Re: [Killietalk] Killietalk Digest, Vol 27, Issue 63 BULKHEAD fittings

["Koran, David HQ02" <David_Koran at hq02.usace.army.mil>]

Ken (George) thanks for the reference on the homemade bulkhead fittings.  As
George pointed out, if you are looking to be moving water than not get to
know the plumbing section of your local home supply store (Home Depot & Lowes
here in the east, Menards in the upper Midwest and (is it HomeBase in the
NW)?) but also seek out the farm supply store.  If you can get a whiff of cow
manure within 5 miles of your home there is a good bet there is a farm supply
store in the vicinity.  Tractor Supply appears to be national, east and south
we have Southern States.

An inexpensive bulkhead fitting is the 11/16" nylon/plastic adapters you can
find in one of these stores.  These are sprayer fitting and are the standard
gage for many farm implements.  There is a threaded stem which is about an
inch long (11/16" fine).  The thread is terminated usually by a flat
shield-like divider which is a stop to probably orient a barbed end that
would receive a hose or tube and your threaded end is screwed into a tank on
the implement.  You can get the barbed end either straight or with a 90
degree elbow.  To affect a better seal, a standard garden hose washer will
slide over the threaded portion and allow a "rubber seal" with your surface.
Some of these adapters already come with a plastic nut so placing another
washer now on the inside of container you are applying the "bulkhead" to can
be secured with the nut and for less than maybe a buck and half you have and
effective cheap bulkhead.  I have used these in 18 gallon Rubbermaid tubs
pretty effectively.  For the best seal, make sure your surfaces are flat.  If
you can't find your local tractor dealer than look for them at US Plastics.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&catego
ry%5Fname=6914&Page=1

The reference Ken cited points out something when looking at plastic pipe
fittings.  When you are dealing with an NPT standard (National Pipe Thread)
you have a tapered thread.  What the reference directed you to was to use the
fittings for electrical conduit which are basically the same size and threads
per inch but are not tapered (as in conduit them electrons ain't leaking
out).  With water pipe you want to seal the union but you may never be able
to have the edge of the one pipe form a seal with the collar on the female
fitting, you can do that with electrical fittings.  If you take a 1/2"
adapter (male or female) one end will be a female couple to receive standard
1/2" PVC or plastic electrical conduit.  The other end is either a threaded
male or female and obviously you want a pair to make the bulkhead.  To seal
the bulkhead I have found you can use a large O-ring like the kind sold again
to work as washers for garden hoses.  If you need larger bulkheads, shop for
O-rings or washers first, then go to the electric section and get your male
and female adapter pair that the washer or O-ring fits.  They should be
available in 3/4", 1", 1.5" and 2" sets.

Also look for threaded couplers.  They have NPT threads but they have large
collars and if all else fails consider investing in a tap to widen your
thread at the tip of the collar so your male adapter penetrates further.

Also, if you are taking the time to find your farm supply store look for
granular salt which is used for livestock.  Look for white crystalline
(Cargill brand), 80 pounds for less than $10 and it works great for hatching
brine shrimp.  From what I can tell both Tractor Supply and Southern States
sell Rubbermaid stock tanks (50, 100, 150 and 300 sizes) always good to raise
very large Blue gularis (but Jim Robinson says you need Canadian water to
complete the task).  The store also sell trout and catfish chow.

Finally a question for you all, I have been using the Little Giant brand of
circulating pumps but have seen that Lowes (and others I imagine) have the
pond/fountain circulating pumps (not cheap but definitely more competitive
than an aquarium supply place even if they sell in volume), they are
submersible or the intake can take 1/2" or 3/4" fittings.  Has anyone used
these in building flow through systems?  How do they hold up?  They say
something like 330 gallons per hour at 1 foot but list a pumping height of
say 12', how much water is pumped at 8'?

Dave Koran 

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