Slight miscalculation in plumbing

[Sleepydoc]

Silicone is so viscous that I doubt it would have gotten sucked in too far, but who knows?

I can’t remember if I mentioned this before, but you can also use a heat gun to bend PVC. You obviously need to stay away from joints and can’t overheat or bend it too much lest it fold and kink, but for slight bends this works well.

 

[WVNed]

Put a quarter turn on the union with some slip joint pliers? My wrists aren't good enough to tighten them by hand.

 

[AquaDaddy]

I had a similar issue. my lower pvc runs coming out of the tanks were angled down slightly. As I was building it, I had first started with used uniseals, but found with the angle being off, they leaked. I changed to heavy duty bulkheads and that solved my problem. The gasket is pretty thick on these and I was able to just get them at my local Ace. I will keep them in mind for all future builds as they are really nice to work with and far from fragile.

 

[SallyWho]

I've never seen replacement half-unions; you have to buy the entire thing and use what you need. NO idea if that coupling you bought can be spliced, but you can go ahead and try it. Otherwise they sell Spaflex or Ultraflex flexible PVC that can be glued like any other PVC pipe.

Where is the leak? I read a tip somewhere that you can seal one end and hook up a vacuum to the other end while applying PVC cement to the joint in question. The vacuum will apparently draw enough cement into the joint to seal it. I wouldn't trust it for full water main pressure but for our applications it should be fine.

I couldn't find any spa flex or any other kind of uber flexible PVC in town. Either "not available at your location, and it can't be shipped to you for less than $80" or it was super stiff, $40 for 10', and not compatible with regular PVC fittings. And I have no idea how to hook a vacuum to the PVC while I'm gluing it? I will try splicing it to see what happens, though!

 

[Sleepydoc]

Yeah, I think Lowes sells spa flex by the foot, but for ultra flex you're pretty much stuck with mail order.

Have you thought about making a slight jog with two 45º elbows? Even if it ends up being a bit too high, you could put the pump up slightly.

Edit - you can also use a heat gun or hot water to temporarily improve the flexibly of spaflex.

 

[Fin]

Lowe's or Home Depot should have Spa-Flex. Some pool / spa stores also. I have gotten black Ultra-Flex from Glass-Holes.com. It is a lot easier to use.

I have a friend that is really old school and he uses very few PVC fittings. He plans the run of the pipe, caps one end, fills the pipe with sand and caps the other end. He then heats it up with a heat gun and bends it to shape. The sand keeps the PVC warm longer while it is being formed and helps prevent overly sharp bends. Kinda neat looking too.

 

[SallyWho]

Yeah, I think Lowes sells spa flex by the foot, but for ultra flex you're pretty much stuck with mail order.

Have you thought about making a slight jog with two 45º elbows? Even if it ends up being a bit too high, you could put the pump up slightly.

Edit - you can also use a heat gun or hot water to temporarily improve the flexibly of spaflex.

Will a heat gun or hot water help with regular PVC? Just curious.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Will a heat gun or hot water help with regular PVC? Just curious.

Hot water won't, but you can heat it up and soften it with a heat gun. Just make sure you either do it after cementing the joints or keep the ends from deforming; otherwise they won't work with the fittings.

Fin mentioned his/her friend who fills PVC w/sand to keep it from kinking when he bends it. For your purpose, what I would probably do is cut the piece a bit long, cement one fitting on then heat it enough to make the slight bend you need, then cut it to length and put the other end of the union on.