Reef Discussion

[macca_75]

Hey guys.

I've finished making "Stage 1" of the new sump and getting it in.

I was expecting, but disappointed when it happened, a few leaks when I turned the pump on for the first time.

Basically there were 4 small leaks - nothing major but nothing I'm going to leave either.

2 of the leaks were from the union on the bulkhead from the weir.

The "o" rings in the union felt pretty dry (before running the pump). Does this matter and should I be appling some sort of grease or sealant? All the new unions I added have a grease on them. Is this critical to help them seal better? I will be unscrewing them from the bulkhead and reapplying the tape before screwing them back on as I am not sure if the leak is coming from the o ring or where the union is screwed onto the bulkhead - all I know is it's running down the pipe.

The other 2 leaks are coming from where I put a Faucet socket onto the bulkheads in the sump. I'll just have to re-tape them.

Thanks in advance for any info you can give me.

 

[Sam Parker]

when you say dry, do you literally just mean no grease or do you mean dry and brittle (aka old). I'd pop some nice fresh rubber o-rings in, but that should really be all you need. The grease should allow them to stay in place as you tighten up on them (if dry, they could grab and bunch up or move out of the groove).

I'd be wary of using most greases as they will be petroleum based. You could possibly find something else food based to do it though?

 

[MagicJ]

I will be unscrewing them from the bulkhead and reapplying the tape before screwing them back on as I am not sure if the leak is coming from the o ring or where the union is screwed onto the bulkhead - all I know is it's running down the pipe.

I would do this before worrying about the unions.

Then, check the O-rings for any cracks - if you find any then you are better off replacing the O-rings.

 

[macca_75]

Thanks Guys.

@Sam Parker - I just mean dry - no grease. The condition looks OK. I suspect maybe it may have pinched when tightening up. I might take the union to the shop tomorrow (didn't grab it out today) and see if it's a standard size o ring from the Nut n Bolt shop.

@MagicJ - yeap a re-tape will definitely happen. @Rob is checking if he has any silicone based grease but if not that's an easy step 2 later if required. If tape fixes the issue it won't be taken apart for another 10 years ;). The re-tape will take a bit and carries more risk - if the bulkhead spins while I tighten the union on I then have a leaking Bulkhead to deal with.

I HATE PLUMBING TANKS !!!!!!

 

[MagicJ]

Use the pink thread tape - it is designed for gas fittings and is thicker than the standard white tape.

 

[macca_75]

Yeah - that's a trick I learnt many years ago. It's all pink tape ;-)

Thanks

 

[Rob]

Masters has a great selection of Orings

 

[macca_75]

Masters has a great selection of Orings

Maybe a tomorrow lunch trip if

a) I work on it tonight

and

b) it's still leaking

 

[Buddy]

Maybe a tomorrow lunch trip if

a) I work on it tonight

and

b) it's still leaking

Give it a few days and the salt creep will seal it up :)

 

[macca_75]

Give it a few days and the salt creep will seal it up :)

Oh No - no way...

I have promised my wife when I'm finished with the auto RO and auto water change there will be NO more water on the floor

 

[MagicJ]

Oh No - no way...

I have promised my wife when I'm finished with the auto RO and auto water change there will be NO more water on the floor

That's a risky promise :rolleyes

 

[macca_75]

That's a risky promise :rolleyes

I call it a sales pitch.

Sort of like "Love, honour and Obey" in a wedding vowel. (for the record, they wasn't in our vowels so no broken promises there)

 

[macca_75]

Not sure how well the pictures will work as I'm trying to show a black o ring on a black fitting, but for what it's worth.

I think (hope) I found the source of my leak.

First up the O ring on the left is the original, the ones on the right are the closest I could find.

When I looked closely the original on the let seems to have shrunk slightly. It doesn't sit flat and it hard to "stretch" into the seating. The new ones are a fraction large, but do fit without pressure. I've tried to highlight when the old O ring isn't sitting properly (colors are screwed to highlight the issue).

And lastley the new rings are a bit thicker. Old on the left and new on the right. Arrows indicate where the ring was seated into the seat.

So I re taped all the threads anyway (just to try and be sure) and when I did these up they felt a lot better. Instead of "binding" when tight I could fell the O ring squish.

Tonight is the test though if it leaks or not :Fingers Crossed

Oh - and for what it's worth the rings are from Repco - out if a distributor cap :-)

 

[MagicJ]

I would say 'good luck' but I don't think any luck is required - it looks like you have fixed everything so there is no way this can leak anymore !!

 

[macca_75]

Well I'm going to update my Sump thread over here but for what it's worth we got it water tight finally.

After stuffing around plumbing in my original return pump it proved to powerful for the new sump (I'd been wanting to turn the flow down for a while so now seemed like an opportune time so I plumbed a spare pump as an external and removed the internal stuff. We put a brand new (as in box was still taped from the OEM) and nothing - dead. FFS! Everything is hard about this.

So we put the backup backup pump on and nothing - started losing my #@%$ here. But @Rob to the rescue. We pulled the pump apart (hadn't been run in years), threw a bit of silicone lube on it and bang we were off. All happy days until about 4 seconds later. 2 leaks still leaking (but I suspected they might).

Next day had someone else come over and hold one end of the bulkhead whilst I gave the fittings a "tweak" - BINGO - no more leaks. Happiest man around that afternoon.