Plumbing/Bulkhead Woes

[WilRams]

So I'm trying to do the plumbing on my new tank. Its a Cadlights 100g. I love the tank so far but the fact that it has metric drilled holes and fittings is very frustrating. The tank comes with all the plumbing needed but the drain has a ball valve which id rather switch to a gate valve and has no unions to help servicing later. The emergency and return lines are just hose that I would rather hard plumb for aesthetic reasons. Yeah I know its just the sump but hey. So for all those reasons I want to redo the plumbing. 

 

So to start with the drain. Whatever solution I find for this will apply to my other two lines. They use bulkheads unlike I have ever used before. It has a gasket on either side of the glass. The pipe coming out of it is glued into the fitting and it is OD 40mm and ID 35mm. Don't mind the blue tape.

 

 

 

 

Option 1: I was able to find a union that from flex pvc that would slip onto the 40mm and get me to 1 1/14 on the other side. The only problem is I'm not too confident on the 40mm side. The pipe doesn't fit snug like normal fittings. It has a little bit more play then I would like. Would priming and glueing be enough to make up for a small amount of difference? 

 

 

 

 

Option 2: I realized the bulkhead had stamped 1 1/4 - 32 on it. I tried a 1 1/4 fitting and sure enough thats the size. Now I'm confused.  I messed with it and figured out it is just a 1 1/4 nipple threaded into one side and then the other bulkhead threads onto it. With that I went to the plumbing aisle. I figured on the sump side instead of using their fitting I could use a 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 adapter. That's the fitting that would give me the most surface area onto the glass. After that I could do whatever I please in 1 1/2 pipe and fittings. Would this work?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Option 3: Am I missing something? Is there a regular ole regular bulkhead that will work? I tried a 1in bulkhead and it fit perfect. I feel like that would be restricting it way too much though. I don't have a 1 1/4 bulkhead otherwise I would try that to see if I'm lucky. By what I read in my research though that would be a no go. I haven't found a solution looking online at other builds so I'm kind of stumped. Any suggestions or ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

 

Side question. They shipped their bulkheads with a gasket on ether side. Is that necessary? When I have used traditional bulkheads they only came with a gasket to use on the inside glass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rob A]

Maybe it would be easier to re-drill the holes to standard sizes, unless you have any glass that was tempered after it was drilled and can't be re-drilled. It only takes a few minutes and lots of people have the holes saw for doing it. I'm sure you could borrow them.

[Djplus1]

As far as the two gasket thing goes, traditionally you use the gasket on whatever side the FLANGE is on, not the nut. The reason being, when you are rotating the nut onto the gasket, you would be twisting and distorting the rubber gasket, causing leaks, where the flange is not twisting against the gasket (unless for some reason, you are trying to turn that part of the bulkhead, which you shouldn't be doing anyway). This has nothing to do with being inside or outside the water also. I'm not sure why it is supplied with two, so perhaps it is a "special" bulkhead that is designed to work with both

[WilRams]

Correct that is the way I have always used bulkheads. I don't see the need to use both gaskets. If I go with one of the other options I posted I will first try only using the one gasket.

 

 

I thought about drilling it but the whole would need to be made over half an inch bigger in order to accommodate a 1 1/2 bulkhead. I'll have to post a picture of the overflow. It looks a little tight in there to me. I could also go with a 1 1/4 bulkhead but they are not as easy to find when I went to a LFS or online. Also the slight fact that I personally don't feel comfortable doing it myself.

[Reef eScape]

Since this system doesn't have the traditional bulkhead/nut fitting, it may require both gaskets to get a good seal.  This is because you will be tightening at least one of the fittings onto the male/male coupling only tight enough to compress the gaskets rather than to seal the threads to the coupling within that fitting.  

Edited February 1, 2015 by Reef eScape

[zygote2k]

you absolutely cannot use 2 gaskets unless you are looking for a leak. Use the existing bulkhead in the top picture, use the left side for the water side and the right side for the bottom of the tank. Only the water side gets the gasket. If you're super cautious, use some silicone on the water side to ensure an even better watertight seal. Bump the 1-1/4" fittings up to 1.5 or down to 1".

[YHSublime]

Whatever you do, do it right the first time. Don't use two gaskets, don't go crazy and wild. Get your 1 1/4 bulkheads if those will work and end it there. If you do anything short of perfect rushing to set it up, you will be upset with yourself the length of the tank. Just my two cents, but you've waited a while, there's no hurry now. I agree with hard plumbing!

[eddiev0008]

Wil,

 

I have been running my tank over a week and so far not one leak. I used both gaskets one on each side. I was a bit scared being this my first sump tank ever. I am still thinking about cementing the PVC at the 90 degree areas. But not sure yet. So far its going good.

[s2nhle]

you only need a return pump capable of 3x-5x turn over. that's said, a return pump of 300gph to 500gph is good enough for your tank  (100g) setup. A 1" pipe can handle 960gph (http://flexpvc.com/WaterFlowBasedOnPipeSize.shtml). So 1" bulkhead is good enough. If you need 1 1/4" bulk head, HomeDepot in Springfield, VA has it. Hope it helps.

[WilRams]

Forgot to update this. Thanks for the suggestions and advice everyone. To be clear on the 2 gasket deal it is designed to use a gasket on either side of the glass. Not on the same side just incase anyone thought thats what I meant.

 

After an extensive search I found a way to use the bulkheads they supplied. I found the correct adapters. I got adapters that will take me from 20mm to 1/2 (emergency drain), 25mm to 3/4 (return) and 40mm to 1 1/4 (drain). I might step it up to 1 1/2 on the drain only because of the pipe I want to use. I now have the gate valve, pipe, unions and all the fittings I should need. Now just gotta find time to actually do it this weekend.

[zygote2k]

one gasket on glass side. nut tightens against glass, pulling gasket snugly to make a water-tight seal.

if you use a gasket on both sides of the glass, the nut will not be able to tighten evenly, resulting in not pulling the water side gasket snugly against the glass, and you will have a leaky bulkhead.

When you buy a bulkhead, it only comes with one gasket....