PVC mistakes... anyone else do this?

[Shadow_storm56]

So I hardly ever use anything that requires gluing pvc so never really have any glue around. I got a little filter that is pvc and you have to glue in the ends which is not a big deal. I grabbed a bottle of what I thought was the cement and proceeded on. Ended up with this clear fast evaporating liquid in a jug that the cover had to be pryed off. Being as I never glue pvc much I assumed it was just a clear cement. Put it on the fittings and shoved them together, later realized that it was a cleaner when I looked at the bottle again.

So heres whare it gets fun! I went and got the correct stuff assuming the fittings would just pop apart since it was just a cleaner... welp was I ever wrong. The cleaner managed to fuse the fitting in solid enough that I could have easily crushed it or torn it off with a wrench before it would come out or turn in the socket. I only tried to get the one side out before realizing it was solid.

So it holds, doesn't leak and handles 65psi no issue, but it's just the cleaner... so I'm literally like ok.... why did the cleaner work as a cement and is it going to last? Drives me nuts tbh.

 

[torch]

65 psi of what?

If it is a critical material or a critical place or pressurized gas, then I would cut it out and replace it with a properly glued joint.

If it's just going to make a big puddle of water outside, then wait for it to fail then find your glue.

 

[Lil Foot]

We needed a filtered water line extended in one of our research labs, so a contractor was brought in to plumb the H2O line with PVC. He laid out & precut everything, but then realized he forgot his glue back at his truck, about a 1 mile round trip. Apparently embarrassed, (or lazy) he didn't ask for help, just looked around and found a can of glue. He proceeded to put everything together, took his break, and then informed us he was turning on the water. When the water came on, it sprayed everywhere, making a huge mess of the lab. Turns out what he had used was an extremely expensive ultra pure diffusion pump oil.
(clearly labeled if he had looked)
After a day of cleanup, they had to replace all the PVC, as nothing would stick to it anymore no matter how many times the cleaned it.
We requested that particular contractor not do any more work for us.

 

[NHSleddog]

When I was younger, my buddy and I did boiler swap outs and conversions (switching from electric to oil) for side money. We did a bunch of them.

So my brother buys an older place on the lake that he McMansioned. My buddy and I did the electric to oil fired FHW for him.

A month AFTER the job was done and running, my brother calls in a panic, hey there is water pouring all over the basement.....

One of the fittings had flux only on it and not a lick of solder. It passed the pressure test, and it actually ran for weeks with this bad fitting.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I suspect the 'cleaner' is really a dilute form of the solvent which is used to 'roughen up' the PVC so the real solvent ( 'glue') has some 'tooth' and bond really,really good.
Unless you're doing a LOT of plumbing, buy the smallest bottles of the stuff, once opened none of it lasts too long. Same with ABS 'glue'...

as for the lab, I'd have sent the 'plumber/contractor' the bill for the cleanup.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

65 psi of what?

If it is a critical material or a critical place or pressurized gas, then I would cut it out and replace it with a properly glued joint.

If it's just going to make a big puddle of water outside, then wait for it to fail then find your glue.

Ohh no it's 65 psi of water, nothing crazy. I don't think it can fail it is really solid but only has the solvent cleaner. I would cut it out but I can't the only way is to just buy another filter, as it's glue in fittings right to the filter

 

[PoTreeBoy]

I suspect the 'cleaner' is really a dilute form of the solvent which is used to 'roughen up' the PVC so the real solvent ( 'glue') has some 'tooth' and bond really,really good.
Unless you're doing a LOT of plumbing, buy the smallest bottles of the stuff, once opened none of it lasts too long. Same with ABS 'glue'...

as for the lab, I'd have sent the 'plumber/contractor' the bill for the cleanup.

Reading the ingredients, I think the cleaner is just solvent. The glue is solvent plus some resin. The resin is carried by the solvent to fill any gaps in the fit-up.
I suspect a joint made with just cleaner will be weak and brittle.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

I suspect the 'cleaner' is really a dilute form of the solvent which is used to 'roughen up' the PVC so the real solvent ( 'glue') has some 'tooth' and bond really,really good.
Unless you're doing a LOT of plumbing, buy the smallest bottles of the stuff, once opened none of it lasts too long. Same with ABS 'glue'...

as for the lab, I'd have sent the 'plumber/contractor' the bill for the cleanup.

Yea they don't last long at all, Idk what it was but it bonded.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

Reading the ingredients, I think the cleaner is just solvent. The glue is solvent plus some resin. The resin is carried by the solvent to fill any gaps in the fit-up.
I suspect a joint made with just cleaner will be weak and brittle.

Brittle maybe, I tried heat and a pipe wrench to try and get it apart to put in the correct stuff so definitely not weak.

 

[Daren Todd]

Pvc primer will actually melt the pvc slightly. Had some temp employees gluing some fittings in the end of some pvc pipe. They spilled half a big bottle of primer onto some of the pipe.

There were about 10 pieces of pipe ruined from that goof. Some of the pipe was fused together and in a glob where a large amount of the primer collected.

 

[Ikc1990]

I would leave it but if it is a glue. In. Filter how do you change or clean it cut it out each time? I'd . Find a different filter type or poput threaded end on each side and just glue adapters to the filter for easy maintenance. And just buy small tub to keep in a cool place stays longer even in a refrigerator.. if the wife dosnt divorce you for that funky smelling dip in a can with a huge Q-tip on it... lmao good luck.

 

[OrangeKrush]

If easy to get to I think I would take the cement and brush it around the joint where the two meet for extra protection. It’s like a fusion when that cement comes into contact with the pvc. Worth a shot if you’re going to leave it anyways!

 

[chim]

We did an interesting project for a pharmaceutical manufacturer years ago. Short story, part of it involved making clear PVC pipe "trees" that were place in large skid-sized bins to aerate several hundred pounds of pills in prep for the application of a coating with pure dry air. The clear PVC pipe and fittings did have a slightly bluish cast to it. Fittings with female threads had a stainless steel band on them for reinforcement. Naturally, they were extremely careful and needed everything documented to the T.

We had the manufacturers provide documentation that PVC is PVC and some has color added. PVC cleaner evaporates and there is no trace of it after curing. PVC solvent cement is solvent with PVC dissolved in it, and as such there is nothing except PVC left behind after curing. "Fast" and "Slow" cements have different amounts of PVC dissolved in them.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

Pvc primer will actually melt the pvc slightly. Had some temp employees gluing some fittings in the end of some pvc pipe. They spilled half a big bottle of primer onto some of the pipe.

There were about 10 pieces of pipe ruined from that goof. Some of the pipe was fused together and in a glob where a large amount of the primer collected.

Ouch I remembered i needed one of these for a different lower psi project so I swapped it. Also some of the primer cans are nearly impossible to open so maybe it popped open and spilled on your pile of pipe?

 

[Shadow_storm56]

I would leave it but if it is a glue. In. Filter how do you change or clean it cut it out each time? I'd . Find a different filter type or poput threaded end on each side and just glue adapters to the filter for easy maintenance. And just buy small tub to keep in a cool place stays longer even in a refrigerator.. if the wife dosnt divorce you for that funky smelling dip in a can with a huge Q-tip on it... lmao good luck.

It's glue in threaded ends, really dumb but works, it's a sediment filter so you just screw the bottom off to clean. I have seen them glued direct to pipe as well, they work good but it seems dumb

 

[Shadow_storm56]

We did an interesting project for a pharmaceutical manufacturer years ago. Short story, part of it involved making clear PVC pipe "trees" that were place in large skid-sized bins to aerate several hundred pounds of pills in prep for the application of a coating with pure dry air. The clear PVC pipe and fittings did have a slightly bluish cast to it. Fittings with female threads had a stainless steel band on them for reinforcement. Naturally, they were extremely careful and needed everything documented to the T.

We had the manufacturers provide documentation that PVC is PVC and some has color added. PVC cleaner evaporates and there is no trace of it after curing. PVC solvent cement is solvent with PVC dissolved in it, and as such there is nothing except PVC left behind after curing. "Fast" and "Slow" cements have different amounts of PVC dissolved in them.

Oh thats cool, I always love these kind of responses whare I get to learn alot of details about a seemingly simple product.

 

[Daren Todd]

Ouch I remembered i needed one of these for a different lower psi project so I swapped it. Also some of the primer cans are nearly impossible to open so maybe it popped open and spilled on your pile of pipe?

They were careless and laid it on top of the stack of pipe. Pipe was 1.5" ss20 so it wasn't that thick.

 

[D2Cat]

If you want to separate the two pieces you can use a heat gun to warm the inside of the male end. It will soften the PVC and it can be removed. You can actually "unglue" fitting this way. If you have a metal nipple that fits inside the one you want to free up, you can just heat the metal nipple and hold it inside the glued piece and it will release. If not, add more heat!

 

[Magicman]

If you thought that what you had was glue and intended to make the joint without cleaner, you were still asking for possible future trouble. The cleaner cleans and softens the pipe and fitting so that the glue can do it's job. My advice is to remove the joint/connection and replace it with a properly cleaned and glued connection.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

If you want to separate the two pieces you can use a heat gun to warm the inside of the male end. It will soften the PVC and it can be removed. You can actually "unglue" fitting this way. If you have a metal nipple that fits inside the one you want to free up, you can just heat the metal nipple and hold it inside the glued piece and it will release. If not, add more heat!

I just replaced the filter as I though of a different use, even a propane torch couldn't get it apart unless I had just melted it.