Drip Drip Goes The Uniseal (Leaking!)

Cold$moke said:

I know just saying its very minimal of a diff

I almost went down the bottom drain road

Just didnt want to have to elevate the system

As funny stuff happens when you got 20 gals in a tote

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i was just checking and i can mount them down low on the sides. and eliminate 4 pvc fittings

Sounds like k.i.s.s. to me

Cold$moke said:

Sounds like k.i.s.s. to me

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there is a slight angle on the totes sides. do you think it will seal well enough?


edit: bulkhead will seal, will the pvc tube seal if on a slight angle?

It all depends on where the moon is in the 7th hour of the 8th day

I can say i abandoned my first 60 gal setup

Cause the leaks kicked my ass (it would have been so perfect) i will only mop up for a system so many times lol

I couldnt tell ya if your set up would seal as i dont want that evil on me lol
But i will say grab some silicone and thread sealant

Do not crank down on your bulk heads or they will crack in a micro line that you cant see till you filler up lol

Is your bulkhead all threaded ir is it a thread slip?

Cold$moke said:

It all depends on where the moon is in the 7th hour of the 8th day

I can say i abandoned my first 60 gal setup

Cause the leaks kicked my ass (it would have been so perfect) i will only mop up for a system so many times lol

I couldnt tell ya if your set up would seal as i dont want that evil on me lol
But i will say grab some silicone and thread sealant

Do not crank down on your bulk heads or they will crack in a micro line that you cant see till you filler up lol

Is your bulkhead all threaded ir is it a thread slip?

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i don't know the difference. threaded in and out, with a slip fitting on one end.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002HBL9A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If its a slip it will be smooth on the inside requiring pvc cement
If its got threads inside the big body then its a threaded fitting
Try to keep them from being tweaked

Hard to explain but if its not lined up well it could be problematic

First id try it dry and fill her up out side or the garage somewhere where a flood wont do damage.

Then see how she does. If it drips find out from where and mark it

Then apply thread sealant to see if that helps

Or silicone .

Im not trying to make it sound harder then it is
But i know what a bitch it is to scrap a whole system just cause of leaks it sucks cause now all your totes got funny holes in em so you cant use em for dwc lol

what i was trying to explain is it has threads on the inside of the bulkhead on 1 end and a slip fitting on the other.

i'm gonna cut 2 more totes and test it.

Ok if thats the case its BETTER

Cause you can set your system up before you glue anything and make sure its all good (as much as you can without filling it anyways)

Then go around the pipe with a marker or scribe it that way when you do your glue up any little tilts can be accounted for. I glued everything straight and square and it fucked me thats all im trying to help you prevent

But make sure you take how much it will flex under water pressure into account or build a support under it


Sorry if i sound like a broken record

Cold$moke said:

Ok if thats the case its BETTER

Cause you can set your system up before you glue anything and make sure its all good (as much as you can without filling it anyways)

Then go around the pipe with a marker or scribe it that way when you do your glue up any little tilts can be accounted for. I glued everything straight and square and it fucked me thats all im trying to help you prevent

But make sure you take how much it will flex under water pressure into account or build a support under it


Sorry if i sound like a broken record

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i will fill it with water here in a little bit. i have fitted two of them together. with no water the tight fit of the pvc between the tubs slightly picks up the inside edges off the floor. the weight of the water will force them down and test the fits...

well the gap on the bulkhead gasket will not seal on the sides when i connect a PVC tube between the two totes. i do not want to rely on silicone, so i am officially looking at different containers/totes.

@Cold$moke can you measure that square on the bottom of your brute? if it's 3 1/4" or better that is the route i will take.

Sure bud give me a few

Can you take a pic of what its doing

Cold$moke said:

Can you take a pic of what its doing

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already took it apart, but just had a single 1.5" pvc tube run directly between two totes. the slight angle on each side of the tote does not allow for the gasket to seat well enough without the use of silicone. if it leaks before i even fill it up 1/4 of the way i need something better.

Sorry it took so long , @Sour Wreck after the sight went down yesterday i spaced it.......

Ok so the square in the middle is 4 inches bx 3and 7/8 inches

BUT only the center square is big enough and it has printed letters on it which could mkae it difficult to work.

Cold$moke said:

Sorry it took so long , @Sour Wreck after the sight went down yesterday i spaced it.......

Ok so the square in the middle is 4 inches bx 3and 7/8 inches

BUT only the center square is big enough and it has printed letters on it which could mkae it difficult to work.

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thanks man, still looking for suitable totes. looked at my sterlite totes last night and they would probably work.

well i have determined how to make the HDX totes work with the bulkheads mounted low on the sides. in the first picture you can see the problem. the angle of the tote sides does not allow for a smooth even fit. when connected and fille with water, it flexes the sides of the totes and they leak.






so i thought what if i elevated the inside edges of the totes just enough to take the flexing out. this will not be my permanent solution, but it worked to prove my point.




the key was to keep this pvc between the two totes level when they are filled with water.




they have been holding water for over 20 mins with ZERO LEAKS and no silicone applied yet... i think i got this shit beat. i will harvest a ghost train haze, sour wreck and 707 truthband this weekend to make room for the new R-DWC build.

might need a few parts, but i have most everything i need, including PVC fittings and pump. so many PVC projects over the years have left me with a decent selection of 1, 1.5 and 2 inch fittings. will have to pick up some 1/2 inch fittings, but they are cheap, compared to the others.

so what is everyone using for a control rez?

i am thinking about a 20 gallon brute trash can

looked at the brute at home depot today. don't trust the bulkheads to seal on the round edges.

for now i am still looking for a control rez that i like, but here is the basic setup. might have it up and running tonight, but probably tomorrow.

still painting the lids black also.

i also built a drain on to the 1.5" return line, but failed to get it in the pics. will take a pic later.

Looking good so far! In that very first picture you posted with the pvc pipe going down on an angle....

If you could possibly get a piece that is a slip fitting, so it screws onto that bulkhead, and then you can slip a pipe over it. Then you could get a flexible pipe and you will not have to worry about minor differences in height. (although it looks like you might have already dealt with that. )

That's what I'm using for my res., 20gal brute. I believe you could get away with a much smaller res also if you wanted, like those flip-lid-garbage-cans. I like the brute.

I made mine work with a simple ball-valve. But I will most likely do a complete re-vamp once this run is finished, with proper 4" bulkheads, top-fed and with my mean 1K-gal. pump.