Inner gasket for 1 ½ inch honey gate

01 · WHERE IT GOES

A bulkhead fitting is three parts, not one

The gate goes through the wall of the tank from the outside; on the inside go the gasket and then the nut, which on tightening compresses the gasket against the wall and makes the seal. They are sold separately because they wear at different rates: the gate lasts years, the nut usually survives, and the gasket is the one that gives.

02 · WHEN TO REPLACE IT

When it no longer springs back

An old gasket stays flattened with the imprint of the nut and never recovers its thickness. At that point it seals by luck rather than by pressure, and tightening harder only finishes it off. You notice before it drips: honey weeping around the collar is the sign.

03 · ASSEMBLY

Flat, clean, and no tools to tighten

Take out the old gasket, scrape the crystallised honey off the seat and check the wall has not been left marked. Fit the new one without pinching it: if it folds going in, it will split along that crease in the first season. Tighten by hand plus a quarter turn; pliers deform it. Test with water before filling with honey.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

An inch and a half is not enough to go on: measure the profile of the gasket you take out and the shape of its seat, because manufacturers do not all use the same.