# Why does my Sump leak?



## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I picked up a large taken the other night.
the fellow said it needed re sealing.

This is a photo of the junction of the 2 sump lines<VBG>


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The guy said the tank needed resealing, or he needed new plumbing?


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Yikes, I'm pretty sure that's not how silicone is supposed to be used.


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

He said it needed re sealing.
It appears that the tried to stop it leaking by applying more silicone while it was still leaking.
The actual sump fitting/elbows were about 2 fist sized clumps of silicone
on each one.

He wanted me to put it in my van with the pipes attached and 2 inches of sludge, cigarette buts and rock in it.
I explained the the piping and gobs of silicone had to be cut off before I could put it in the van or it would break the bottom of the tank.


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

Do you know what the extent of the damage on the pipe? i.e. a small hole? a bad solvent weld from the Tee? Cracked pipe?

Pretty good artistic expression.


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## MadgicBug (Apr 22, 2010)

IMO, I would just remove sections above the ball valve and cut the pipes 8" to 12" left and right of it. Go to Home depot and pick up a PVC pipes, a couple fittings, a Tee and a coupler and epoxy to redo it.


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I have located the correct bulkhead fitting to replace the ones in the tank.
I'm thinking putting them in with a pipe plug in place and fill the tank, cut out the existing silicone inside the the tank and clean it up and caulk it.
Then fill it and check for other leaks.

I suspect they tried to cheap out with the old fittings, probably moved the tank without supporting the tank to keep pressure off the fittings at some point and then counted on the silicone to fix the problem.

I have all the glues and solvents for PVC as I worked in a plastic pipe shop previously and had to trouble shoot a lot of installations done wrong.

Start with new clean fittings and don't take any shortcuts, it is not worth taking shortcut with the possibility of a 100+ gallon flood!
And or more leaks in the future and the loss of fish..


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## taureandragon76 (Apr 21, 2010)

I saw this tank for myself in the back of Mikes van, what a joke with the work the previous owner of this tank did. For the cost of all the silicone they used they could've boughten a couple of bulkheads.


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