Replacing short section of PVC pipe in hot tub - tight fit!

[John Prinos]

Hello all,

I have a hot tub that had a leaky 2 inch flex PVC pipe connection (into the filter housing) I tried the vacuum sucking glue trick a few times but it did not work.

Ultimately I cut the pipe and was able to extract the pipe from both fittings using a 2” hole saw heated with a blow torch. (Magic!). See attached pic.

I have a replacement section of hose but my worry is that I do not think I can fit the pipe quickly enough on both sides and twist it to ensure a good glue bond. The fittings on the filter end cannot move and the other end moves with difficulty. How long will the glue allow me to twist the pipe before it hardens to the point where it cannot be twisted? (I.e. never did this before!)

Should I first glue/twist the pipe at the filter housing end where I had the leak and then glue/fit/push on the other side and hope for the best?

Thanks in advance,
John

 

[Fitter30]

Is there a hose id that matches pipe fittings just thinking ontside the box or make a u shape out of fittings.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jeff H Young]

yep glue it up!

 

[Gagecalman]

If that's 1-1/2" flexible PVC the OD should be 1.90". I wonder if the ID of the fittings is too big after being bored out with a 2" hole saw.

 

[Jeff H Young]

If that's 1-1/2" flexible PVC the OD should be 1.90". I wonder if the ID of the fittings is too big after being bored out with a 2" hole saw.

Boring it out almost an 1/8 of an inch not a good thing. I was wondering that too , but thought that too obvious . he did say 2 inch though but figure he would have noticed maybe it was an 1 7/8" bit

 

[Reach4]

He did not say he cut with the hole saw. He might have just used that to apply heat to something.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Im assuming he did it right.

 

[John Prinos]

Is there a hose id that matches pipe fittings just thinking ontside the box or make a u shape out of fittings.

As far as I know, no. The replacement 2inch inner diameter pipe fits the fitting diameter. It seems to be standard for hot tubs.

I think I would want to keep the section as free of turns, elbows etc since it might affect flow performance of the hot tub. Just unsure about that aspect.

 

[John Prinos]

If that's 1-1/2" flexible PVC the OD should be 1.90". I wonder if the ID of the fittings is too big after being bored out with a 2" hole saw.

That is 2 inch inner diameter.
The hole saw was used as a heating element to soften the pipe in the fitting. I cut the pipe 1 cm from the fitting, heat the hole saw into the 2 inch flex pipe and waited about 3 minutes. I was able to remove the now softened pipe from the fittings. That all went well, as can be seen from the pic in the original post.

 

[John Prinos]

Boring it out almost an 1/8 of an inch not a good thing. I was wondering that too , but thought that too obvious . he did say 2 inch though but figure he would have noticed maybe it was an 1 7/8" bit

nope, did not use the hole saw as a cutter but as a good fit to the inner diameter to the pipe I wanted to remove.

 

[John Prinos]

yep glue it up!

ok, I will try to dry fit as practice. I will determine which end I should put on first (the fixed filter housing end or the slightly flexible elbow end)

Any other advice would be welcome!

 

[John Prinos]

He did not say he cut with the hole saw. He might have just used that to apply heat to something.

Correct! I learned of this method of removing Pipe from fittings (and being able to reuse the fittings) on YouTube

 

[John Prinos]

Im assuming he did it right.

Removal of pipe from fittings seemed to work

 

[wwhitney]

What's the distance between the two hubs, and what is the maximum insertion depth of a pipe in a hub?

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Gagecalman]

Correct! I learned of this method of removing Pipe from fittings (and being able to reuse the fittings) on YouTube

Thanks for the post. I learned something new today.

 

[John Prinos]

What's the distance between the two hubs, and what is the maximum insertion depth of a pipe in a hub?

Cheers, Wayne

The space between the fittings is 4 1/4 inches. The fittings can take just under an inch each.
It looks like the original flex pipe was around 5 1/4.(Pieced the old pieces together)

 

[John Prinos]

I am wondering if a 2 inch slips slip union would be what is required? I could assemble each side and properly glue them in with a twist and then complete by tightening the union.
Something like this:
https://www.poolandhottubdepot.com/...MI_LmE2Lqv6wIVg7LICh0sWgm1EAQYBSABEgIcfvD_BwE

or am I overthinking this?

 

[Jeff H Young]

I am wondering if a 2 inch slips slip union would be what is required? I could assemble each side and properly glue them in with a twist and then complete by tightening the union.
Something like this:
https://www.poolandhottubdepot.com/...MI_LmE2Lqv6wIVg7LICh0sWgm1EAQYBSABEgIcfvD_BwE

or am I overthinking this?[/QUOTE

I can understand being a little nervous on it. I think you can get it if pipe moves around the union might work but think id try straight section first get real comfortable put your rags down or whatever Work real fast and use your strength 3 or 4 seconds too long and you wont be able to get it. and dont be shy with glue as it helps it slip in

 

[wwhitney]

The space between the fittings is 4 1/4 inches. The fittings can take just under an inch each.
It looks like the original flex pipe was around 5 1/4.(Pieced the old pieces together)

So is there enough movement to get the hubs to 5-3/4" apart? If so, you can just glue up both joints at the same time with a 5-3/4" pipe segment. Mark your pipe to be be sure it's centered in available 6-1/4", rather than 1" in one hub and only 1/2" into the other hub.

Since the old joint leaked, it would be nice to get a longer pipe segment in there than just 5-1/4".

If you can't get enough movement, you may have to just replace a greater length of pipe, so you have more maneuverability.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Jeff H Young]

missed that yea 6 1/4 inch piece!