Re-Glueing PVC Joint

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Huskerfan-23

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I was making a connection today and heard a pop and noticed that one of my PVC joints broke below where I was working. I pulled out the pipe from the fitting and noticed that I didn't get it seated all the way when I had made the original connection. From reading on the board it looks like I can reglue this, but wanted to confirm if my steps are correct. This is just for drain lines (and the joint that broke is actually a vent a line, so no water going through it).

Is this correct...
1. Clean both the fitting and piece of pipe with PVC cleaner
2. Reapply purple primer to both both pieces after cleaner has dried
3. Apply cement (I have regular strength, but wondering if i should get something stronger) while primer is still wet
4. Make sure I seat the pipe correctly this time.

Thanks in advance.

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Kreemoweet

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It's certainly worth a shot. And vent piping typically WILL have water going thru it, if only condensation and rainwater.
 

Jadnashua

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Depending on how much cement is left on the joints, it may or may not be easy to get the two back together again. But, the cement's solvents should make it soft enough to happen. You might want to lightly sand both parts if it looks like there's a lot of buildup.

Note that the socket of the fitting has a slight taper to it, so, until the cement's solvents evaporate some, especially on larger pipe sizes, it's not uncommon for it to try to push the pipe out of the fitting some. That may be what happened...IOW, it might have been fully seated, but not held in place long enough, and when you let go, the fluid plastic in the joint just let the pipe push out a bit.
 

Gary Swart

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Can't say no with absolute certainty, I think it is doubtful. The thing that many DIY folks don't understand is that PVC is not actually glued in the same way as other materials are glued. We all use the term "glued" but the process is actually solvent welding. The "glue" is actually a solvent that when applied to the pipe and fitting meld the surface of the material and allow the joint to be made. PVV joint should be held together for a few seconds to prevent the joint from moving apart. So the unknown about your joint is we don't know if it can be salvaged. I would suggest you not spend much time and effort on it. If it proves to be questionable, I'd opt for cutting the pipe(s) and fitting off, use couplings and short pipes to redo the whole thing. In my opinion, even if you get the joint to appear to be good, it might just hold OK for awhile before Murphy's Law went into effect. PVC pipe and fitting are too cheap to take chances with an unknown connection. I'd do the same thing with a bad copper joint, too.
 

Save-H2O

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It's certainly worth a shot. And vent piping typically WILL have water going thru it, if only condensation and rainwater.
As long as you get all of the old glue off you can reuse. I prefer to leave my primer wet as to keep pipe soft when twisting 1/4 turn. There's the occasional oh shit moments.
 
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