Very slow leaking bulkhead.

[christwendt]

Hello. Since I bought a wrench to tighten my bulkhead more it has started leaking. I then unscrewed everything and even added plumbers tape/ silicone grease but it stills leaking where it threads in place. It’s a drop in 12 hours so not much. I can see the salt creep by it overnight. Any other suggestions or know how to fix it leaking at the threads ? I double wrapped the plumbers tape. Maybe try wrapping it more ?

 

[Dburr1014]

Hello. Since I bought a wrench to tighten my bulkhead more it has started leaking. I then unscrewed everything and even added plumbers tape/ silicone grease but it stills leaking where it threads in place. It’s a drop in 12 hours so not much. I can see the salt creep by it overnight. Any other suggestions or know how to fix it leaking at the threads ? I double wrapped the plumbers tape. Maybe try wrapping it more ?

Take the tape off and use plumbers liquid type stuff.

Edit: I assume the seal is on the inside and free of any discrepancies. ie, divits, seam lines, ect.

 

[JoshH]

Is it leaking from where you circled? Or coming from somewhere else? Where you have it circled is the outside nut. No amount of tape or liquid dope will fix that if that is the case and in reality you should never put either of those in that location anyway. Water forming there indicates an issue with the gasket itself.

 

[Sean Clark]

Those threads have nothing to do with the sealing of a bulkhead. If it is leaking then the gasket seal on the inside of the tank is either not properly installed or ot has been compromised. Those threads are only their to secure the bulkhead and apply compression to the gasket.

 

[christwendt]

Those threads have nothing to do with the sealing of a bulkhead. If it is leaking then the gasket seal on the inside of the tank is either not properly installed or ot has been compromised. Those threads are only their to secure the bulkhead and apply compression to the gasket.

dang thanks for explaining this. I looked more closely at the gasket inside the tank. I must have cracked it when I went to tighten it more. I see a crack here. Is there an easier way to change this out without cutting my pipe ?

 

[christwendt]

Is it leaking from where you circled? Or coming from somewhere else? Where you have it circled is the outside nut. No amount of tape or liquid dope will fix that if that is the case and in reality you should never put either of those in that location anyway. Water forming there indicates an issue with the gasket itself.

I think I found the culprit. Darn I also think I need to rebuy piping and cut the old stuff.

 

[christwendt]

Take the tape off and use plumbers liquid type stuff.

Edit: I assume the seal is on the inside and free of any discrepancies. ie, divits, seam lines, ect.

I found out the inside part is cracked. Probably from me over tightening.

 

[Sean Clark]

Is there an easier way to change this out without cutting my pipe ?

It is hard to see in the photos but if the plastic is cracked then you will need to cut it out and replace it. If only the gasket is split then you should be able to loosen the bulkhead and slip the old gasket out and install a new gasket without cutting anything apart.

Just snug should be tight enough so go easy on the wrench.

Most bulkheads are made out of ABS plastic which is much weaker and more prone to cracking than PVC.
Lifeguard sells some pretty affordable PVC bulkheads.

 

[ca1ore]

I know there’s a tendency to go cheap with bulkheads. After a few issues with the crap ABS types, I switched to the reef octopus double o-ring PVC model. $20 versus $8, but much better made and worth the extra $ to me.