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Plumbing frustration!!

1204 Views 15 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  DaveK, 
jellopuddinpop
So, I just need to vent here for a minute, hoping some others can sympathize. I have had a staghorn algae breakout in my tank, and have pretty much limited the source down to fluctuating CO2 levels. As a solution, I decided to change from the cheapo inline diffuser to a Cerges reactor. I went to my local home improvement store on Saturday night and got all of the pieces I was going to need to make this thing, and started on Sunday morning in the hopes of being complete before the CO2 kicked on. It’s worth mentioning that my tank stand is very crowded (I run 2 smaller filters vs 1 larger filter), and my wiring is atrocious, so I wasn’t really looking forward to this.

Fast forward to yesterday morning, and I’ve assembled the reactor with all of the fittings required. I install the reactor on the output side of one of the canisters, and realize really quickly that I should have filled the reactor with dechlorinated water before starting it up, and it takes me almost 5 minutes of shifting and twisting to get most of the air out. Once It’s all up and running, I notice a very small drip coming from the reducer bushing for the CO2 airline. I tried tightening it up some, but knowing plumbing just enough to get in trouble, I know that tightening a pipe fitting isn’t guaranteed to stop a leak. After a couple of futile attempts, it’s time to try to fix the problem.

In my haste to plan the whole thing out, I neglected to put any ball valves on the hoses, so literally the whole contraption needs to come out to prevent water from going everywhere. Before trying to fix the leak, I took another trip to Dumpo and picked up the fittings and ball valves so I could add those in. After disassembling the whole mess and taking it out, I installed the ball valves, reseated the reducer bushing and barb fitting, and put the whole thing back. Again, I forgot to fill it with water, and again, had to f!#* with it for 5 minutes to clear out the air. So here we are, the air is out, the ball valves are installed, the reducer bushing isn’t leaking, and all is good with the world…

…Until I look and notice a slow drip coming from one of the threaded fittings to one of the ball valves. It was left last night with a drip, because for lack of a better reason, I just didn’t have the patience to try to fix it last night. At least I can close the other ball valve now, and hopefully can get away with only taking one of the hoses off. This whole damned project feels like it hasn’t been worth the effort at all. I really hope this reactor works the way it’s supposed to!
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Immortal1
Yes, I can sympathize with your situation. I have built several Cerges reactors (along with many other plumbing projects) and have had to deal with leaks every so often.
Couple of questions - does your whole house filter have some type of purge valve on the top (most do)? With my latest version it has a twist top that when turned far enough it vents out air. Others just have a button. This would help get the air out of your system during startup. Having a ball valve on each end of the reactor does help with maintenance and tuning, assuming you have the room for it.
Can you post a picture of your setup? I might be able to offer more advice. Also, for what its worth, it should be worth it in the end! These reactors, when properly built are extremely efficient at dissolving co2 into water.
FYI, this is my setup.

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jellopuddinpop
The filter has a valve, but it’s stated as being a pressure release valve. I tried depressing it, but only got water coming out, not air. Inside the filter, the valve must be located in the outlet passage. I’ll snap a photo when I get home, but I didn’t as of yet because (if I’m being honest), I’m totally embarrassed by the disorganization under my stand. I’m going to be upgrading from my current 90G to a 125G in the spring time (moving), so I haven’t had the motivation to clean up all of the wires when I’m just going to be taking it all apart. At least with the reactor, I’m working out some bugs before using it on the bigger tank. Photos incoming this afternoon!
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Nordic
Teflon tape counter clockwise on the threaded bit before screwing it back together....
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jellopuddinpop
Nordic said:
Teflon tape counter clockwise on the threaded bit before screwing it back together....
Click to expand...
I used plenty of teflon tape, but I thought you wanted to go clockwise so the tape tightened as the fitting was tightened. Am I missing something?

To be honest, I think I may have overtightened the fitting and created a small crack.
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Immortal1
Guess I should mention - you don't have to get overly tight with these fittings as you are not subjecting them to very much pressure. Line pressure on you tap water lines is significantly higher and it does not take much tightening to keep them from leaking.
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jellopuddinpop
Immortal1 said:
Guess I should mention - you don't have to get overly tight with these fittings as you are not subjecting them to very much pressure. Line pressure on you tap water lines is significantly higher and it does not take much tightening to keep them from leaking.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what happened. My home depot is terrible at stocking these kinds of things, and didn't have the fitting I needed in nylon, so I bought brass and told myself to be careful. Apparently, I wasn't careful enough lol

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
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PlantedRich
While I do feel for you and I do know the pain of not knowing how tight is tight enough, we can always look at it as a learning experience. If we do the same thing often enough we do get the feel of what works and what doesn't.
So the real lesson may be that you now can feel better about doing it the next time---either that or say no way and never do it again?

Small point in case the project comes around again? You mention using plenty of tape. This can sometimes be a problem when we are not sure. Too much tape can be as bad as too little. It can actually bind up the fitting and make them crack before they might otherwise, so many use a "standard" of three wraps and then if there is a problem they can learn to adjust the amount for different types and kinds of fittings. Clockwise is the correct way to wrap--assuming you are thinking of the open end of the fitting.
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jellopuddinpop
Yupp, I used 3 wraps. I've done some plumbing in the past, but always with like materials (brass to brass, pvc to pvc). I got home and decided that the leaky ball valve wasn't even really necessary, as it was on the hose between the canister and the reactor. I just replaced it with solid hose instead.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Here's a photo as promised...

Automotive lighting Electrical wiring Bicycle handlebar Audio equipment Cable


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Zorfox
It is clockwise for the teflon tape. However, teflon tape should only be used with metal fittings. Instead, use a vibration resistant pipe dope.
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Immortal1
Thank-you for the pic. I assume the black lever on the top of the Cerges is to shut off flow? And I think you mentioned you tried using the red button to purge air out but you only got water - correct?
Another thing I noticed is it looks like you still have the carbon filter in the Cerges (whole house filter)? Typically that is removed and a vertical stand pipe is attached (glued) to the filter output (center opening) with the stand pipe about 3/4" off the bottom of the housing or all the way to the bottom of the housing with several holes drilled in the bottom of the stand pipe (kinda like my example).
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X45
It looks like he used a piece of reinforced clear pipe to me. But is possible that its a filter I guess. Hard to tell in the picture.

Immortal1 said:
Thank-you for the pic. I assume the black lever on the top of the Cerges is to shut off flow? And I think you mentioned you tried using the red button to purge air out but you only got water - correct?
Another thing I noticed is it looks like you still have the carbon filter in the Cerges (whole house filter)? Typically that is removed and a vertical stand pipe is attached (glued) to the filter output (center opening) with the stand pipe about 3/4" off the bottom of the housing or all the way to the bottom of the housing with several holes drilled in the bottom of the stand pipe (kinda like my example).
Click to expand...
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jellopuddinpop
Immortal1 said:
Thank-you for the pic. I assume the black lever on the top of the Cerges is to shut off flow? And I think you mentioned you tried using the red button to purge air out but you only got water - correct?
Another thing I noticed is it looks like you still have the carbon filter in the Cerges (whole house filter)? Typically that is removed and a vertical stand pipe is attached (glued) to the filter output (center opening) with the stand pipe about 3/4" off the bottom of the housing or all the way to the bottom of the housing with several holes drilled in the bottom of the stand pipe (kinda like my example).
Click to expand...
That's just reinforced pvc tubing with a disk of coarse filter pad around it to catch bubbles. The ID of the compatible filter was a really strange size, so I couldn't just use regular PCV piping (no standard size would fit). I had to use tubing and glue it in place. In hindsight, I'm going to try to take that filter apart later when I get home. Maybe the ID is an actual pipe I can harvest and use.

The black lever on the top is to bypass the filter, for cleaning purposes I would assume. Also, yes, that is the button I pressed to try to purge air and only got water.
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Immortal1
Gotcha. funny how that reinforced tubing looks just like a regular filter in the pic when you throw in the distortion of the housing. Speaking of housing, in my opinion is was good of you to find a clear housing. Makes it much easier to see whats actually happening in there. Every once in a while I get my bps a little too high and I get a bubble of co2 in the top of the reactor which in turn makes more noise. Seeing whats going on inside has helped my get the bypass valve and bps dialed in such that it only takes about 2 hours to get around a 1 point ph drop.
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C
Not sure of where you live and what's around you but if you used unions, pull the entire part of the assembly that's leaking and take it to your local pipe/ plumbing supply center (Not the hardware store, Lowe's or Home Depot). Those guys bailed me out on numerous occasions when I thought all was lost.
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D
Don't let these initial plumbing problems get you down.Consider it part of the learning experience. The first time I did a big plumbing project on one of my tanks I had my share of similar problems.

Once you get it done and working, you'll wonder what the fuss was all about and you'll be able to build just about any other aquarium project with no problems at all.
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