Overflow box probably leaking. Suggestions??

[carey1465]

Finally filled my 210 with some water to see if there's any leaks. Everything looks good but I think my overflow box is leaking. That's not an issue until I loose power and I'm not home. The seals look good but I'm afraid the box may have a hairline crack. Only thing is it's one of these "mega overflow boxes" that has two layers to it and I may have a problem trying to find the issue.

I thought about draining the tank and filling the overflow with some water (close the ball valve on the drain) and hopefully I'll see the box leaking. If I find the crack, will silicone be strong enough to hold the water? I'm hoping I don't have to rip out the overflow box and then reseal the whole tank. Any suggestions??


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[axio]

carey1465;1100281 wrote: Finally filled my 210 with some water to see if there's any leaks. Everything looks good but I think my overflow box is leaking. That's not an issue until I loose power and I'm not home. The seals look good but I'm afraid the box may have a hairline crack. Only thing is it's one of these "mega overflow boxes" that has two layers to it and I may have a problem trying to find the issue.

I thought about draining the tank and filling the overflow with some water (close the ball valve on the drain) and hopefully I'll see the box leaking. If I find the crack, will silicone be strong enough to hold the water? I'm hoping I don't have to rip out the overflow box and then reseal the whole tank. Any suggestions??


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If the overflow box itself is getting separated from the aquarium wall then silicone will be fine to fix the issue. If the overflow box itself is cracked silicone might work, but a glue that is used for plastics and is aquarium safe will probably be a better option.

 

[bcavalli]

+1. You can just drain your overflow box and look for leaks into the box. If the box has a leak you can use Weldon #16 which would be the easiest to repair a crack in that circumstance.

 

[carey1465]

Appreciate all the information. I hope I can knock this out in a week or so.


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[carey1465]

I think I figured out what's going on. I thought I had a crack in my overflow box but what's happening is the return nozzle is taking in water when the pump is turned off. I do have a hole drilled to break the siphon but for some reason the nozzle is still taking in water. So once I lift the nozzle completely out of the water, the water stops draining. I guess tomorrow I'll drill another hole or check to see if it's clogged with salt creep.


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[sewer urchin]

what's happening is the return nozzle is taking in water when the pump is turned off.

I always had horrible luck keeping the anti-siphon hole free from algae or any of that bio film that develops inside pipes. My suggestion is to look at Melev's Reef page for his design for a anti-siphon check valve, it looks kinda cool.

 

[zachxlutz]

Sewer Urchin;1100310 wrote: I always had horrible luck keeping the anti-siphon hole free from algae or any of that bio film that develops inside pipes. My suggestion is to look at Melev's Reef page for his design for a anti-siphon check valve, it looks kinda cool.

http://www.melevsreef.com/node/1782">http://www.melevsreef.com/node/1782</a>

That's great. I wish I had seen that when I was designing my plumbing. I wonder if I could retrofit something like this to my system. Hmmmmmm.

 

[carey1465]

I came home tonight and experimented with the return pipes. Still no luck. For some reason it's still sucking in a small amount of water. I guess tomorrow I'll remove the pipes from the bulkheads and check them out and maybe drill larger holes if needed. Maybe I'll just in stall a check valve. Here are some pics of the returns. Maybe I'm overlooking something. Thank you

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