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01/08/2018, 12:22 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: sf bay area
Posts: 5,165
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Be careful hand tightening bulkheads
long story short, I tore a tendon on my thumb trying to tighten a bulkhead.
could be worse, I was in ER new year's eve, for what I initially thought was a dislocated thumb. not posting a picture here as it may be disturbing to some. I was doing water change on new year's eve since I am going out of town the following day, and murphy's law, the emergency drain on my herbie starts leaking. found out the bulkhead nut was loose. no big deal, I will just hand tighten it. Since I can only use one hand to reach the bulkhead from behind the stand, I turned it as hard as I can and heard a crunch. ouch. good news it, it is now tight and no more leaks. |
01/08/2018, 01:51 PM | #2 |
Moved On
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: auburn CA
Posts: 4,021
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On a side note, almost always they leak not because of tightness, there is a casting mark you need to sand off the gasket seating area.
All of mine seep when I don't sand that off. |
01/08/2018, 01:58 PM | #3 |
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Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 590
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OW!
Glad to hear it doesn't leak, but sorry to hear that. :/ Best investment I made when working on bulkheads was in a homedepot oilfilter tool. Grabs bulkheads awesome. Hope the hand heals well! |
01/08/2018, 06:12 PM | #4 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Westminster, CO
Posts: 17,289
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Dang dude! Hope you recover quickly! Do that physical therapy!!
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Hobby Experience: 9200ish gallons, 26 skimmers, and a handful of Kent Scrapers. Current Tank: Vortech Powered 600G SPS Tank w/ 100gal frag tank & 100g Sump. RK2-RK10 Skimmer. ReefAngel. Radium 20k. |
01/09/2018, 08:36 AM | #5 |
Grizzled & Cynical
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Stamford, CT
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LOL, even the 'safe' hobbies can be dangerous. Got a nasty bacterial infection in my hand from a live rock puncture wound one time ..... and broke my foot by inadvertently bouncing it off one of my stereo speakers. Thinking of taking up skydiving ..... figure it will be safer. What could possibly go wrong!
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Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs |
01/09/2018, 11:31 AM | #6 |
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Location: North Carolina
Posts: 20,050
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So you agree that the rule of thumb is wait for the crunch then 1/4 turn on a bulkhead to ensure proper tightness?
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Who me? |
01/09/2018, 02:46 PM | #7 | |
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Location: Lockport, NY
Posts: 1,340
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Quote:
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7 reef tanks, 5 freshwater tanks, 2 terrariums, 2 dogs, 3 boys, and 1 very understanding wife! Current Tank Info: Marine: Pair of 40B's, 45W, 50g cube, ADA 45F at home...IM Nuvo 20 and 10 at office! |
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01/10/2018, 02:16 AM | #8 | |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Westminster, CO
Posts: 17,289
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Quote:
That 18 hour trip to the ER for palytoxin poisoning was crappy... but at least I got to walk away from that.
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Hobby Experience: 9200ish gallons, 26 skimmers, and a handful of Kent Scrapers. Current Tank: Vortech Powered 600G SPS Tank w/ 100gal frag tank & 100g Sump. RK2-RK10 Skimmer. ReefAngel. Radium 20k. |
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01/10/2018, 06:13 AM | #9 |
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Posts: 17,749
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
01/10/2018, 07:29 AM | #10 |
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: North Carolina
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01/10/2018, 08:19 AM | #11 |
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 2,055
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Get yourself a Captain of Crush gripper.
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