Crooked Drain Pipe

BigJohnny · Nov 14, 2016

Good Evening Fellow Reefers,

Been in the game for over 2 years but have never plumbed a reef ready tank (or any pvc plumbing for that matter). 95% of my plumbing went off without a hitch but when I installed my 1" emergency drain pipe under the bulkhead I noticed that it set slightly crooked. When I say slightly I mean between 1-3 degrees max, I am not sure it could be seated and be anymore off center than that thankfully. What's odd is that this was the tightest fitting pipe/bulkhead/fitting combo I had, so it's not like there was a big size difference and it was just wiggling around when I set it. There was A LOT of push-out force when I was installing it (more than any other) and I actually had to adjust/increase my force because it was pushing out so hard. Regardless, I seated the pipe all the way and held it for a full minute. It has not pushed out since then.

My question is, just because the pipe is slightly angled, does that mean it is not set and secure? Couldn't the fitting have just softened to the point of allowing a slightly angled installation (clearly my fault due to the angle I was holding it at) while still maintaining a good bond? The piece of pipe I installed in the bulkhead already had a union attached to it so I really would rather not re-install unless I have to.

My hunch is that since the force/weight we are subjecting theses pipes to is very minimal, it will not be an issue if it does not leak. Having said that, I have no idea what I am talking about.

Any thoughts/perspectives/experience would be greatly appreciated. BTW, the pipe was cut perfectly square on a miter saw.

Thanks!

120reefkeeper · Nov 14, 2016

IMHO as long as it was a clean connection and you used the appropriate primer then you should be just fine. Just for curiosity sake do you have a picture you can post up??

BigJohnny · Nov 14, 2016

120reefkeeper said:
IMHO as long as it was a clean connection and you used the appropriate primer then you should be just fine. Just for curiosity sake do you have a picture you can post up??

OK hope so! Yup here you go. The pictures arent all straight up and down so use the 2x4 and other pipe as reference. Got really messy because I held it for so long that i ended up spreading rather than cleaning when I tried to whipe it clean. Haven't secured the clamp yet and it rotates freely so don't use that to judge angle.

Bluefish9 · Nov 14, 2016

Sometimes, when the cut end of the pipe isn't square, the angle of the cut will cause the pipe to lean a bit. As long as you have good solvent coverage, you'll be fine.
FWIW, I never FULLY seat pipes for that exact reason... I twist n push until it bottoms out, and then back it out a hair.

BigJohnny · Nov 15, 2016

Bluefish9 said:
Sometimes, when the cut end of the pipe isn't square, the angle of the cut will cause the pipe to lean a bit. As long as you have good solvent coverage, you'll be fine.
FWIW, I never FULLY seat pipes for that exact reason... I twist n push until it bottoms out, and then back it out a hair.

Ok, hope so. I had good solvent coverage for sure. I cut mine square with a miter saw so I don't think that was the problem, but who knows! As long as it's okay leaning I don't care how it happened lol. Thanks!