project issue

[jamal]

i am running plumbing from my sump to a 125gal refugium on the other side of a small room. this was difficult to plan but i was able to complete this task. the issue is with my sump. its a good thing i have a concrete floor because it is leaking water all over the floor. i tightened the adapter thinking that the issue was resolved. it stayed dry for about 2 days and then bam! more water. after a closer look i realized that the rubber ring is not holding so i will likely need a new 11/4 bulkhead. my question is that i was looking at the flex seal stuff to further seal that leak. does anyone have any experience with liquid rubber products and their relative efficacy in this application?

[MBVette]

what side do you have the gasket on?

[Big Country]

Are you using the original bulkhead that came in the 100g rubbermaid sump? I tried that and put water all over my floor, that bulkhead is a piece of garbage, it doesn't matter if it leaks sitting out in the field to water horses but is rough on our basement floors. I bought a aquarium bulkhead, trimmed off part of one of the flanges to get it to fit, enlarged the hole in the rubbermaid slightly with a file and installed, not a drip since.

[jamal]

yea its the original so i made need to do that. what size bulk head did you use big country?

 

mbvette, it is on the side facing me which now that i think about it is an issue as well. dont know why that is.

[STEVE]

The gasket should be on the "wet side" or inside the container.

[Big Country]

yea its the original so i made need to do that. what size bulk head did you use big country?

 

mbvette, it is on the side facing me which now that i think about it is an issue as well. dont know why that is.

 

Well, it said it came with a 1.5" drain so that is probably the size bulkhead that I bought. I know I reduced it on the outflow to 1" to go into my panworld return pump. To really know I would have to look in my sump and see what size pipe I have going out of the bulkhead to the water intake. I do know that I had to make the hole in the rubbermaid a little larger and trim one side off of the wet side of the bulkhead to make it fit on the inside of the rubbermaid.

 

When you remove the bulkhead and see how cheaply made it is it will really scare you that you actually had your aquarium pump plumbed into that thing.

Edited February 21, 2013 by Big Country

[jamal]

mine is 1.25" but yes i see what you mean. i will replace it and see if that solves it. thanx guys

[Steve175]

Although they are 1.25", the bulkheads that come with the rubbermaid sump are pretty thin-walled. I would measure the OD of the BH or the hole size and go to a site to determine the correct BH:

SCH 40 1" requires 1 3/4" hole and standard SCH80 1" requires 1 7/8" hole:

http://www.marinedep...rainers-ap.html

Here is a SCH 80 that requires a 2" hole - go to page 2 on link):

http://premiumaquati..._code=Bulkheads

 

 

My guess is that either a standard (SCH 40) or a heavy duty (SCH 80) BH might fit the hole perfectly with no need to mod. $0.02.

Edited February 22, 2013 by Steve175

[jamal]

well i would normally agree with you. time is a factor right now. thank you guys for your input. i ended up modding the fitting with my new dremel. now it is a 1.5" fitting. so i am nearly down with all of this.

[CaptainRon]

How'd you make out Jamal? It was good meeting you yesterday.

[jamal]

yea i appreciate your advice on this. so i have a 1.5" bulkhead in there now. im gonna put on some tape and do a leak test today. cross your fingers please