Overflow Drilled Holes Leaking

bangbangkhan

Reefing newb
I have tried various positions but there seems to always be a constant drip coming under the flange side...:grumble:..which as you see below outside the tank per glass-holes instructions.

this is the only think keeping my tank becoming into a reef so far...:frustrat: :frustrat:

Options:

1) should I put silicon on the two gaskets which go in front of the glass and behind the glass?

2) should I put silicon around the edges of the overflow box and then install it?

3) Should i seal the flange edges outside the tank with silicon?



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I smoothed out the edges from both sides of the hole...and I think in doing so the hole might have expanded a bit...I havenot tighten the nut all the way though...should hand tight it to the point that is becomes hard to unscrew?
 
You should not have 2 gaskets. the gasket goes on the flange side. You have to make sure the gasket forms a complete seal over the hole - i.e. there is contact space completely around the hole and there is no debris or air pockets. you definitely should not use any sealant, silicone - the pressure from tighting the nut forms the seal on the gasket. any silicone, teflon tape just creates unevenness and prevents a seal from being formed.
 
You should not have 2 gaskets. the gasket goes on the flange side. You have to make sure the gasket forms a complete seal over the hole - i.e. there is contact space completely around the hole and there is no debris or air pockets. you definitely should not use any sealant, silicone - the pressure from tighting the nut forms the seal on the gasket. any silicone, teflon tape just creates unevenness and prevents a seal from being formed.

Glass-holes comes with two gasket for both side of the hole. I will try tightening them and then see what happenes.
 
yes, hand tighten it and don't use any tools. i can't say i've ever put on a bulkhead with 2 rubber gaskets - you really need to make sure there is a double seal in that case.
 
with the double gaskets you may want someone to push down on the flange as you tighten to make sure you get a good seal.
 
Is it possible that the gasket is binding when you tighten it? I had that issue on a hob refuguim. What I did was used a little vegetable oil to lube the gasket. That worked for me.
 
I have dismantled and assembled the overflow three times to no avail...i just got frustrated last night and have put in some fish safe silicon outside the tank right around the leak.

Hopefully this will do the trick otherwise i can always cut the silicon with a sharp blade and redo the installation with maybe a larger gasket or no overflow box.
 
I have the same Glass holes kit as you. The holes I drilled were a little bigger than the bulkheads, enough so that if the nuts on the bulkheads were not tight enough then the overflow box had the potential to be unlevel. I haven't had any problems with leaks since filling my tank in October. I also opted to get the silicone lube which helped keep the gasket from twisting or dislodging once the nuts were tight enough. Also the bulkhead nuts are a little beyond hand tight, but not much. I wanted to share what worked with my overflow in hopes you can find some useful piece of info that was missed along the way. Best of luck getting that leak stopped
 
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