sealing a pin hole leak in a water butt

What would be the best way to seal such a hole. When the butt is fill the water comes out in a fine stream. Once the butt is about 3/4 full it no longer leaks. On empting and removing the butt it is impossible to locate the hole. I now intend to re-fill the butt in a position where I can mark the hole. If I manage to do so is there a reasonable way of sealing it?

Reply to
Broadback
Loading thread data ...

Drill a hole and then fit a nut and bolt with washers to seal From the outside:- Bolt head metal washer rubber washer wall of water butt rubber washer metal washer Nut

Reply to
Bob Minchin

Well some years ago I did it with some pvc glue and a small sheet of thin pvc. It lasted a couple of years. The plastic they are made of now looks to be different and mor kind of rubbery though, so it might not work. Eventually the plastic starts to crack up it seems so often its only putting off the inevitable crack!

Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

Lose the outer metal washer it will actually provide a leak path, I'd say the inner rubber washer was redundant too.

The sealing face should be between the solid bolt head and outer butt face, using the rubber washer. A roofing bolt or other plain faced round headed bolt/setscrew would be best.

Reply to
fred

If it were an actual pin hole, no problem, all it needsis a flate headed self tapping screw & some gunge.

But you will likely find the whole area is thin (and it is actually a split) and any repair soon fails if you start drilling etc. Best bet is to bring indoors dry out and warm and apply a bit of flashband on the inside. Warm with blowlamp to get good ahesion.

But you have a duff butt. They are usually vacuum formed on to mould and the process has gone wrong.

The best butts to buy are the second hand fruit juice ones (@ a tenner a time), the ones from garden centres are expensive s**te.

Reply to
harryagain

"harryagain" wrote

Waits for OP's post asking how to repair a melted water butt :)

Reply to
Gazz

It seems altogether over engineered for a pinhole leak.

If it is only a pinhole then a dab of almost any waterproof silicone or mastick compound on the inside after roughening it up a bit will do. Larger splits can be repaired with pond liner and suitable glues.

Some of my reclaimed waterbutts are bins some builders abandoned at a neighbouring property because they leaked. A strip of butyl rubber pond liner makes a pretty good repair for four or five years. YMMV

The irrepairable ones are used to make leaf mould.

Reply to
Martin Brown

If it really is pin hole size just melt it closed e.g. with an old soldering iron or a knife over a flame. Inside and out would ensure a strong repair.

Mathew

Reply to
Mathew Newton

Hey, I'm a fix once kinda guy :-)

Reply to
fred

You don't say what the butt is made of - is it metal or plastic?

When I was a kid, our galvanised metal butt developed a number of pinhole leaks when my brother and I missed with darts!

Each time that happened, we would simply cut a point on a matchstick, and push it into the hole, and cut off the surplus - leaving a couple of mm outside.

When we eventually emptied the butt to get rid of it many years later, we could still see all the pointy matchsticks inside it!

Reply to
Roger Mills

Easier said than done.

The bolt and washers would be my choice going

nut plain washer rubber washer butt plain washer bolt.

Rubber washer on the inside so the water pressure pushes it on not off.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

It's exactly what I did (with a soldering iron) and didn't find any issue doing so.

Reply to
Mathew Newton

But flawed as the water can seep along the thread, bypassing the washer.

Reply to
fred

Just screw a self tapper in.

Reply to
dennis

The rubber washer deforms into the thread when you tighten it up.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

The other quick and dirty solution is to add some very fine silver sand and a small amount of dung to the water dribbled down the side with the leak. A genuine pinhole defect doesn't take much blocking.

Most of the faults I have seen have been splits.

Reply to
Martin Brown

But that is an incidental effect and not to be relied upon. Washers of the type we are talking about are designed to work on parallel sealing faces under compression so using it in its correct mode involves squishing it up between a plain sealed surfaces such as, in this case, the smooth inside face of the head of a roofing bolt or similar and outer body of the butt.

The reason for the pedantry is to point out (to others) that incidental seals on threads are not to be relied on to protect against leaks. It's why the rubber washer goes on the cistern inlet stem before it is fitted and not under the nut outside and many other similar examples.

Reply to
fred

Broadback has brought this to us :

Stainless self tapper, with a soft washer under it, or a nut, bolt and a soft washer.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

If there are no taps or pipes on it, just line it with a bin liner.

Reply to
John Williamson

I was most impressed by the number of holes a Worcester sauce bottle weighted and turned into a weed killer and sugar Bomb made when immersed in the galvanized water tank behind the school cricket pavilion. The hole in the cap made a perfect entry for the fuse and kept water out till the oxygen producing mixture really got going. School caretaker who wasn't the sharpest tool in the box apparently was a bit mystified how shards of glass were sticking out of the tank sides.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.