Connecting well PVC to copper piping
Porsche998
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
My well driller installed the pump and provided about 1″ ID PVC pipe that is somewhat flexible but has about a 1/4″ wall – not easy to cut – but my real issue is trying to connect the plastic pipe to threaded adapter – cold there is no way that the adapter will even start to slide inside the PVC pipe – I have tried a hair dryer but that does no provide sufficient PVC flexibility. Any thoughts – short of using a torch?
Thanks
Replies
I just used a torch (MAPP gas). Just keep it moving.
A heat gun would work better than a hair dryer. You'd likely be able to find one at the hardware store in the paint section.
Edited 7/13/2006 11:41 am ET by Soultrain
If you bevel the leading edge of the adapter that will help. That and a heat gun. Keep the heat source forward on the pipe, if you soften the pipe in back of how deep the adapter will go the pimp may crimp. You may as a precaution wrap the pipe below the depth of the adapter with a wet cloth, which will keep the pipe solid as you push and give you something to grab on to.
PVC or polyethalane (PE) tubing.
Never see PVC that thick.
But for the PE you need lots of heat.
Boiling a pot of water and sticking the end it it will work.
May need to replenish a time or two.
THanks all-
Just talked to the outfit that installed the well - they said that they use a torch - inside the pipe for 10- 15 seconds and outside for a similar time always moving - think I will experiment on a scrap piece first!
Just make sure to wear a glove on the hand that holds the pipe :)
Maybe I'm missing something here but why not get some schedule 40 one inch straight pvc coupling then a 1 inch threaded male or female pvc adaptor. Then simply sweat a threaded copper female or male adaptor onto a couple of feet of copper pipe then screw the pvc to the copper with some pipe dope and Teflon tape and go from there. If I was asked to apply heat to the PVC pipe to make it fit , my first thought would be, " I'm doing something wrong."
What are you proposing to use to attach to the inside of the PVC? I have a PVC to thread adapter- the problem is getting that adapter into the pipe. I have found through experience with other working with PVC that heat is usualy required when slipping in that type of connector.
The pipe he is describing is not PVC, it is polyethylene. Polyethylene cannot be glued with solvent cement. The fitting he should be using, and apparently is, is called a hose adapter or a hose nipple. It has NPT threads on one end and is barbed on the other end.
Chamfering the ID of the pipe helps getting the adapter started. A torch is the right way to go, and it takes a careful eye and touch. The point is to warm the entire end of the pipe through the full wall thickness rather than melt a surface layer and have a cold core.
Two clamps should be used, and they should be all stainless steel. Many automotive and cheap big box clamps have stainless steel bands but carbon steel worms. In underground service the worms can rust away.
You describe it well...if it's not PVC then it sounds like your barbed hose adapter is the ticket. I've used PVC a lot and have used threaded PVC adapters to connect to threaded copper. I've never used polyethylene and have zero experience with it other than to say, it's what the water company used to get water to my house.