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There were no insults. But be careful about absolutes and only play your "trump card" when you are sure it is a winner.Zero boilerplate, just industry standards from those who make and use the products daily. I think that trumps your petty insults.
Your citation of "industry standards" is incomplete and I added context to the comments that you either left out or do not know. Yes, it is boilerplate "The Do's and Don'ts" copied to literally dozens of sites and documents, almost all word for word wrapped in other people's documents and likely originating from the LASCO site... You know the company that mass produces garbage fittings sold at big box stores.
This is not an "industry standard" it is lazy content copied over and over and as copied and quoted is misleading and not complete, and you simply copied it and have repeated it here. I aimed to add context, as (again) it is incomplete and your emphatic "No, no, no, no, no. Teflon tape is not appropriate" is simply not the whole truth.
So, again (as I responded already) - PTFE thread tape is acceptable IF USED PROPERLY. Context is everything. Actually, let's have a look at what those who "make the products" have to say, instead of the copy/paste "Do's and Don'ts" from ONE manufacturer that appear as boilerplate all over the internet.
Here is a citation from Harvel Plastics, a manufacturer of high quality plastic fittings
The instructions go on to warn against over tightening.
Likewise directly from the Hayward (another quality PVC fittings manufacturer) installation instructions and standards
Spears (yet another high quality fittings manufacturer) allows for the use of Teflon tape, but warns (as I mentioned) about over tightening.
Charlotte Pipe
I don't see a need to dig out plumbing codes or more citations.
So again. PTFE tape is acceptable. It works very well for quality PVC fittings. It does NOT work well for crap fittings (example lasco) because it cant make up the thread gaps without being extremely overtightened. That said, often non-hardening paste is not enough either. A wrap of tape and some paste will often help ,but the advice would be to buy better fittings. (Hayward, Spears, Cepex, Harvel,etc.)
On a contextual note: When advising the use of "sealant" - please advise them to use 100% PTFE based sealants. Those mixed with oils or other compounds may not be reef safe. The sealant IS in contact with the tank water.
Type I silicone can also be used. It does not bond to the PVC and in essence forms a custom gasket. The fitting will still be able to be (fairly) easily to disassemble. Type II sticks better to PVC and will make disassembly harder.
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