3" PVC joint not fully inserted

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Peter McCartney

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I fear i know the answer, but is this going to fail inspection? I was worried about getting the 1/8 slope on the horizontal , I didn't pay attention to the joint pushing back out. Its inserted about an inch - should be 1.5 inch. Horrid location to have to cut it out and do over.

Peter
 

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Tuttles Revenge

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Reed Reemer tool is what you want to fix this. $60-70 dollars and 15 minutes of cutting and reeming. Dont make a second mistake trying to grind the fitting out and potentially mess up the tee. You could likely resell the tool or keep it as a painful reminder on doing the job right the first time.

Cut the 45 flush with the face of the tee socket and cut the rest of the 45 away giving you clear access to the socket with a 1/2" drill, reem the fitting out. It should leave the fitting socket as close to new as a used fitting can get.

https://www.ferguson.com/product/reed-2-in-plastic-pipe-fitting-reamer-r04525/_/R-4190752
 

PlumbumZepplin

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Don't grind or pay for an expensive tool. Heat and peel. Cut if off flush with the hub (or nearly so) and heat with a heat gun or torch from the inside of the spigot fitting. Work in a screwdriver between the hub and spigot, and then a set of needle nose pliers. Keep heating further and further away from that point, using the screwdriver and needlenose to 'peel' out the inserted spigot. Works like a charm and leaves a nice clean hub surface ready to reglue.

You can search for a video on YouTube, but it's simple.

Like this:
.
 

wwhitney

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Heat and peel.
So you're saying that the solvent weld connection is something that softens at a lower temperature than the bulk PVC? Or does the technique depend on a temperature gradient, that the pipe to be removed is hotter than the fitting that is to remain?

Do you know if it also works for ABS and ABS cement?

Cheers, Wayne
 

Tuttles Revenge

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I've heated a solid core ABS pipe from a fitting once.. we did it with a torch and it stunk really bad. I'd rather buy the $100 tool and be done in 15 minutes.

And especially as a professional, there is zero chance that I would torch a PVC fitting inside someones finished home.

The fact that its a fitting stuck in there rather than a foam core piece of pipe, heat would have a better chance.
 
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PlumbumZepplin

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So you're saying that the solvent weld connection is something that softens at a lower temperature than the bulk PVC? Or does the technique depend on a temperature gradient, that the pipe to be removed is hotter than the fitting that is to remain?

Do you know if it also works for ABS and ABS cement?

Cheers, Wayne

Calling a conventional PVC-to-PVC solvent bond a "solvent weld" isn't quite accurate. Solvent diffusion inside a polymer is complex (this is my area of academic expertise). The joint, for reasons of geometry but primarily of the material itself, isn't what you'd expect by saying it's "welded"; i.e., the polymer chains, even somewhat solvated (that's a long and complex discussion in and of itself) don't significantly interdiffuse.

In any case, you're really softening the inside piece of PVC. Of course, because of heat transfer, the outside will soften too, but an (almost completely) amorphous polymer like PVC doesn't melt like an inorganic material like solder or something. It softens rather gradually. When you soften the inner pipe of the bond, you can easily deform and fracture the adhesive polymer that bonds the joint together when you peel it away.

You're right to be skeptical. I was, too, even with my background. But I applied the technique twice in my basement where the consequences of screwing up were severe (breaking concrete) and both times it worked absolutely perfectly. If you're intrigued (it will fix your problem and do it with tools you have sitting there right now and cost you nothing), try it out on a couple of scraps - a cheap coupler and a piece of scrap pipe.

I would do it again in a heartbeat, and to the point of recommending it to folks like yourself. Just take your time and heat relatively slowly - don't burn it. And oh, to the comment below, PVC really isn't that flammable (over 50% by weight of the material is a halogen (chlorine)), so the chances of you setting something on fire is pretty damned low. ABS burns readily. You won't be holding the flame on it for much time at all, nowhere near what it would take to ignite it. And if you are scared of the flame, just get a cheap heat gun (I don't think a hair dryer would be suitable at all, though).
 
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Reach4

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I have not tried it, but if I were going to, I would want to leave some pipe to grab with a pliers, rather than cutting the pipe flush. I am thinking to leave a tab near your inside longitudinal saw cut.
 

Peter McCartney

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And once again, thanks. I did in fact watch some of the Youtube videos on various forms of this approach. While i do have a heat gun, the variants that involved preheating a hole saw or wheel bearing and inserting it in the pipe seemed the safest and most even way to transfer the heat to the pipe and not the fitting. Now to just make a risk matrix to estimate which method has the greater chance of failure and the greatest consequences if it does!

Peter
 

Peter McCartney

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Ok just to close the loop. I opted to try the heat method using a heat gun. After cutting out the section of the fitting that neede to be replaced, I practiced on the bit of pipe that was in the hub end of that fitting. Having successfully got that bit removed without damaging or deforming the hub, I then removed the partially inserted spigot (which I verified had only been inserted about 7/8 of an inch) by heating one small section, then twisting with needle nose pliers while successfully heating more of the ring until i was able to twist it all out. By the time I got around to the top where there were two pex lines, there was enough residual heat in the remnant to weaken the glue without risking direct heat near those. Leaving a half inch of pipe as per Reach4's comment gave something to grab with the pliers without damaging the hub with a screwdriver. I did have to do a fair bit of sanding in the hub before I was able to get a dry fit again. Thanks everyone for the advice. This step proved to be the easiest part. Repairing the cut section of the horizontal pipe was harder with barely enough slack to fit a coupler in.

Photos attached.

Peter
 

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Jeff H Young

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Success right on Peter! much better job weve all had that happen glue a joint turn away and have it back out. at least I have
 
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