Leaking releaser

[Tweegs]

I have a double vertical releaser.
From the right tank to the manifold is a PVC elbow.
I have a vacuum leak at the union of the elbow and a PVC pipe running up to the manifold.

I’ve tried:
Adding a little PVC cement to the area
Running a bead of silicone
Putting a layer of tape around the connection
Putting a layer of that special leak fix plumbers tape around it.

Best I’ve been able to do is slow the leak down a bit.
Looking for a few suggestions to plug the leak on a more permanent basis.
Can’t cut the old elbow out, not enough PVC would be left to attach a new one.
Would have to replace all of the PVC between the tank and manifold and getting the flapper inside the tank to seal on the new PVC looks like it might be a delicate trick…it concerns me.

Thought maybe epoxy or JB weld might do the trick, but no going back if it doesn’t work.

It’s not a show stopper, I’ve got enough CFM to overcome and still keep 27” out in the woods, but it doesn’t take much of a leak out there before I start losing vac.

I can wait until we’ve got a freeze up that lasts a few days, or even until the end of the season before attempting a repair.

Just exploring a few options.

What y’all think?

[doocat]

I had a leak around the pvc sides and clear bottom in a double vertical. I ended up grinding out a small v and jb welding it. I tried many things and they all failed sorry not good help. Craig

[Haynes Forest Products]

does your releaser have the O ring slide joints betwqeen the manifold and elbow's into the tank. I will admit I didn,t know they were on there until I picked on up after hot water power wash.

Now forgive me if this sounds wrong BUT your saying you have a fitting that is leaking and its definitely the glued joint? could it have a micro crack/split that your missing. Like Doocat said groove out the area and go all around the glued joint area and reapply heavy body PVC glue. Put you first application while the vacuum is on to suck it into the opening. Using dissimilar glues will fail every time. Check the slide fitting and replace O ring

[Russell Lampron]

I'm interested to see what others have done for a field fix. I'm having a similar issue with my horizontal releaser. It's leaking at the seam where the tube/pipe from the main chamber goes into the secondary chamber. In the off season I ran a large bead of food grade silicone around it because I knew that it was leaking at the end of last season. When I put the vacuum to it this year I saw that it was still leaking through the new silicone. I tried putting another bead of silicone on while the vacuum was on and it sucked the silicone in but didn't stop the leak. I'm thinking of wrapping the seam with electrical tape and then putting silicone over that but because of the rounded surfaces I'm not sure if I can get the tape on smooth enough.

[DrTimPerkins]

Silicone caulk won't work well if the equipment is under vacuum. It'll only temporarily plug, then get sucked in somewhere and leak. If you have to use caulk, cover it with a bit of plastic stretch wrap. Best to avoid caulk altogether as it can be a real bear to clean up properly and get a good seal later. We've had good luck with silicone tape as a temporary fix for leaks -- considerably better than electrical tape.

[Tweegs]

Thanks guys,
One other option I forgot to mention is that I have a plastic welder.
Only used it a time or two, so not especially skilled. We’ll call that plan D.
For now, I managed to get a reasonable seal with a second attempt using the plumbers tape.

That’ll hold for the season, I think. Worry about a better fix come season’s end.

As a funny aside:
The pump house sits on uneven ground. I put in a plywood floor so the tank would sit level.
The entire end of the pump house opens to give access to the releaser and facilitate getting the tank in and out.

Had the door open, was standing there fussing with the releaser leak and felt a tug on my pant leg.
Looked down to find a raccoon…a freakin’ raccoon…pawing at my coveralls.
It had made a home, or perhaps a day spa, between the floor and the ground.

I got the sense that it was just looking for a friend, and I’d like to say that we exchanged pleasantries and went about our day, but that wasn’t gonna happen.

To call it a commotion would be mild, no, it was a bona-fide “scene”.
Got a full cardio work out in a matter of moments, both of us, what with all that hopping about, screeching, cussing and carrying on.

My wife heard it from up at the house. She knew I was tangled up with something but was too chicken to come see. Figured she’d wait for the eye of the storm.
She’s got fire and rescue on speed dial for such occasions anyway.

In the end, I did manage to evict the trashy thing, neither of us much worse for the wear.
Spent the next couple of hours patching up where I think it got in.
Time will tell if I made a good job of it.

But hey, at least I get to check the pump house from now on with my neck hairs standing on end.