Friendly reminder: Check your plumbing!

[ashr]

So I just wanted to send everyone a friendly reminder to always check your plumbing lines when your doing your weekly maintenance.

We had a leak from a pipe line bust on us last night away 12:00pm and if I would have been up to catch it i would have lost 30 or so gallons... What a mess it made :(! But if I would have been checking on these regularly it wouldn't have happened!!

Just a friendly reminder :D

[ashr]

Now that I cannot edit my post..
I meant to say,

if I would have not been up to catch it, it would have left a large mess..

[kien]

That's a good PSA (Public Service Announcement). Although, I had to double check to be sure you were still talking about reefing..

I suppose it's a good idea to check, reefing or otherwise.

[ashr]

haha My bad, I wrote it pretty quick and I suppose i should have taken my time, but it works for both!! :party:

[sphelps]

If a pipe suddenly burst or broke free how would weekly inspections prevent it? Also what kind of pipe were you using that would actually burst from an aquarium application?

[ashr]

By checking your plumbing and seals you can see if anything is coming lose or degrading. These things do happen you know.. haha:cry:

Also it was from my pump to my chiller. It came undone.. the silicon didnt hold and the force of the pump blew it apart.

[sphelps]

I see, it sounded like you were describing an actual burst pipe which seemed unlikely is all. While I agree checking plumbing may not be a bad idea I don't feel it's necessary when done properly. 90% of the plumbing in your home is concealed behind walls or other obstacles making checking virtually impossible without destroying something. This plumbing is put under much higher pressure and temperature loads than our aquariums yet it lasts for decades without issue if done correctly.

A better suggestion would be doing things right the first time to avoid devastating failures that can ruin your home. Using silicone to attach hoses to pumps is a bad idea and, as you now know, likely to fail. Using appropriate hose clamps or hard glued PVC fittings is the proper way to do things.

[JetJumper]

I second this! I had a line let go on a pump that was 1500gph and it shot right near a powerbar. We all know what power and saltwater do right? wasn't pretty.. I was pretty "anal" about my wiring as well which was all nicely tie wrapped and set a side.. however I never thought of a pump line letting go like that..

Ever seen a T5 fixture that is on a PC4 from digital aquatics get wet? you don't want to.. its like an indoor LIGHTNING show!!! I had to kill the power to it which I needed to step in the water.. that wasn't fun.. quite the shock.. again, this happens normally at night.. it was 3:00AM. My Wife heard it as she is a light sleeper.

Triple check the pipes!!!!!!!!!! :twised:

[jtbadco]

I see, it sounded like you were describing an actual burst pipe which seemed unlikely is all. While I agree checking plumbing may not be a bad idea I don't feel it's necessary when done properly. 90% of the plumbing in your home is concealed behind walls or other obstacles making checking virtually impossible without destroying something. This plumbing is put under much higher pressure and temperature loads than our aquariums yet it lasts for decades without issue if done correctly.

A better suggestion would be doing things right the first time to avoid devastating failures that can ruin your home. Using silicone to attach hoses to pumps is a bad idea and, as you now know, likely to fail. Using appropriate hose clamps or hard glued PVC fittings is the proper way to do things.


I understand what you are saying but it hardly the same thing comparing house plumbing and aquarium plumbing.
In a perfect world all of our plumbing would be done perfectly the first time but we all know this is far from a perfect world. So for everyone else, take the time to check your fittings and hoses any time you have a chance, better safe than sorry.

I think it was sound advice, other contributions notwithstanding.

[sphelps]

It is the same, why would a leak in your aquarium plumbing be more acceptable than your household? We often use or at least we can use the same parts that are used in residential and commercial plumbing applications, there is no reason to lower your standards. I don't mean to critical but if something was executed poorly the solution is not increased inspection which to be frank won't do anything. The solution is to fix the problem, the cost of doing so is often very little and it makes no sense risking all kinds of damage that can result from not doing so.

[jtbadco]

Missed the point entirely.

His post was intended to help people who already have their plumbing set up. If they could or were able to re-do it properly then I'm sure they would.

Barring that, his advice is sound. And you added nothing, only distracted from a valid point.

If you wish to start a thread called "everybody should do their plumbing right the first time', then feel free to do so.

Anyways , I won't reply on this further because it only serves to further distract people from the original message.

[sphelps]

I assure you I didn't miss your post, the original message is flawed which is why I spoke up. The advice to fix an issue with increased inspection as appose to fixing it permanently when it is cheap and easy is terrible advice and accomplishes nothing. A siliconed connection will give no advanced notice before blowing off, if the fitting was inspected the day prior it would have likely looked fine. This issue could be fixed with less than $10 and 5min of time, this is what advice should be given. Just admiting part of your plumbing requires frequent inspection suggests you have a problem, don't fix it by checking it more often :rolleyes:

[ScubaSteve]

I had some faulty bulkheads from JL blow on me a couple weeks ago. Had I checked them, I would have noticed they were getting salt creep in areas there shouldn't be. Instead, one morning I had not one but TWO of the bulkheads fail and start dumping water from the overflow. By some miracle I was standing next to the tank when it happened (fixing a skimmer that was going crazy from an unknown reason nonetheless).

[jtbadco]

Exactly my point.

Yes if you know that you have substandard equipment you should replace it. That is completely obvious to everyone and again misses the entire point of the post. If everyone had complete and perfect knowledge, yours would be the only point. Since that little world does not exist, we will go with helpful reminders like this one.

Even perfect equipment, perfectly installed, will still fail. To not keep an eye on things is ludicrous.

"The advice to fix an issue with increased inspection as appose to fixing it permanently when it is cheap and easy is terrible advice and accomplishes nothing."Neither he nor I ever suggested that he leave it crappy and just watch it from time to time. Better bone up on your reading skills. Nowhere in this entire post does it say to fix things by checking on them regularly instead of doing it properly. It just says to regularly inspect your equipment which is perfectly sound advice. Your reading of the post is the only thing flawed.

His comment was a helpful suggestion to help out his fellow reefers.

[sphelps]

It was never posted how or if the issue would be fixed, the point of my posts were to bring clarity to this matter and perhaps some helpful advice to the OP and others that the lesson here is more to fix potential issues rather than just promoting further inspection. It seems possible that one might not realize silicone is a poor adhesive for plastic hose and that is the only way to make such a connection so rather than making a solid connection the hose is siliconed on again and then inspected weekly but only to fail later down the road between inspections or when away from home.

As for parts just failing for no reason, it's unlikely to say the least. Two bulkheads failing instantaneously for example due to faulty parts... I would question that and put blame on stressed connections. You have to remember pipe and water has weight and combined with moment arms from rigid pipe creates high torque which can snap cheap sch20 or even 40 bulkheads if the pipe is not properly supported.

There is more than one way to look at things and adding to someones recommendations and posts is hardly talking away from them. Take it for what it's worth, if that's a an eye opener to fix your own issues before something similar happens good stuff but if you'd prefer to blame all your issues on an imperfect world so be it.

[brotherd]

I see both points.Yes correctly done installations are less prone to failure but even the best comercial systems and plants have routine inspections to find problems before disaster strikes.I like this topic.The "what if" scenario is always on my mind.

[Mike-fish]

I second this! I had a line let go on a pump that was 1500gph and it shot right near a powerbar. We all know what power and saltwater do right? wasn't pretty.. I was pretty "anal" about my wiring as well which was all nicely tie wrapped and set a side.. however I never thought of a pump line letting go like that..

Ever seen a T5 fixture that is on a PC4 from digital aquatics get wet? you don't want to.. its like an indoor LIGHTNING show!!! I had to kill the power to it which I needed to step in the water.. that wasn't fun.. quite the shock.. again, this happens normally at night.. it was 3:00AM. My Wife heard it as she is a light sleeper.

Triple check the pipes!!!!!!!!!! :twised:

that's what the breaker panel is for switch off power then step in the water = no more painful dance

[whatcaneyedo]

I think the real message here is don't silicone plumbing parts together, use plumbers PVC cement. I do however suggest frequently inspecting pump seals. Anyone who owns a Reeflo pump knows that they can suddenly start to leak from around the drive shaft seal.

[ashr]

I would assume that most PVC cement is reef safe? Or is there special brands people use.

[sphelps]

I would assume that most PVC cement is reef safe? Or is there special brands people use.

Yes any PVC cement is safe it is just advised to wait at least 1 hour after application before start up. Keep in mind PVC cement is only effect on rigid PVC parts/pipe. Spa flex can be glued into rigid PVC fittings but may require a non standard cement for best results.

[ashr]

I would then also assume that any super glue gel wouldn't work?

[sphelps]

I would then also assume that any super glue gel wouldn't work?

If you want post a pic of connection and I'll tell you exactly how to fix it with the right parts and where to get them.