so forgive me if this has already been suggested. Find a piece of glass large enough to cover the chipped area plus am inch in all directions and drill that piece with the same size hole. Do it yourself this time. Then silicone that over the bad hole and the extra area around it will seal to the good glass of the tank and stop the leaking. You might need an extra long bulkhead due to the extra thickness of glass it has to pass through but they make those. Also consider using a commercial bulkhead like one made by Banjo
jason2459
Well-known member
This works and had to do it myself when this happened
There's also a crack there from the bulkhead to the back that broke. I had the glass shop cut me two more pieces of glass. I drilled one of the pieces then silicone them both into place.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Whoa that looks like that sucked to deal with!!!
asl4me76
New member
So, I have got my bean animal method implemented, but I am running into getting some sound from it. My bulkheads were 1 1/2", so I of course went with 1 1/2" PVC for my plumbing. I'm thinking that I need to do a 1 1/2" to 1" elbow for the main drain. It doesn't matter if I have the ball valve for the main drain fully open or the siphon fully open or closed or barely open on either one. I still get the sound.
Here's a video to show ya'll.
Video with sound for example.
Here's a video to show ya'll.
Video with sound for example.
jason2459
Well-known member
We were moving the tank into the room its in now. On rounding a tight turn it ever so lightly hit the corner and my heart dropped as I heard it crunch. We got it into the room to asses the damage and I'm just happy it was the back overflow and not the tank. Which I had just got done stripping the tank and resealing the entire tank as it had a leak in it as well. This was a very mild fix in comparison. Though I wasn't happy I just drilled and built that box and had to redo part of it.
woodnaquanut
Active member
Look quick! The vid isn't really long enough to show/hear what is going on. What sort of sound are you getting? Are you getting bubbles from the siphon (middle drain?).
BTW if you stick to the terms BA used way back when this thread started, it's easier to discuss issues with less confusion. There are three standpipes or drains:
1) Emergency standpipe
2) Siphon standpipe
3) Open channel standpipe
From what I can see the siphon is not really a siphon yet. You need another ell to make that happen. As you restrict the flow in that drain, you will see the water level rise in the OF box. I keep mine so the pvc of the upside down U is just out of the water. This should carry most (90% +) of the water. The rest goes down the open channel.
If your return pump is not able to keep up with this it might not be sized right for the OF.
You don't need valves on the other two. Just the siphon.
uncleof6
Active member
A 6 second video taken from one location, does not tell a whole lot.
First thing I would do, is cut the teeth off the overflow. The channeling is likely at least one source of the noise, and you barely have a trickle of flow in this tank, which should be up around 1800gph give or take, and with the teeth, is going to get louder. Teeth are counter productive to the whole purpose of an overflow, which is surface skimming/renewal, with as little noise as possible.
Second thing I would do is bush the bulkheads down to 1.25", and use 1.25" SDR-21 pipe (cl 200,) switch positions of the siphon and dry emergency, and see if that box is big enough with down turned ells as woody indicated, on the siphon and open channel.
To me it does not look like you have enough flow to start 1.5" bulkheads/drains, of course this is rather theoretical, as there is not really sufficient information yet, to call it "the way it is."
This looks like a commercial setup, if not I apologize, however I am not at all impressed with this type setup, and other examples that are showing up here and there. With some examples, the through-holes are in the wrong place. The internal is too small, and inefficient, (especially this example with a 180 gallon tank,) the external is too small, (both horizontally and vertically,) and the system will not fit without modifications, nor much flexibility at all. Such is with all things that are based on minimal dimensions, rather than actual performance. Some say they work fine, but I am not convinced.
rickztahone
New member
Hello everyone. I've been doing a lot of research and was wondering if someone can clear up a few things.
First of all, with the Bean Animal setup, on the description webpage for the Bean Animal, he has 3 true union ball valves. I have read in a few threads that all three are not really necessary. Can someone set me straight if it is needed or not?
Secondly, how do you determine the size of the inside overflow box? I was initially thinking of going coast to coast as he has done, but I would rather stop short of both side walls and put the return in those areas, is this a sound idea?
Is there a standard on what size pvc to use? I see he used 1.5", but can one scale down to 1" without sacrificing much? He never mentions what sized tank this setup was going in to so I'd like to have a frame of reference.
This last question is one that I figure I may just throw out there because I haven't really researched enough to make an informed decision, but what factors determine what kind of pump you need? I am working on a 75g tank with a 40g sump and the tank is roughly 3 ft. above the sump.
Any help is greatly appreciated. I do not mind reading up, so if you'd like, please refer me to another thread where I may find out more helpful info for a build such as this. I will say though, opening a thread like this one is a bit overwhelming as there are hundreds of pages and many people throw out questions left and right and some don't get answered. I'm aware that I may be one of those members, but I have seriously searched and have not prevailed.
Thank you for your time.
First of all, with the Bean Animal setup, on the description webpage for the Bean Animal, he has 3 true union ball valves. I have read in a few threads that all three are not really necessary. Can someone set me straight if it is needed or not?
Secondly, how do you determine the size of the inside overflow box? I was initially thinking of going coast to coast as he has done, but I would rather stop short of both side walls and put the return in those areas, is this a sound idea?
Is there a standard on what size pvc to use? I see he used 1.5", but can one scale down to 1" without sacrificing much? He never mentions what sized tank this setup was going in to so I'd like to have a frame of reference.
This last question is one that I figure I may just throw out there because I haven't really researched enough to make an informed decision, but what factors determine what kind of pump you need? I am working on a 75g tank with a 40g sump and the tank is roughly 3 ft. above the sump.
Any help is greatly appreciated. I do not mind reading up, so if you'd like, please refer me to another thread where I may find out more helpful info for a build such as this. I will say though, opening a thread like this one is a bit overwhelming as there are hundreds of pages and many people throw out questions left and right and some don't get answered. I'm aware that I may be one of those members, but I have seriously searched and have not prevailed.
Thank you for your time.
uncleof6
Active member
The other two are not required. Only a valve on the siphon is required.
Large enough to get your hand in, and remove the elbows. Longer is better for the weir. Full coast to coast is the best. Dual returns is not always the best plan, as a single line will usually flow better. Power heads do the mixing, let them do their job. (not the faux additive job many believe.) It does not hurt anything really to end the overflow short of the ends, as the ends of the overflow make up the difference. (if you size it all just right.)
You should target around 750gph. You won't have an issue with 1" bulkheads, and 1" pipe. (Max theoretical capacity is 2041gph @ 36") But since a 1" durso is pretty lame, go 1" bulkheads with say 1.25" pipe.
Standards? There aren't any really, but generally if targeting below 350gph use a durso. If targeting 1500 give or take, use 1" bulkheads with 1.5" pipe (depends on length of the drop.) If heading upwards of 2k, use 1.5" bulkheads and pipe. There are several variables, and can't really make standards out of them.
A pump capable of pumping 750gph at the static head plus the additional head due to friction losses in the plumbing, + any additional needed to run reactors, what have you. You won't know what pump is needed (specs for the pump) till you actually build the system (on paper) and do the math using friction loss charts. That is the only way to make an informed decision on pump selection.
All your questions have been asked and answered hundreds of times in this thread alone, not to mention other threads on RC. :bounce1:
Similar threads
