PVC Compression Coupling versus Slip Coupling

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James L Gayhart

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I'm fixing a minor leak on my PVC water line. A PVC connector is dripping water just so slightly. It doesn't even spin the dial on my water meter! Any way what would be the best way to repair? Cut out the junction and place a PVC slip joint over the area or use a Compression Joint. In researching I have seen conflicting advice on using compression fittings on pressurized water lines. Note: My water pressure is 50 PSI coming out of the meter box. Some advise that compression fittings should never be used on a pressurized water line. Others say there wouldn't be any problems as long as the water pressure doesn't exceed the compression joint maxium (usually 200-250 PSI). This seems the easiest way to repair, but if it's going to fail within 2-3 years then not worth the effort

If not a compression joint, would it be better to use a slip connector? I have seen some videos of where a plumber grinds out the stop of slip connector so it can be slipped over the repair area and then cemented into place, thereby reducing the need to do accurate measurements. Any advice would be appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jim G.
 

Reach4

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What size pipe are you talking about?
Where is this leak-- underground, in the living space, or what?
 

WorthFlorida

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If the leak is underground, a slip coupling using PVC cement is an easy fix. Just be sure you mark the pipe with the coupling so each end of the cut pipe is exactly in the middle.

The other is Sharkbite. They make brass slip couplings, however, if it is underground it must be wrap with their silicone tape for a water tight seal to reduce the chance the brass could fail corrosion and cause contamination of the potable water.



SharkBite push-to-connect fittings are made of brass, which is susceptible to corrosion when exposed to severe ground conditions. To use SharkBite brass fittings underground and maintain the 25-year warranty, they must be wrapped for any underground application.
 

Breplum

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PVC slide repair coupling should work. We always use pressure treated stakes as thwarts to prevent movement of pipe and the coupling from crowning.
 

James L Gayhart

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What size pipe are you talking about?
Where is this leak-- underground, in the living space, or what?
1 inch pvc pipe . Part of the main pressurized water line coming from the water meter. I've uncovered it and its about 6 inches underground when covered.
 

Reach4

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I think you got two good suggestions.

When you say PVC connector, do you mean something between two pieces of PVC, or something at the end of the PVC that interfaces to the meter.
 

John Gayewski

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The best would be glue, but you do need dry pipe to glue onto and time to cure. You can buy the blue "hot" pvc cement which actually works really well.

Second choice for me would jump straight over the compression fittings to sharkbite for pvc. I actually like the sharkbite fittings for pvc repairs. Underground I'm not so sure of, you'd have to look to see what sharkbite has to say about underground use.

I would think as long as the pipe is very securely anchored or basically immovable the compression fittings would also be OK, being as the pipe is very shallow I think movement is more apt to happen thus this type of compression fitting will leak in time.
 

James L Gayhart

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I think you got two good suggestions.

When you say PVC connector, do you mean something between two pieces of PVC, or something at the end of the PVC that interfaces to the meter.
Reach,

Slip Connector means using a slip junction between 2 pieces of PVC. I've seen on YouTube where a guy drills out the stop in a regular PVC junction with a Dremel so it can be slipped over and welded to 2 pieces of PVC. As an amateur I don't have to then worry about measuring precisely if I had to use a regular PVC junction with a stop inside.

So it sounds like this would be the best solution since the compression fittings may start leaking even though I have low water pressure of 50 PSI coming out of my meter to my home?
 

Mr tee

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I'd use the telescoping coupling that breplum shows if you aren't fighting water.
 

Reach4

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Slip Connector means using a slip junction between 2 pieces of PVC.
Slip connector can mean different things. For example https://www.sharkbite.com/us/en/bra...s/couplings/push-to-connect-pvc-slip-coupling is one meaning. For PVC, if you say glued, that will be unambiguous.

Could you address my question on #6? I think that has a lot of bearing on what the right fix would be. I think discussions have presumed that this was not at the end of the line, but was between two sections of PVC pipe. For that, I like the glued fix that involves four glued 90s. That actually improves the thermal expansion/contraction handling vs a regular glued PVC coupling. But I certainly see merits in the alternatives. The exception is that I would avoid the PVC repair coupling (like a regular PVC coupling, but with no stop in the middle). That seems like that would be hard to get right the first try.
 

Jeff H Young

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I never tried making a repair slip coupling for PVC by filing out the stop like we do with copper couplings. That would be an excellent fix providing you can physically glue it up and get the coupling evenly on both pieces of pipe. I can imagine it backfiring possibly just gotta work fast and use plenty of glue . give it a 1/ twist after positioning properly
 

Mr tee

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An ad for a drain cleaning service from a new member has nothing to do with the OP's question. Hot glue will set fast and be hard to use with a repair coupling. It will work fine with a telescoping coupling which also allows a lot of tolerance.
 

James L Gayhart

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Folks, I like to thank one and all for your all of your suggestions!

I finally went with a 1 inch PVC Compression Fitting for the repair. Currently the compression fitting is working, but it took 3 tries to accomplish. The first two attempts failed when the water was turned and after some time the compression fitting would come off(blow out) for some reason? The only difference I did on the 3rd attempt was I used channel locks to tighten the ends instead of hand tightening? Yes, I also did center the Compression fitting and made sure the O rings were at least a 1/4 inch or more on the ends of the pipe. However, I'm still leery of covering over the PVC pipe yet, so I'm waiting to see how it holds up.

Note: I was using the compression fitting to replace a leaking pvc joint connector which is a 2 inches long gap. I cut some additional PVC pipe section alongside the joint area so the gap area the compression fitting was repairing was about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long maximum.

1) Could it be that the compression fitting can only be used for a certain minimum or maxium gap?


The PVC Joint is located on about 12-16 feet of PVC pipe which I uncovered so the area being repaired is unsupported. I've seen in videos where Compression fittings are used the pipe is usually tied down. Could this be a factor?
 

Reach4

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Reach4

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The 4-elbows method.

If the PVC run is longer, this can also allow some flexibility in the face of thermal expansion and contraction.
 

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