Bulkhead leaking

[antjtc]

My 1 in abs bulkhead is leaking from inside the tube but very slow drip. It is threaded on the tank side and slip joint on the sump side. Can I assume the leak is due to the threads from my standpipe not fully sealing as opposed to the rubber washer not being tight enough between glass and bulkhead? The latter would result in leak on outside of bulkhead tube? I tried putting extra pipe thread on standpipe but still leaks. I tightened it as well? Any suggestions? The tube is my emergency line but I don't want any leak of any kind. Thanks

[mjhall85]

It could be the standpipe is not sealing properly but also the washer could be bad. I would drain the overflow and fix it cause a small drip can start to be a big one eventually. can you take a picture of the bulkhead and post it. On my bulkhead the piece on the outside is not a slip joint it is a threaded.

[jon99]

I'm trying to understand what you mean by "leaking from inside the tube". Take a picture and explain exactly where the leak is coming from.

[bongarone]

Wouldn't make sense for it to be the standpipe. How can something "leak" if it's submerged in water?

Did you glue your drain pipe to the bulkhead? What kind of glue did you use?

Either your bulkhead is cracked or the slip fitted drainpipe isn't sealed. Don't over tighten ABS bulkheads and threaded fittings. They're weak and aren't under high pressure anyway.

[FrogfishFeeder]

Is this leak something you noticed after a mew setup, or are you like years into the tank?

If its a brandnew setup, id say the standpipe is not sealed.
If its a nee leak on an old tank, id say your bulkhead migjt have let go.

Sometimes, small drips can seal themselves with salt.....

[antjtc]

I'm trying to understand what you mean by "leaking from inside the tube". Take a picture and explain exactly where the leak is coming from.

Here is a pic of underside of my bulkhead. I actually figured it out. I just needed to put extra winds of pipe thread on my stand pipe and tightened it a bit more into the bulkhead from above. I realized there is no way water can leak inside the tube of the bulkhead unless the pipe threads above aren't sealed. If the washer wasn't sealed properly then the water would leak on the outside part of the bulkhead (threaded). I just hope I didn't overtighten anything and my bulkhead won't crack. I wonder if I need to replace them every yr or two to be safe. What a pain if they all eventually give out and flood my floor.

[sleepydoc]

Still not sure I understand - it shouldn't matter if the standpipe on the inside of the tank is tightened or not. The water should never leak outside the tank. If you've got leaking water on the outside, it's from a bad washer seal, a cracked bulkhead, or a poor seal on the glue joint underneath.

In your picture, you don't have anything glued into the slip joint side underneath. If you just had a pvc pipe pressed into the slip joint, it could've have easily been leaking around that.

[Darth Vedder]

I just plumbedy tank today and had the same issue. It was the threads inside the overflow. I removed it and used more Teflon tape and reinserted the return and tightened the bulkhead and it stopped.

If there isn't any water outside on the nut or outside threads on the underside of the bulkhead it's most likely from the plumbing inside the overflow