Uniseals, Difficulty Installing And Removing

  • Thread starter DGP
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
DGP

DGP

1,214
263
Did some searching and reading and as near as I can tell the best way to install/remove the pipes from the Uniseal is with silicone high vacuum grease.

I tried water and in one test some Windex based on suggestions I read but still it is really an arm buster to get the pipe into the seal. Even with the grease it seems impossible to get my one test bucket back apart. The reason I did the test bucket is I want to assemble the whole system in my driveway to make sure it all works as expected but if I can't get it apart I am at a loss as to how to test it. Also, my grow area is only 80" X 45" with small area to work in and I am also wondering how I will make the last two connections in such a confined space.

I did try the vac grease and yes it seems to be the best but still having trouble with them. I am a big guy (over 6') and it fairly good shape and I am wondering how anyone deals with these in a UC build.

My buckets are due in a couple of days so I was trying to test the seals and make sure they worked.

Oh, and the Uniseal instructions say 2" OD pipe but sched 40 pipe is larger than that so I am wondering if they really do mean 2" pipe as a standard spec or do they literally mean the pipe needs to be 2.000". I can't imagine this is the case as all standard plastic pipe seems to be specified this way and is really about 2.250".

My system is shown below minus the chiller and air lines etc for aeration.

Any help would be much appreciated,

D
 
Capture
Last edited:
stickyfing3rs

stickyfing3rs

943
143
The seals are made for 2" pvc. Like 2.375 od. They are a pain in the ass that's for sure. My best advice is to make sure you deburr the ends of your pvc very good, almost round over the outside edge to make inserting it easier. I also wouldn't use any grease to assemble, it will be hard to clean out. A little dish soap on the seal and pipe seemed to work best for me. Lastly, i wouldn't "test" assemble the system then dis assemble. Uni seals will start to leak if you damage them at all.
 
DGP

DGP

1,214
263
The seals are made for 2" pvc. Like 2.375 od. They are a pain in the ass that's for sure. My best advice is to make sure you deburr the ends of your pvc very good, almost round over the outside edge to make inserting it easier. I also wouldn't use any grease to assemble, it will be hard to clean out. A little dish soap on the seal and pipe seemed to work best for me. Lastly, i wouldn't "test" assemble the system then dis assemble. Uni seals will start to leak if you damage them at all.

Funny, I didn't want to wait for the grease but I used some dish soap and water but still it is a freakin nightmare. Some of them I still cant get together especially in the middle of the system where your trying to join two buckets. Spent the last hour swearing more than a drunk longshoreman.

Thanks,

D.
 
DGP

DGP

1,214
263
Well, it is all together and about 4 out of the 19 seal leak. I am so frustrated I want to scream and kick the whole project down the road. I guess I will be going to the hardware store for some pure silicon aquarium sealant. Fu*k!

Should have used 1" bulkhead connectors and 1" flexible line. Never again.....

D
 
stickyfing3rs

stickyfing3rs

943
143
If you reach inside the bucket and push out on the seal it will create a tighter fit the way the seal is shaped. But yeah they suck
 
DGP

DGP

1,214
263
It's a nogo. Uniseals should be called unileaks. I am throwing most of it out into the yard where I can stomp it into the ground. Trying to figure out what to do. I have seen multiple videos where people show how easy it is to build your own under current systems and I really don't see how they had such an easy time.

I guess I'll have to sell my left nut and one arm to afford a current culture system. I usually have good luck building my own stuff but not so this time.
 
palm eezy

palm eezy

79
18
use bulkheads. it's difficult to get perfectly round holes for the uniseals, and the buckets seem much more prone to splitting over time (from the hole) vs. bulkheads. the container material makes a big difference in success and failure with them i've learned.

tips for uniseals:
-using a drill press helps to get perfect holes.
-a BRAND new holesaw is usually too sharp and will overcut. drill 3-5 holes out in a piece of plywood or something 1st. it's probably the flutes on the side of a fresh one that seem to chow out excess material if you're too aggressive with it. somewhat dull seems to be okay.
-use multiple fine grits of sand paper to finish off the hole, careful as you can easily enlarge/change the hole with low grit.
-use a template from container to container so that your holes are very close to identical. uniseals are less forgiving when you've got some tweak on the pipes going from bucket to bucket.
-use a chopbox saw (with the blade installed in reverse) to make nice, easy, square end cuts on your pipes.
-bevel the ends on a grinder and sand/flatten any sharp edges you create.
-Oatey all purpose pipe lubricant is how i've always gotten them together. messy and needs to be cleaned.
-to take them apart, you can grip the pipe with your pinky thru index fingers on both hands, and push the seal itself with both your thumbs. spin, repeat, and eventually you'll walk it off. it'll be a bit of a fight with 2" but you'll get it. if they sit for a year or two, then that's another story.
-if you get it all together and have tiny/slow leaks, they'll probably stop once you run nutes in it. :D

and more that i've forgotten.. bulkheads are worth the money.

troughs would be a better solution overall.
 
Last edited:
j wizzle

j wizzle

627
43
I hated uniseals, they were a disaster. I hear people love bulk heads, I've never used them myself, I just use standard male/female threaded 2" adapters and rubber o rings you get in the sink department. super easy. I just use the rubber junction pipe clamps to attach each buckets, they are so easy to take apart to clean or reconfigure the system, etc. good luck with the uniseals, I gave up after the 2nd leak. I think you need to setup with uniseals and leave it alone if you don't want leaks, clean with bleach solution after each run to keep it clean.
 
DGP

DGP

1,214
263
use bulkheads. it's difficult to get perfectly round holes for the uniseals, and the buckets seem much more prone to splitting over time (from the hole) vs. bulkheads. the container material makes a big difference in success and failure with them i've learned.

tips for uniseals:
-using a drill press helps to get perfect holes.
-a BRAND new holesaw is usually too sharp and will overcut. drill 3-5 holes out in a piece of plywood or something 1st. it's probably the flutes on the side of a fresh one that seem to chow out excess material if you're too aggressive with it. somewhat dull seems to be okay.
-use multiple fine grits of sand paper to finish off the hole, careful as you can easily enlarge/change the hole with low grit.
-use a template from container to container so that your holes are very close to identical. uniseals are less forgiving when you've got some tweak on the pipes going from bucket to bucket.
-use a chopbox saw (with the blade installed in reverse) to make nice, easy, square end cuts on your pipes.
-bevel the ends on a grinder and sand/flatten any sharp edges you create.
-Oatey all purpose pipe lubricant is how i've always gotten them together. messy and needs to be cleaned.
-to take them apart, you can grip the pipe with your pinky thru index fingers on both hands, and push the seal itself with both your thumbs. spin, repeat, and eventually you'll walk it off. it'll be a bit of a fight with 2" but you'll get it. if they sit for a year or two, then that's another story.
-if you get it all together and have tiny/slow leaks, they'll probably stop once you run nutes in it. :D

and more that i've forgotten.. bulkheads are worth the money.

troughs would be a better solution overall.

Well, believe it or not I did pretty much all the things you listed and they still leaked. I have to be able to trust my setup and I'll never be able to trust Unileaks.

I made my own bulkhead connectors and I have no leaks now but I am not entirely happy with them as the parts I adapted to make them don't have as much bearing surface for the flat seals I used as I would like to see. Where do you get 2" bulkhead connectors? I could not find them anywhere and some of the ones I found in other sizes where like $14 a piece. Well, ok maybe it is worth the $14 or more but still have not seen 2" available. I even used a disk sander to make really long bevels with radii on the corners and still it sucked and the high vac pure silicon grease didn't help much either. I also used square buckets on the Uniseal version and still no consistent seal (4 of the 17 leaked so how long before others leak even if I fix the 4?). Now I am using round buckets (much easier to source) and the bulkheads clamp with enough force it pull the area where the fitting is flat and makes a good seal. Would eventually like to find bigger buckets but I don't usually grow tress so I am not as concerned yet about roots growing so huge they clog the undercurrent pipes.

One thing I still have concerns about is my inline filter. It already clogged once last night and I didn't have that much debris in my system and was quite careful to get it as clean as I could before filling it. I can't have a filter clogging and shutting my pump down then leaving the chiller dry. I took the filter out for now and with the type of pump I am using I don't think the type of debris that would be typical in my system would ever jam those impeller blades on this pump as it has lots of clearance. So, I am wondering how necessary the filter element is (right now the filter element is out and the housing is empty and all seems to be running fine now).

When you say troughs do you mean a flood and drain system instead of an RDWC system?

Thanks!

D
 
Dizzy Weasel

Dizzy Weasel

Loves Eating Tacos
Supporter
75
18
Just a suggestion if u are working with such a small area.. I always hated my first couple CC's i bought as complete the epi is always in the way, so I started ordering them bare bones for multiple reasons and my instinct upon gluing pipes was to flip the tee and put epi inside the system footprint..
in a tent however it is somewhat convenient to have epi conventional setup so u can unzip and barely peek in to check epi and perform maintenance.. I put bricks under chillers so it's not resting on the manifold btw and keeps my whole area hose/snag free
 
Image
Last edited:
DGP

DGP

1,214
263
Just a suggestion if u are working with such a small area.. I always hated my first couple CC's i bought as complete the epi is always in the way, so I started ordering them bare bones for multiple reasons and my instinct upon gluing pipes was to flip the tee and put epi inside the system footprint..
in a tent however it is somewhat convenient to have epi conventional setup so u can unzip and barely peek in to check epi and perform maintenance.. I put bricks under chillers so it's not resting on the manifold btw and keeps my whole area hose/snag free
I put the control bucket on a leg of pvc pipe that keeps it out of the way and makes it accessible and put the chiller outside the grow room. Quite happy with how it is working so far. Thanks!
 
Sonnyhad

Sonnyhad

80
18
I put the control bucket on a leg of pvc pipe that keeps it out of the way and makes it accessible and put the chiller outside the grow room. Quite happy with how it is working so far. Thanks!
Does anyone have a source for 2" bulkheads like the original ones?
 
palm eezy

palm eezy

79
18
lots of options on amazon and ebay. the gaskets on the cheaper ones seem to rot/crack pretty quick with exposure to bleach. but that doesnt make them leak.
 
Last edited:
DGP

DGP

1,214
263
I tried the Uniseals and let's just say, never again. For those who still use them, boil them before trying to install them. You will be amazed how easy they go in. Just make sure you insert your PVC before they cool.

For those of you that want to step up, you should use these bulkheads.
http://www.aussieglobe.com/2-Bulkhead-Fitting-ABS-Slip-x-Slip_p_47.html
Less than $6 a piece.
Yeah, that was exactly where I ended up.....2" aquarium BH fittings. In my case I got them on Amazon (CPR Aquarium Brand). Cheapo ones on ebay have issues so I recommed the CPR brand.
 
Mathimus

Mathimus

16
3
I know this is an old thread but wanted to share my experience as these were also a pain for me.

When cutting the holes for your uniseals, run your hole saw forward a few rotations in order to get the bit seated on whatever plastic tub you're using. You want to cut the actual hole with your drill in reverse. This makes for a much cleaner cut.

Secondly, before (attempted) pipe installation, take about 160 grit sandpaper in an electric sander and sand the outside rough edges of the pipe (where the cuts were made) until it is well rounded between the inner and outer edge. Next, use one of those grey (sometimes purple) foam sheetrock sanding blocks and go over the rounded edge to make it smooth as butter. The last part makes it much easier than the sandpaper alone and gives the pipe a smooth factory prefab look.

Next, get a bottle of water based KY jelly. Yes, the kind for laying pipe. It is water soluble so put liberal amounts on both the pipe and the uniseal. You will still have to start the pipe in at an angle to get it properly seated. Being that the edges of the pipe are rounded and smooth, it allows for easier initial insertion. The uniseal is no longer catching on the rough edge of the pipe and does not risk puncture or taking out part of the rubber, which is the primary reason for uniseals leaking.

You're welcome. No charge.
 
Mospeada

Mospeada

261
63
Just want to throw my support or no support of uniseals. They suck. The only way I can recommend them is if you're in a position where you can't wait and NEED something now. Only out of extreme desperation and laziness should these be used.
 
Mospeada

Mospeada

261
63
Probably one of the better videos I've found on installing bulkheads for a system.

 
Top Bottom