Help! Is there a plumber in the house

[seminolecpa]

Just discovered that my tank is leaking at one of the bulkheads in the overflow. I am not sure of the genius that designed this setup but I can't seem to get the bulkhead off to replace it. Can someone knowledgable... anyone help lend me a hand? I have pretty much shut my return pump down and drained all of the water out of the overflow but as suck now only have a couple of pumps circulating water in the tank.

 

[alve]

Bryan, I have the bulkhead "wrench" that came with my Oceanic. Would that help?

 

[LeviT]

great, right after a lecture on flow.... ironic don't you think. Sorry but I'm swamped (just stopped for lunch) otherwise I'd make the treck out there.

 

[seminolecpa]

Not sure. I know that Ultimate sells bulkheads so I am thinking of just replacing it but the space that it is in is not real condusive to turning.

 

[alve]

Hmm, if you want to replace the bulkhead you will probably cut the pipe. I don't know if you could find a socket at Home Depot or so that is big enough to fit. The bulkhead "wrench" I have is about 4-5 inches long.

 

[Raddogz]

Bryan check to see if you can use a big pair of channel locks to "ease" the nut off. A somewhat stop gap measure albeit it will be a somewhat permanent solution is to use plumber's goop/marine goop to seal the leak

 

[alve]

I have this:

One side is two inches, the other side just under 1 3/4"

 

[alve]

Oh yeah and the whole thing is 4 inches long. Would that work for you?

 

[seminolecpa]

I could give it a shot.

Eileen. I tried the plumbers putty to no avail. I think my biggest problem is that I can't even get the bulkhead ouu to know what size it is to get a new one. Well that an my plumbing skills aren't the greatest. That and the whole 2 person job with one person. The person who had the tank before me decided to glue a pvc connector into the bulkhead so the best bet is probably to pull it out and start from scratch.

I am guessing creating a gyre on your floor isn't what Jake was talking about yesterday

 

[jrock]

If it's your drain then the bulkhead is most likely a one inch.

 

[Thales]

If you are going to replace the bulkhead, you must measure it because there is no likely size.

You could try silicone on both the outside and the inside of the overflow. Good it on, let it sit, and try it out. Of course it depends on how bad the leak is.
If it is broke and you have time, replace everything so its the way you want it.

I might be able to get over there later today. Let me know if you solve it or not. Good luck!

 

[seminolecpa]

Not quite sure how I did it but I got the bulkhead out. Off to the store to buy a new one then make an attempt to replumb it.

 

[alve]

Bryan, I have a one inch slip bulkhead you can have if you want.

 

[Elite]

I think I have one 1" too Bryan... LMK if you can't find it at a LFS.. Check out Koi store too. They usually sell bulkhead.

 

[Raddogz]

It's not plumber's putty the plumber's goop is more like a thick epoxy (thicker than weld-on) a little thinner than silicone glue. Bryan measure the pvc tube and it should tell you whether or not the bulk-head is 3/4" or 1"

My drain is 1" and the return is 3/4"

 

[tuberider]

It's one inch

 

[seminolecpa]

Problem resolved. Thanks to all who chimed in and to Aldie for the wrench and bulkhead. It is ghetto style but it it is doing its job of keeping the water in my tank instead of on my floor.

 

[alve]

Glad to hear everything worked out! It definitely was a tight space to get to. Did it work at all with that wrench?

 

[seminolecpa]

The wrench definately helped.

 

[seminolecpa]

Good news is whatever I did new with the plumbing took away the toilet flushing sound my tank used to make. Now my main noisemaker is my skimmer and it isn't that loud.