Old Man James
Member
I have a couple of questions about PVC joining; I did take a look at previous posts but over 8K threads just overwhelmed me so forgive me if I'm repeating some things. I'm new to this forum and want to see how I fare with these basic questions. I'm doing some simple joining of some 2" pipes for a large irrigation project and while I have done some PVC work in the past, I thought I would refresh and make sure I'm dong things right. I have read a few posts referring to teflon vs pipe sealant and found some thoughts I was interested in.
1) Obviously, threaded joints involve some method of sealant and I have a bottle of Leak-Lock that I have used for metal pipe threads and am very satisfied with its performance. But I have (for some strange reason) not used it for PVC. I looked at their site and some You Tubes about it and everything (and everyone) says it works great as well for plastic (PVC) so I wonder if anyone here has used it and how it performed? I did see where some state they NEVER use Teflon on threaded pipe joints while others say that if you wrap it well with Teflon it seals well (?)
2) Regardless of how you seal, how much tightening pressure should you apply to make the joint tight? I've seen some posts that said 'hand tight' and others said 'pipe wrench tight'. In the past, I've used 'hand tight + 'quarter turn' and haven't had a leak - but - this is a big project with 2" pipe and I need some pro guidance about 'how tight is tight'? I don't want to over stress the threads but don't want to go back and re-tighten joints. Is it different between Teflon vs sealant?
3) I was looking closely at some of the pipe pieces and how they mounted on various fittings (sleeve joiners, angles, and adapters - smooth-threaded). I noticed that the smooth pipe piece did NOT seat all the way down to the bottom of the fitting but only about half way down where it got tight. Is the fitting tapered from top to bottom? Does the solvent glue dissolve the PVC a little so the pipe seats all the way to the bottom?
4) Some of the joins will require elevation changes so the settings of the angles are critical. Is there a 'slow' setting solvent that allows enough time to align the fittings before it 'sets' and locks the position? I will make 'dry' fittings, mark the matching spots on each, then apply the solvent and line up the marks before everything locks up. I looked at Home Depot and they had both Oatey and Christy's brands - any appreciable difference? One of the Christy's was a 'Red Hot' type and I was told it was a 'combination'; it had both primer and solvent together. The Oatey used a separate 'Primer' and 'Solvent' - two bottles. But the Christy's was a super-fast set so I'm not comfortable with that. Is the Primer, then Solvent method preferred?
Where there are metal valve risers, I'm going to use Schedule 80 fittings as extra protection when the metal pipe thread is inserted - this was recommended by a landscaper friend to avoid any danger of stress at that joint down about 18" to 24" deep (there will also be a 'T-bar' stake to support the riser).
Well, that's about all I could come up with but I would appreciate any 'unasked question' feedback on any points I missed. This project needs to come out without issues so I've tried to cover all my bases.
Thanks to those who took the time to read all the way through and also took the time to respond; very much appreciated.
1) Obviously, threaded joints involve some method of sealant and I have a bottle of Leak-Lock that I have used for metal pipe threads and am very satisfied with its performance. But I have (for some strange reason) not used it for PVC. I looked at their site and some You Tubes about it and everything (and everyone) says it works great as well for plastic (PVC) so I wonder if anyone here has used it and how it performed? I did see where some state they NEVER use Teflon on threaded pipe joints while others say that if you wrap it well with Teflon it seals well (?)
2) Regardless of how you seal, how much tightening pressure should you apply to make the joint tight? I've seen some posts that said 'hand tight' and others said 'pipe wrench tight'. In the past, I've used 'hand tight + 'quarter turn' and haven't had a leak - but - this is a big project with 2" pipe and I need some pro guidance about 'how tight is tight'? I don't want to over stress the threads but don't want to go back and re-tighten joints. Is it different between Teflon vs sealant?
3) I was looking closely at some of the pipe pieces and how they mounted on various fittings (sleeve joiners, angles, and adapters - smooth-threaded). I noticed that the smooth pipe piece did NOT seat all the way down to the bottom of the fitting but only about half way down where it got tight. Is the fitting tapered from top to bottom? Does the solvent glue dissolve the PVC a little so the pipe seats all the way to the bottom?
4) Some of the joins will require elevation changes so the settings of the angles are critical. Is there a 'slow' setting solvent that allows enough time to align the fittings before it 'sets' and locks the position? I will make 'dry' fittings, mark the matching spots on each, then apply the solvent and line up the marks before everything locks up. I looked at Home Depot and they had both Oatey and Christy's brands - any appreciable difference? One of the Christy's was a 'Red Hot' type and I was told it was a 'combination'; it had both primer and solvent together. The Oatey used a separate 'Primer' and 'Solvent' - two bottles. But the Christy's was a super-fast set so I'm not comfortable with that. Is the Primer, then Solvent method preferred?
Where there are metal valve risers, I'm going to use Schedule 80 fittings as extra protection when the metal pipe thread is inserted - this was recommended by a landscaper friend to avoid any danger of stress at that joint down about 18" to 24" deep (there will also be a 'T-bar' stake to support the riser).
Well, that's about all I could come up with but I would appreciate any 'unasked question' feedback on any points I missed. This project needs to come out without issues so I've tried to cover all my bases.
Thanks to those who took the time to read all the way through and also took the time to respond; very much appreciated.