Help identify this blue pipe?

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thebordella

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Hi,

I am working on a project at home that requires me to tap a water supply for an icemaker. I do not want to use a saddle-valve. Instead I want to use a tee. I already have a tee and have assembled the line from the tee to the icemaker line (braided steel compression line). But now I actually need to install the T inline with existing water supply.

The fridge is right beside the well water supply. In the attached picture you can see the existing pipe work in the well room. It consists mostly of a blue-ish piping with short sections of a white-ish piping. I had thought this piping was CPVC which I know is used elsewhere in the house (although not blue).

I bought a cheap pipe cutter (the kind you squeeze like scissors) and practiced on a few sections of scrap 3/4 inch known CPVC. No problem. But then I tried to cut the blue piping for real, and the pipe cutter hardly made a scratch. I squeezed hard and still nothing. Now I'm stumped.

Is this blue pipe not CPVC and if not, what is it? There seem to be no visible markings on the exposed sections. Am a little stumped why I can't cut this stuff and if not, how to tap the well room for the icemaker line. Thanks for any ideas!
 

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MACPLUMB

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It is sch 80 pvc piping you need a hacksaw to cut and the proper glue to install a tee !
Out of the correct material not cpvc ! !
 

thebordella

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Thank you!

Can you tell me what the proper glue and tee would be? I would like to connect the tee to a 1/2 inch CPVC stub because that is the assembly I have already put together. (The stub connects to a shut off valve which has a compression connector to the icemaker line. Again, this is already assembled.)

If there is more than one way to insert the tee into this sched 80 PVC then I would like to know the "easier" way even if that means buying more costly parts. Thanks!


It is sch 80 pvc piping you need a hacksaw to cut and the proper glue to install a tee !
Out of the correct material not cpvc ! !
 

hj

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SCh 80 PVC is gray, not blue and it has markings all along its length. The picture is not good enough to determine whether it is blue or gray, but until you know the material, you do NOT know what kind of glue to use, but PVC and CPVC are different sizes and are not compatible as far as cements are concerned either, even if you could get them to fit together.
 

thebordella

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This morning I took a flashlight and contorted myself around the well room to find any signs of markings on a section of the pipe in question. A ha!

The "blue" pipe is in fact marked as "CPVC Gray". I take it this means it is Schedule 80 CPVC. It really does look blue in person. It is old, maybe the color has shifted over time. Or maybe I need to see an eye doctor. Anyway, my existing assembly to connect up with the ice maker line is made of CPVC pieces, so that's good.

It sounds like I should just be able to hacksaw the Sch 80 CPVC and install a tee, presumably using CPVC solvent (already have some)?

Altermatively, I have been known to use the occasional Sharkbite connector. They do make a tee. Does anyone know if a Sharkbite can accept Schedule 80 pipe?


SCh 80 PVC is gray, not blue and it has markings all along its length. The picture is not good enough to determine whether it is blue or gray, but until you know the material, you do NOT know what kind of glue to use, but PVC and CPVC are different sizes and are not compatible as far as cements are concerned either, even if you could get them to fit together.
 

hj

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I hope it is NOT sch. 80 CPVC, because if it is the opening inside the pipe may be miniscule. It is probably just gray CPVC, like PEX comes in various colors also. The o.d. of the pipe determines whether a Sharkbite will work, and ALL cts sized CPVC, (copper and PEX also), has the same o.d.
 

thebordella

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Thanks for everyone's help. This morning I cut into the pipe in question with a hacksaw and installed a Sharkbite Tee. Worked like a charm. I only have one small little issue that I will post about in a new thread.

BTW, it turns out that after all this questioning, the pipe really was just Sched 40 CPVC. No idea why it was so much harder to cut with my cheap pipe cutter than new CPVC. And no idea why it is blue (or gray).
 

JeffeVerde

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Thanks for everyone's help. This morning I cut into the pipe in question with a hacksaw and installed a Sharkbite Tee. Worked like a charm. I only have one small little issue that I will post about in a new thread.

BTW, it turns out that after all this questioning, the pipe really was just Sched 40 CPVC. No idea why it was so much harder to cut with my cheap pipe cutter than new CPVC. And no idea why it is blue (or gray).

PVC can get brittle and hard with age - to the point that it will shrapnel rather than cut with a "knife-blade" cutter.
 
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