got bulkheads?

[justDIY]

woohoo!!

rather than risk breaking something trying to screw big pvc fittings together to make a cheap bulkhead, I began a quest to obtain the real thing - cheaply and easily!

i called a few plumbing stores, looking for bulkheads but no luck - one place did have 1" bulkheads, $25 each ... so that wasn't going to work either.

so I was driving around and stopped in a Marine and RV Supply store - boats have bulkheads, so I figured I might get lucky

and boy was I right!

after digging through boxes of bulkheads and bilge pumps, I came across a pair of matching 1.5" bulkheads with retaining lip and nut, and 1.5" hose barb ... how much for this great find you ask? ... hows about $2 each!

hot d*mn.

the sales person claimed the box was full of prototypes and other assorted "junk" that century boat sold them.

so now I'm set I hope ... I have to ream the holes in my overflow a bit larger to accomidate the new size but that shouldn't be too much trouble.

so if you too are insearch of bulkheads - try a boat shop ... maybe you will get luck as well!

 

[justDIY]

bulkhead pics

here's the bulkheads mounted in their acrylic base

after assembling the overflow I'll remove the bulkheads, caulk with silcone and reattach - but that's for a different upcoming post / article!

 

[SoCal]

You got it. I live near a bunch of marine exchanges and they all have "through holes" and lots of connectors, hoses all the stuff you need to plumb multiple tanks. There is also a wholesale aquarium store that sells the stuff, they also sell to the public. http://www.aquaticwarehouse.com/site/index.cfm

 

[justDIY]

hmm

now that I've completed assembly and am trying to test the unit, I cannot find a stand pipe that fits into the slip fitting on the bulk head!

1.25" pipe would work except that it has an extremely thick wall, compared to 1 or 1.5" pipe ... so the OD is about 1/8th inch too thick and 1" pipe is too small and would be difficult to seal

I had wanted to use a short standpipe in my design so I could do something similar to Stockman's compact external design... to help quiet down the rush of water.

need to find someone with a lathe and have 'em shave some pipe for me!

 

[SoCal]

sounds like an odd size bulkhead. If you are just trying to get the diameter down on the tip if the pipe so it fits the bulkhead, try sanding it down. It's a pain in the butt,.. but it works. I am new to the whole tank plumbing thing. I am starting out by building a 5 gallon bucket filter to see how it goes.

These are parts I got from the whole sale aquatic store I mentioned. A little pricey but all the pieces are standard sizes and where right in front of me for the taking, so $25 dollars later this is what I got.

 

[justDIY]

I think you're right about the odd size

looking at your bulkhead, I can see it's threaded on the inside as well as the out...

i think my bulkheads were meant to be placed through the hull of a boat or camper, and designed to just drain water (or whatever) out, without concern for attaching anything on the other side.

well, if they're really noisey I'll look into sanding down some PVC pipe ... sanding off an 1/8 of an inch is a LOT of sanding!

 

[SoCal]

I just had a thought....you can get a 90 elbow piece and glue it right to the face of the bulk head, then add hose from there. I don't think PVC glue is toxic once it dries and it is super easy to work with. It actually melts a thin layer of the PVC and bonds the two pieces together. You will have to sand both surfaces for the glue to take a good grip..just enough to take the shine off.

 

[justDIY]

well, these bulkheads aren't PVC, I think they're polypropleyne

I found that the threaded part of a 1.25" MPT to SLIP fits pretty nicely in the hole ... I might be able to "glue" it in there using silicone... then it can come out easily incase I need to change something

or maybe I should just pony up the $20 bucks and order a real pair with my pump