Help - Leak in uni-seal - how to fix without dismantling setup
- Thread starter jensen71
- Start date
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
The pump would be too hot to touch to discolor the hose. If it ever got this hot its pretty much fuct.
The rust could have come from a power outage...water flows back into the airpump if its not mounted higher than water level.
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
If your air pumps are running hot you need more air stones or larger air stones.
jensen71
Well-Known Member
I'm using 9inch red frog diffuser rings. It doesn't get any better than these puppies. I was initially using 4 ft flexible diffuser tubes in each bucket but it became a pain to manage and anchor down once the air pump is turned on. The diffuser rings are weighted down with fender washers and the plants have been thriving in their nute bath.
jensen71
Well-Known Member
So should I try to return it for an exchange?
JD_85
Well-Known Member
them see through homer buckets might cause future problems.but the set up looks great!!! do the air lines get warm at all?
Vumar
Well-Known Member
Why? How does more air stones or larger stones dissipate heat from the pump?
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
It allows the air pump to "breathe easy". The biggest source of heat is the electric motor...not air being compressed. The air the pump is moving is also removing heat from the motor. So if you restrict air flow, you restrict cooling.
So if you have 10lpm airpump, you need airstones that can flow the same amount...roughly.
So if you have 10lpm airpump, you need airstones that can flow the same amount...roughly.
Vumar
Well-Known Member
The same amount or more! Use the large cyclinder air stones and you are more than safe lol.
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
Maybe...hard to say without any numbers. But the first thing most people do, when they want more air. Is get a bigger pump and use the same size stones.
Vumar
Well-Known Member
So if I need more water flow through my system am I forced to go 2" uni-seals? or do multiple 1" threaded bulkheads?
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I went with several 1" bulkheads for each tubsite to prevent a clog from affecting flow. In the case of my 27 gallon tuffboxes, I used four per. I found I don't need as much flow through the tubs anymore with topfeed, so two per tub would probably be sufficient in that case.
If you NEED 2" holes between tubs, you should ask yourself if the aquatic attraction you're building needs a waterslide, cuz it's overkill for plants!
jensen71
Well-Known Member
By the time the clog occurs, is it safe to assume that since it is coming from one bucket that the water pump will stop working or will it continue to pump to an active top feed delivery system which would overflow the nutes in that one bucket? The only way you could avoid a mess would be to create overflow tubing among the buckets so that the water level always remains the same among all the buckets. I had that setup in my original buckets which have become new net pots in case I'm lucky enough to experience that kind of root growth and need an extra 1-2 gallons of bucket space to continue feeding nutes to the roots until I need to start flushing. Actually, it wouldn't overflow, just come pretty close to it.
Last edited:
Vumar
Well-Known Member
So if I went with x4 bulkheads per tote how can I ensure my flow rates are even/consistent with the rest of the system.I went with several 1" bulkheads for each tubsite to prevent a clog from affecting flow. In the case of my 27 gallon tuffboxes, I used four per. I found I don't need as much flow through the tubs anymore with topfeed, so two per tub would probably be sufficient in that case.
If you NEED 2" holes between tubs, you should ask yourself if the aquatic attraction you're building needs a waterslide, cuz it's overkill for plants!
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
lol...you can buy the spin tight bulkheads from Current Culture.