Can I glue a threaded bulkhead?

[tonymission]

So second time my drain bulkhead has decided to come unthreaded and leak within a week on my frag tank -- both times it happened while I was in the room. What are the chances? No clue why it's coming loose. One time I tightened easy by hand and this time I did a bit harder with a wrench.

Any reason I can't glue the bulkhead? I have a union right below it with 5-6" to spare so I could cut/couple probably twice if I had to.

Id consider this an emergency situation so not sure I can order another bulkhead. I have uniseals but no clue how to do that since the stand pipe would need to sit in the top of the uniseal. How would I connect that to the drain into the sump?

Thinking of just gluing the MFer... Can always dremel it off if I ever need to...


Frustrated...

 

[tonymission]

And when I say "no clue why" I meant to say "I now know I shouldn't have used Teflon tape but it shouldn't have come unthreaded so quickly and I don't want to blame this on me being a donkey"

 

[ringo®]

I'd just replace it. Most lfs's should stock them. Leave the wrench out of the equation next time.

 

[tonymission]

Closest place would be pure reef for me so I'd have to wait until tomorrow afternoon.
Not sure I should go that long without temperature control. Especially with all the new high end sps I just put in there

 

[jdavid]

Closer than Aviarium?

 

[ringo®]

tonymission;973909 wrote: Closest place would be pure reef for me so I'd have to wait until tomorrow afternoon.
Not sure I should go that long without temperature control. Especially with all the new high end sps I just put in there

Toss the heater in the display for the night

 

[tonymission]

Forgot avarium might have them... They're closed and I have a couple important meetings tomorrow morning
Really need to get this fixed today

 

[tonymission]

Ringo[emoji768 wrote: ;973914]Toss the heater in the display for the night

I'm going the other way with a 400w mh brother! Obviously light is off now but it's up to 82

I'm thinking the Teflon tape is a problem... I've read people putting some silicon on the bottom glass so it can at least be torqued off later but nut won't slowly loosen up from
vibration ?

 

[jdavid]

What size bulkhead?

 

[tonymission]

Bgcoop8784;973918 wrote: I know you probably already know this...but the seal is on the threaded side (inside of tank) and not the nut side right?

Got that .. Thx for checking tho

 

[jdavid]

Don't put silicone on a bulkhead

 

[tonymission]

Well it's for 1" PVC so not sure how it's labeled.
ID or OD

 

[tonymission]

JDavid;973922 wrote: Don't put silicone on a bulkhead

What about glass though? So top of nut seals with glass. Should be removable if I had to

 

[jdavid]

If it's the drain... Try switching it with one of the ones on the eshopps sump. I think they are the same size, and the ones on the sump are only to hold the drains in place, not for a seal. Also, I might have mixed up the nuts. That makes a difference, different threads

 

[tonymission]

I'll update in a bit,
Had to get another brute

 

[ringo®]

tonymission;973919 wrote: I'm going the other way with a 400w mh brother! Obviously light is off now but it's up to 82

Got ya. Frozen water bottle then if it goes too high

 

[jennm]

No silicone on or near bulkheads. EVER.

Teflon tape should have worked. If it's coming loose, what's rattling/vibrating against it? It can't just unscrew itself.

Is it leaking? If so it's more likely cracked (ie from using the wrench with too much enthusiasm.)

Replace it. Save yourself the aggro. Teflon tape for a threaded fitting, and you should be good to go. Hand tighten, or if you use a wrench, don't torque down too hard. Once you feel resistance, stop.

Jenn

 

[jdavid]

Could be the wrong nut for the bulkhead.. Which would be my fault

 

[tonymission]

Naw Josh, I still have to check everything and I don't even think that's the problem. Maybe I over torqued it and now it tightens but then can slip out if torque beyond that.
I just glued it for now since I don't have another 1" union at the house. I can cut it off if needed. Moved my apex leak detect module down here to shut off return and text me
If it happens again I'll have what I need on hand to do it right.

Thanks for the help guys

 

[acroholic]

It really wouldn't be an issue to put Teflon tape on the outer threads. All it would do is increase the diameter of the threaded bulkhead, so the nut has a harder time turning loose.

Tony, just replace the bulkhead when you get a chance. PureReef has them in stock.