Reattaching plumbing

[trble81]

To move the tank over to my house, we needed to use a hacksaw and cut the PVC plumbing. See below pictures to see the cuts:

 

 

 

So the internal diameter of the PVC that was cut was 1.5". My question is how would I go about reattaching this? Any insight would be greatly appreciated because I'm no darn good with plumbing.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

--Mike

[Highland Reefer]

You can use pvc couplings or you can use rubber couplings. Both are sold at Home Depot.

[txaggies07]

Just go get a PVC couple and make sure to use PVC Cement so it stays in place and doesn't leak. It will work perfectly.

[Grav]

In each of those pics, it seems there is little PVC left. I'm not sure you have enough pipe.

 

You may just want to replace everything.

[Highland Reefer]

It looks like you have enough to do the couplings, you did cut it close. If you do the PVC coupling you need to buy the pvc cleaner and pvc glue. First you apply the cleaner to about 2" of the pipe ends, and inside the coupling lip, Then you apply the pvc glue to the same areas. Insert the coupling in place and hold for 30 seconds unitl dry enough to hold on its own. Do one joint at a time.

 

You can use a pvc junction, which you apply the same way as above. The difference is that you can use channel locks to un-twist it after installation to take it apart without cutting it. That way if you decide to move it again you do not have to go through this process. I used these junctions on all my critical points where I have to take pumps & other equipment apart for cleaning (etc). These junctions cost around $3-$5 depending on the size and the regular couplings are around $2.00. Both are sold at home depot.

 

If you do not like the idea of the cleaner and glue, you can use the rubber couplings, which I also have used. This is simply a piece of black rubber materal which slips on the end of each pipe and then you use the stainless steel car radiater type screw clamps to tighten at each end. You need to put two of the clamps on first before you put the rubber coupling on. These work well, just check after installation to make sure they do not leak and tighten if necessary. These couplings can also be take apart if you need to later on. Their cost is about $3-$5. All you need for installation is a screwdriver. These are sold at Home Depot also in the pvc pipe area.

[trble81]

Thanks to everyone for the info!

 

Like I said in my first post, I'm no darn good with plumbing. I was thinking of using a coupling but I needed some confirmation to see if I was even close to being right.

 

 

 

--Mike

[bbyatv]

In my opinion I would use an elbow off of the bulkhead and then a union down stream of that so that hack saw cuts are not required in the future. Same goes for the other cut but maybe use a coupling then a union depending on how you plan to route the plumbing..

 

Bruce

[davelin315]

I agree with Grav, I don't think you've got enough pipe left over. That said, PVC solvent will melt it, so if you can seat it close enough and use a clamp to hold it together, you might be able to bond not only the inside, but the lip of the pieces as well. Do a dry run first and see if it works. If you're not at least 1/2 way down the pipe, I would simply replace it all. It's not going to be a pressure situation, but again, that's a lot of water to risk on your floor...

[trble81]

If I had to replace the whole thing, how would I get the pipe out of the bulkhead?

[Highland Reefer]

If I had to replace the whole thing, how would I get the pipe out of the bulkhead?

Measure the pipe you have available from the junction to where you cut it off. You need about 1.5" to attach it so it will hold properly with the glue.

 

If the bulk head is glued together and you can not unscrew it, you will have to carefully cut it apart with a drummel. Hopefully you have at least 2" of pipe left to glue to.

 

If you can unscrew the bulk head nut, then you can pull the bulk head out from the inside and you will have to replace it with a new one.

 

I live in Highland, in Howard County, not to far from Columbia, if you need help, send me a PM and will be glad to come up and help you out.

Edited January 24, 2008 by Highland Reefer

[bbyatv]

I had a very similar situation at a 1.5" Bulkead. I had about 1 inch of pipe sticking out of the bulkhead.

 

I was nervous about just cementing on an elbow to the 1 inch of pipe.

 

I went to Lowes and found that a 1" coupling will fit very tightly into the inside of a 1.5" pipe and the inside of a 1.5" elbow.

 

So what I did was cement the 1" coupling inside the 1.5" pipe and then cemented on my 1.5" elbow.

 

When I did this, the 1" coupling slid inside the elbow while at the same time the flange on the elbow slid outside of the 1.5" pipe. In this way it was cemented on the inside and out of both the pipe and the elbow.

 

The only issue with this fix is that it does change the inside diameter of the plumbing to that of the ID of the 1" coupling. In my case the 1.5" plumbing is way over kill and so I could afford to decrease the diameter of my overflow blumbing at that point.

 

By the way buy the type of elbow that is more of a sweeping elbow. I found it in the area where all of the sink drain fittings are not with all of the normal PVC fittings.

 

This type of elbow will allow you to remove the nut from the bulkhead and slide it over the elbow. Allowing you to remove the bulkhead from the tank if need be.

 

Here is a sketch of the fix. (If you can figure it out?)

 

 

Bruce

Edited January 24, 2008 by bbyatv

[rioreef]

Don't mess around...just remove and replace the bulkhead and start from there!

 

You will sleep better and not checking it every time you look at the tank.