flat bulkhead onto a cylinder

I'm going to make a DIY kalk reactor w/ an acrylic tube.

Anyone know a great way to get bulkheads sealed onto the side of the tube? I've seen threads that just use PVC pipe and pvc cement it into place. It's kind of messy though.

Will weld on 16 bond pvc to acrylic?

Thanks and I'll post my product in the DIY thread when done. =)

just use a uniseal. to my knowledge that's what it was designed for.

I personally wouldn't suggest s bulkhead. your best bet is to drill a hole and tap it using a tapered pipe thread. then use Teflon tape and the proper threaded pvc adapter.

hrm, uniseal seems like it would be the easiest. I'll try that!

sisterlimonpot wrote:I personally wouldn't suggest s bulkhead. your best bet is to drill a hole and tap it using a tapered pipe thread. then use Teflon tape and the proper threaded pvc adapter.

"the right way"

MadFigs wrote:hrm, uniseal seems like it would be the easiest. I'll try that!

"what I end up usually doing"

lol Things done right are rarely easy:)

Here's the problem I see with using a uniseal on this particular project. A uniseal may provide a seal but I doubt it would provide a tight seal, especially with the pressure differential when the reactor is pumping But as long as the reactor sat inside a sump, that wouldn't pose too much of a problem if it leaked a little.... not necessarily, the reactor is going to hold rodi water and kalkw powder, which is submerged in (of course) saltwater. you wouldn't want saltwater to get into the kalkwasser slurry, if you did, the powder would become rock solid clogging your reactor, defeating the purpose.

I am about to embark on the same DIY project but these are the things I work out in my head before starting, I definitely thought about a uniseal but after giving it some thought, I don't think that it would be the best choice, not to say my current idea is the best but that's where I sit right now with my process.

but a kalk reactor in a bucket should have no pressure. If it does you are in trouble. Ive done the bucket kalk and uniseals work flawlessly.

sisterlimonpot wrote:Here's the problem I see with using a uniseal on this particular project. A uniseal may provide a seal but I doubt it would provide a tight seal, especially with the pressure differential when the reactor is pumping But as long as the reactor sat inside a sump, that wouldn't pose too much of a problem if it leaked a little.... not necessarily, the reactor is going to hold rodi water and kalkw powder, which is submerged in (of course) saltwater. you wouldn't want saltwater to get into the kalkwasser slurry, if you did, the powder would become rock solid clogging your reactor, defeating the purpose.

I am about to embark on the same DIY project but these are the things I work out in my head before starting, I definitely thought about a uniseal but after giving it some thought, I don't think that it would be the best choice, not to say my current idea is the best but that's where I sit right now with my process.

The kalk in the bottom isn't a powder is a thick liquid. The uniseals should work, and they are on mine, but its just not as nice of a fit. It just doesn't feel as strong as i would like it to. Which is why your way would be better.

My 6' tall skimmer used uniseals for the three mag 9 pumps that supplied it. Lot's of pressure and no leaks. They are stronger than they look and seal great. That's why they were invented.

hmm. I would've never thought they were reliable enough.

I have one on the inlet to my media reactor, it works very well. Much more reliable than you would think.