Bulkhead fitting question

[Chupakabra-King]

What do you guys use on your bulkhead fitting to hold the main drain pipe for your tank in ? ( From the main tank into a sump ) I have used silicone but it doesnt hold up too well . I need to use something that I can take apart for moving or cleaning out debris . any ideas ?

[hng]

What type of bulkhead do you have? Is it threaded or slip? I have read many times on this board NOT to use silicone on the seals of the bulkhead as it is unecessary and may actually cause leaking. Ppl have also said that it makes it very difficult to take it apart in the future. HTH

HG

[Chupakabra-King]

Originally Posted by hng

What type of bulkhead do you have? Is it threaded or slip? I have read many times on this board NOT to use silicone on the seals of the bulkhead as it is unecessary and may actually cause leaking. Ppl have also said that it makes it very difficult to take it apart in the future. HTH

HG

I am talking about the slip fitting at the end where you would install a pipe for the main drain into a sump . I am not talking about putting silicone on the seals where it mates to the glass of the main tank . I used silicone on the pvc pipe but it leaked and I want to try and use something so I can take it apart if I need to move my tank or need to repair it .

Maybe I need to install a pvc threaded coupler to the slip fitting ? I dunno . . ..


Thanks ,


Joe

[Geoff]

i would install a union at this point. you will prolly need a short length of PVC to go between the bulkhead and the union. i would cement all of these connections. i prefer to use threaded bulkheads, just for this reason.

G~

[Chupakabra-King]

Originally Posted by Geoff

i would install a union at this point. you will prolly need a short length of PVC to go between the bulkhead and the union. i would cement all of these connections. i prefer to use threaded bulkheads, just for this reason.

G~

Ahh ok , sounds like a plan ! I didn't know when I got it that they even made threaded bulkheads . Now I know . I will change it out the next time I move .

Thanks for all your help Geoff !

[Chupakabra-King]

Man I feel incredibly stupid ! I felt up in the hole in the stand and I do have a threaded bulkhead . I just need to chip around the area on the stand to open up the hole a bit to get a fitting on it . I have been using the piece of pvc and sliding it up inside the bulkhead !

Welp , at least the problem is solved !

[Geoff]

are there threads on the inside the pipe or only on the outside?

G~

[Chupakabra-King]

Only on the outside . I can get a female 1" or 1 1/2 " ( gotta find this out ) threaded PVC fitting to thread on it , I just have to carefully knotch out my stand around my bulkhead . Not a prob .

[Geoff]

are you sure. i have not been able to find PVC to fit the outside threads on my bulkheads. i have tried on both my 1", 3/4" and 1.5" bulkheads, but have had no luck in finding anything to thread on them. the outside threads seem to be manufacturer specific. if it works for you great! and let me know the manufacturer because i will start getting those bulkheads instead of the ones i have been getting.

G~

[Chupakabra-King]

Ohhh ok gotcha , dang it I hope it fits ! I bought 2 different ones , a 1" and a 1 1/4" . I will be trying those tonight . If not I will have to use a piece of PVC and a male/female coupling which I don't want to do . Ohhh the joys of DIY !

[gmatt]

Originally Posted by Chupakabra-King

Ohhh ok gotcha , dang it I hope it fits ! I bought 2 different ones , a 1" and a 1 1/4" . I will be trying those tonight . If not I will have to use a piece of PVC and a male/female coupling which I don't want to do . Ohhh the joys of DIY !

This might be a little off this subject but I was having a real hard time with plumbing parts.

I just went through this I was trying to do an external durso drain pipe. The needs a 1 1/4 in. pipe. The only bulkheads I could find came in a couple of weeks ago ( I could only find schedule 80).

The 1 1/4in. schedule 80 bulkheads were slip inside and threaded outside. The slip inside woudn't take the schedule 40 90 degree street elbo! Errr! Back to Internet search... I did find 1 1/2in. schedule 40 Slip to Slip bulkhead!!!! Ha! And guess what. It used the same size hole in the glass as the 1 1/4in. bulkhead!!!

North Coast Pets!!! the only 1 1/2 in. slip to slip I could find anywhere! I tried believe me. www.northcoastmarines.com

So now my design is 1 1/2 90 elbow street to `1 1/2in. bulkhead to 1 1/4 reducer to durso pipe.

[Geoff]

gmatt- Welcome to TRT!!!



Lowe's carries a fair amount of schedule 80 stuff. can you take the bulkhead with you, or is the tank full? what i suggest doing is getting a 5" schedule 80 nipple. you will cut off one end and glue it into the bulkhead so that the threaded end is sticking out. you now have a mail MPT on your bulkhead so that you can add fittings without worrying about needing being hosed by having the slip bulkhead.

G~

[Chupakabra-King]

Welp , your right Geoff , The fitting I used didn't work . I adapted the slip part to a threaded part to get it to work. Now my tank is back in action ! Woot ! Now all I have to do is find a way to cool it off !