Who else struggles with plumbing?

ying yang

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Alright. I finished. Everything is glued and threaded pieces are with Teflon tape.

When can I run water through it?
Hi,I've always used solvent weld on pvc and run water through very soon after as dries the actual weld thats created sets almost instantly .( well on surface if run fingers along it) but fwiw I never glued any fittings/ pipe for anything for a fish tank, only in people's houses/ factories/ warehouses etc and fishes little more sceptable to things as so small ,but I've glued fittings together whilst working and ran water through them very soon after and no leaks but as water running through it and in a closed system like a reef tank I would personally wait few hours .
But got feeling its only minutes you need to wait rather than hours.let me see if says anything on back of tub
 

ying yang

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Ok read back of tub ( probably first time in 27 years lol )
Says dont disturb within 10 minutes ,but in reality it's set and hard as nails within 10- 20 seconds and says fully cured in 12 hours so for my particular solvent weld it's 12 hours but read back of your tub or go on manufacturers website to get time for fully cured times,but I've ran water through literally minutes after gluing joints together as imagine telling a customer " well I cut out this leak and inserted 2 couplings but need test in 12 hours time so will come back tommorrow and by the way job going cost you twice as much now lol "

20211121_221712.jpg 20211121_221652.jpg

Edit: this glue I shared pic of for waste water pipes and none pressurised systems and not pressurised systems and even though going be so low pressure going through your uv ,the glue used is slightly different as thickness of walls on pressurised systems is thicker ,so look back of your tub of glue for the answer imo
And as fish only small animals and you had quite alot set backs in last few months,I would be going by manufacturers instructions or 24 hours to play it safe ^_^
 
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I have good news and bad news…

The good news is I ran the water through and NO LEAKS!!

The bad news is that the UV came with a nonfunctional bulb. I plugged and unplugged the lightbulb and nothing could get the bulb to turn on (the little window did not light up). I cannot tell if the bulb is bad, or the electrical parts are bad.

So…Amazon is going to send me a replacement unit later this week!

The dramas of reefing. Lol.
 

ying yang

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I have good news and bad news…

The good news is I ran the water through and NO LEAKS!!

The bad news is that the UV came with a nonfunctional bulb. I plugged and unplugged the lightbulb and nothing could get the bulb to turn on (the little window did not light up). I cannot tell if the bulb is bad, or the electrical parts are bad.

So…Amazon is going to send me a replacement unit later this week!

The dramas of reefing. Lol.
Well you half way there ^_^
Good luck when you get new unit and the upcoming weeks /months and hopefully you get years of pest free pleasure from your tank
 

Rmckoy

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I’ll get the PVC glue then lol
Primer and glue …
Primer ensures a clean surface

always fit dry , double check it’s what you want before disassembling and gluing .
Remember how you took it apart , mark what way elbows were ( direction ) and after applying glue press firmly to the bottom of every fitting twisting 90°

abs to pvc can be covered in the next lesson
 
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Miami Reef

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Tip #2
Always use unions where parts need to be removed for service .
Install gate valves in the proper
Direction .
Thank you so much for telling me this. You taught me what unions are for and now I am going to install them for the first time. I cemented the PVC that attaches to the pump but now I will use unions to be able to service the pump when needed.
 

DrZoidburg

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When can I run water through it?
Like above said 15 mins can run water through. 2 hrs is good for pressure testing higher psi lines. Have to do this for certain building codes. To ensure no leaks. The time depends on what type of line it is either drain or supply. Also what pressure it will run at. Drains only rated for like 2.5-5psi so only have to wait about a half hour. Supply lines have to be tested at over 100 psi so have to wait longer. The cure process can put off vapors up to 24hrs+, or could be trapped in the pipe. I like wait until I can't smell it anymore at least. There is another glue you can use that doesn't require primer also. A lot less of a mess.
 
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UV people. Please help me with this final question:

How can I plumb my UV horizontally so I can easily change my bulb without water spilling everywhere? Is this possible, or does it need to be vertical?

I found an excellent place to mount the UV: on the pvc return pipes that enter the DT. I can use unions and elbows to plumb it to the sterilizer before it goes to the DT. All water from overflow must go through UV to enter tank, and the flow is slow enough that EVERYTHING will die! It’s…perfect!

Except for the fact that I need to get creative with the position of the unit.
 
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So here is the area where I plan to plumb the UV. That white PVC is where I will make the cut to attach to the UV sterilizer.

The blue tip is where the electricity connects to. It’s also where you unscrew the clean quartz sleeve and to replace the UV bulb. In my experience, having the unit horizontal will make the floor and tank flood with water because the water left inside the unit will pour out.

But having the unit face vertical will not have the flooding issue. I don’t think there’s room to have the unit vertical to be able to change the bulb when needed. Thoughts?

2DE7367A-B7E2-4C4A-8EE0-A460F36C39D3.jpeg
407D76D6-11B7-44C6-AA43-35BDD45ACCA3.jpeg
 

DrZoidburg

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Should put it vertical, or at least pitched so air doesn't get trapped inside. If you were intent on mounting it this way you could use 3 valves, or a three way valve and a regular to close off flow. The three way would allow you to drain water into a bucket first.
 

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