Leaking gate valve

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Khmer86

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Dec 1, 2013
Messages
73
Hello fellow reefer! I need help with my leaking gate valve. I re-did my plumbing and just finished gluing all my pvc but noticed a slow leak inside where the handle is. I would hate to break it down and redo it but before I do that, is there any miracle chance I could take off the handle and see what is the cause of the leak? With the valve open, the handle feels loose and wiggle a bit but with the gate closed, the handle is sturdy without any movement. Please help and thanks in advance!! 1480921395303.jpg
 
Here is the exact point where the leak is coming from 1480921745443.jpg
 
Try to tighten the screw on the handle .
If that doesn't work I would take it apart and see if the washer/oring is screwed up...
That leak is 'inside' the valve making it seem more like a seal inside....
 
Thanks coral bandit, the screw on the handle is tight but I hope it's a seal or o ring that can be replaced instead of replacing the whole gate valve
 
the stem seal on a valve like that will only be an O-ring under/inside the body nut.
close valve snug,loosen handle screw.
open valve a full turn or more,remove handle.
undo the body nut & unscrew/open valve fully untill stem/body nut assembly comes free of the body.
slide stem from body nut & inspect shaft & seal.
seal will be inside body nut.
standard O-rings from hardware or auto parts stores for replacement.
be very carefull not to scratch the LAND which the O-ring resides in when attempting to "pick" the O-ring from Its Land groove.
look closely @ the LAND grove with O-ring removed for casting line or other iregularities.
check the stem for scores or scratches.
install new O-ring with a drop or 2 of WD40 (fish oil) apply to stem as well.
rotate stem & body nut as you are reassembling the stem to body nut.
reinstall into valve following the removal proceedure.
Good luck
 
That is a very detailed instructions and is exactly the answer I was trying to find, thank you goldguru!! I will try it out and hope it's easy fix
 
goldguru did an amazing job of explaining exactly how to fix the hate valve. But as future reference just use a ball valve. I am a plumber and on any work we do we never instal gate valves they always seem to break and wear. This is because of the rubber gasket they have. As a ball valve does not have any gasket.
 
Offended_fish - I agree that goldguru explained it perfectly. When I purchased this tank and stand the plumbing was already built and I was fairly new to the saltwater hobby so I just left it the way the previous owner did since he had years of experience and his upgraded tank was phenomenal. I had this tank for about 4 years now
 
But I did changed the 29 gallon sump and modified the 40 gallon breeder tank...it was 5 inches too wide to fit so I broke down the tank cut 5 inches and resealed the tank :) happiest and successful diy I performed so far. It's Been over 6 months now and no leak to the newly modified sump
 
That's awesome! I have freshwater my self and I'm not to knowledgeable on the saltwater side. But maybe you could help me out with your diy skills. I have a 120 gallon and I have been trying to get it leveled for a while. so here's the story. I ordered a tank to fit my stand because I was given a stand and a tank with a crack in it no one locally was able to repair or replace the panel that had a crack in it. Of the tank came a half inch too large for the stand. there for I had to get a piece of plywood and waterproof it so I could put it on top of the stand then put the tank on top of that I wasn't able to set the tank up because I knew I would be moving soon but now I'm living in my new place and I can't seem to get the tank to sit on the stand evenly. The wood was bowed slightly so I took 2 inch screws and drill the piece of plywood into the original stand this pulled the plywood flush against the stand but the tank still doesn't sit on the wood flush.
 
That sounds like a frustrating issue and I was in your shoes when I convinced my friend to switch to saltwater hobby. His stand does not sit flush either and no matter what we tried it never became a permanent fix so I advised my friend to build a stand ourselves and we carefully measured everything perfectly and it looks great!! If you are willing to build a stand...I got the idea from uarujoey on YouTube where he built a stand and canopy and he shows his step in great detail
 
Here is the 55 gallon build of the stand for his freshwater tank before he converted to saltwater 1481260575073.jpg1481260580116.jpg
 
That does look great! And fairly cheep! I also have a sump and stuff I would need to hide but I could totally do that. I think I'm going to do that.
 
It is Cheap and with patience and help, overall it is worth it and at the end you're going to say to yourself...yep I built this on my own. Most of everything I learned and built is from YouTube and online forums :) you will not regret building it yourself
 
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