12 replies to this topic

[nerfguy47]

Well my friend and I are making a snap together. We cut a piece of pvc and pvc cemented it into a coupling. Turns out the piece was the wrong length (too short). So my question is can I break the bond of the pvc cement to save the coupling. Any solutions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help.

Edited by nerfguy47, 24 January 2012 - 05:51 PM.

[KaptainKrazy]

Unfortunately, once two pieces of PVC are cemented, there is nothing you can do.

[Swiftone1990]

just cut down the other end of the PVC, so you save your coupler.

[spencerak]

just cut down the other end of the PVC, so you save your coupler.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think he means he cut it too short, otherwise cutting it down on the other end would be the best solution.

[cmeej]

Unfortunately, once two pieces of PVC are cemented, there is nothing you can do.

http://bit.ly/zq2toK

Edited by cmeej, 24 January 2012 - 06:02 PM.

[Doom]

Buy a new coupler.

If your solvent welds were bad so that the pipe and fitting are not one piece, you might be able to pull the fitting out, but usually they aren't this bad. If you can smack the fitting off like Pointman9 said he could below then you definitely did not solvent weld correctly. The two pieces will become one if they are solvent welded properly.

Alternatively, if you are really set on saving that coupler, you can use a special drill bit to remove the pipe. But there's no point for this here unless you need to to this many times. The tool costs several times the price of a new coupler and segment of pipe. These special drill bits are meant for when removing the fitting would be hard, e.g., if the fitting was embedded in a wall or concrete.

If you don't want to buy anything extra and are really set on saving that fitting, you could saw the pipe off where it meets the fitting and manually cut out the pipe inside of the fitting. This is way too much work when you can get a new fitting for $2.

If you want to redo parts later and having a perfect seal isn't necessary, you always can hold pipe in a fitting with screws (assuming that you can't use threaded fittings). You can add an O-ring if you want parts with a good seal that can be disassembled without using threaded fittings.

cmeej, that's lame. You could write that for 95% of the threads here.

Edited by Doom, 24 January 2012 - 08:33 PM.

[Pointman9]

If the pipe section the coupler is glued on is long enough, hold the pipe section and smack the coupler on the ground. It worked for me once.

[Swiftone1990]

My bad, thought it was too long. If you are really really set on removing it, I suggest the cut it off as close as you can method, followed by lots of sanding and mild cutting very carefully. Its honestly probably worth just getting the new one though.

[BOSS9]

Why does no one understand solvent welding? When you use "PVC cement" or similar products, they don't adhere two materials, like glues do. Solvent welding uses solvents to dissolve the PVC, then the solvents evaporate, leaving only PVC. Your pipe and coupler are literally one piece of solid PVC.

Anyways, fittings are dirt cheap. Sanding out a coupler would take hours and wouldn't work as well.

[Exo]

Anyways, fittings are dirt cheap.

What he said to the max. Go to Lowes, or Home Depot, not somewhere smaller, like Ace or DiB, amd buy a Contractor pack of couplers. You'll save even more per piece, and you get ten of them.

[Blue]

Hit it with a hammer. If it breaks, fine, but often times the outer pipe will crack and shatter the bond. Plus, it's fun. Just wear glasses and probably gloves because the shards go everywhere if you really crush it. As others have already said... You are talking about MAYBE a dollars worth of easily replaceable parts.

[kaneashiru1]

I think it kinda depends on if you used solvent, if you did... well pvc's cheap... Otherwise it depends on the glue, I know there are glue solvents.. Check the type then google it..
I'm a lazy person so I'd probably just cut it off fit a smaller diameter pvc where i cut, then refit another tube of the original diameter over it then glue all 3 pieces together... Hope this helps.

[shardbearer]

You shouldn't be using anything other than solvent on your pvc. It's that much stronger than everything else. Which isn't good if you are trying to get it apart. Solvent literally melts the PVC into a goop and then it dries into one solid piece.