Leaks

[timClement]

I finished the plumbing on my 180g reef-to-be last night and filled it with tap water to test everything out. The tank sits on the first floor, with the sump in the basement directly underneath, and 1" flexible PVC connecting the two. I found three small leaks at various points, all threaded connections. I need to decide whether to rip out those fittings and redo them (not sure what I would do differently, though), or to try to seal it up with silicone, epoxy, etc. Two of the leaks are very slow drips, maybe one drip every hour. The third is a little more, maybe one drop every ten minutes. I did use teflon tape on all of the threads.

Any ideas on what I should do?

Thanks.

 

[jetor]

How much teflon did you use?? PVC threads in my exprience are deeper and tend to need a little more wrapping than one would think. I would just pull those fittings apart and rewrap the threads......should work. Ain't plumbing grand!!!

Jasen

 

[Will C1]

jetor's suggestion sounds good if it dosent work try siliconeing it, you wont be able to get it appart later but it sounds like that wont be a problem.

 

[timClement]

Well, I rethreaded the joints, this time with several layers of tape, and spread some silicone on as well. I'll let that set up for a couple of days, and then test it all out again...

 

[ReefLion]

I avoid using silicon in these situations, because it might interfere with the mechanisms that are designed to work (in this case, tape). If teflon tape isn't doing it, I would just use slip fittings with PVC cement. In fact, it is what I have dont with most of my plumbing. It's easy and rock solid. If i need to redo it, I'll just cut it below the bulkhead fitting and use another. It's such a rare event that it's worth the ease, IMO.

Tim

 

[Mogo]

Teflon tape has been best for me. Careful not to crossthread connections which is easy to do with alot of teflon tape on it. I use silicone like bandaids which is hopefully never.

 

[King Jason]

I had problems with my threaded seals on my 190. I got sick of trying to fix the leaks with more teflon tape. I replaced all threaded pieces (where I could) with slip. The remaining threaded fittings have more tape on them then you could imagine. There is a lot of pressure on many of my seals so I had to make sure they didn't leak.

 

[trigger0214]

IMO

Rip out all of the threaded fittings you can....replace with slips (glue-ons), and add viton sealed unions for future changes/adjustments. I rarley have problems (if ever) with glued fittings.

 

[ChrisRD]

Using too much teflon tape on a threaded PVC fitting or overtightening can cause leaks. I've seen recommendations in the past of "7-10 turns" of teflon tape on this board and IMO that's WAY too much tape. A few turns is plenty.

When you have to be sure a threaded fitting doesn't leak, a non-stick thread sealer is what pipe manufacturers and professional plumbers recommend/use. This stuff is commonly available at home improvement / hardware stores.

Keep in mind that if you've already overtightened the fitting or gone overboard with the tape, the fittings/threads may already be deformed, so more tightening will not help at that point. If they're damaged, you may have to replace the fittings in question.

All that said, I use slip/glue fittings wherever possible.

HTH