New lessons to learn ! !

I have recently gotten a new / used tank and I did not bother to replace the seals for the bulkhead fittings ( they seemed alright). So it was dripping a few drops under the corner overflow box and I cranked it down just a little bit tighter and I thought it felt like it jumped a thread. It seems the nut cracked and water from the overflow started shooting all over. I had to shut the tank down and wait for all the water to flow down and empty the overflow. Well I figured the tank could wait till morning so I could go to the hardware store and get a new nut. Wrong, home depot dont carry the parts. Very few places carry them. Luckily a friend works at the lfs and he carries parts with him for when he does setups. Brought over the nut and new seals and with a few minor adjustments we got it fixed.
Lesson is, dont skimp on cheap seals and dont overtighten plastic nuts. And make good with lfs managers. Not to bad, but my stupidity.

 

I had that happen when I set up my new/used tank. Was my first plumbing job and was really proud of myself. No drips or anything...however I decided very quickly that the sump that they were using was too small (didnt listen to a friend ) Anyway went to replumb it and ooopps! The bulkhead nut WOULD NOT COME OFF! I must have stripped it or something when I installed it. So I had my father come down and try to get it off, no luck. Had my friend come over..no luck! We ended up renting this powersaw to cut off the bulkhead so a new one can be placed! Luckily I knew that I was going to need a new bulkhed so I went to LFS and bought one before I got too far into it! Cause at this time it was wayyyy after closing!

However I made some VERY VERY stupid mistakes and had water all over me, all over the floor, everywhere! I can say this now....but I had gotten myself so flustered that I drained the overflow into the old sump...but forget to cap off the old sump which had an external pump to it! So water drained into the sump, however I had removed the pump and did not cap it off, so water flowed right onto floor! Oye!

But good advice!;D

 

Also if working on plumbing shut the tank down first. Amazingly I didnt yell or swear or anything. I am proud that I remained so calm.

 

Hey, it could of been worse, the glass could of cracked.. Yeah, that nut has fine threads on it... Glad to see it all worked out...

 

I dont think the glass would break from plastic. It's a 1/2" thick double pane on the sides. I think maybe the nut was brittle and had a crack already. And dont use vise grips when you cant find your channel locks.