What is the best way to separate glued PVC? I have a 4″ cleanout plug that I need to remove so I can add a short length of pipe and a new tee fitting.
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Hack saw or sawzall. If there is something else, I'd be interested in hearing about it.
How do you remove the remaining glued in part?
Ben,
I would cut that out also, and put a union in.
Don
Ben,
Gluing PVC is some what like when youget married.
Speak now or forever hold your peace!
PVC cement mkes two pieces into one, There aint no easy way to get em apart.
sawzal and new parts.
TDo not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!
I agree with Mr. T. If it was done right, the pipe and the socket, at least in the deepest third of the joint, have been fusion welded. No joint line, just solid PVC all the way through. No more likely to break along the line where the joint was than in any other direction. But you might get lucky and the chipping and chiseling approach might work.
I don't know much about pvc , but I was once able to work/pry apart 2 abs fittings that had been glued with multi-purpose (supposedly good for both pvc and abs) . I would not even try to take apart anything that was joined using the proper glue/solvent.
tim
ps I don't use multi purpose glue anymore
If it's a male into a female socket try this. Carefully cut with a hacksaw blade or similar through the first layer only ( you will be cutting parralell with the pipe.) Make a series of cuts around the circumference. Now take a narrow sharp chisel and carefully slip it between the layers and prise apart in sections.
Or you can try this. My plumber did it once on one of my jobs. Wipe fresh glue around the inside of the piece you want to remove. Set fire to it. Yes! Set fire to it. Let it get hot without melting everything, then extinguish. The piece you want to remove should now prise out easy. ( wear gloves)
regards
mark
Mark,
No offense, but I can't see where a couple of bucks in parts is worth that risk with fire! Nor is it worth the time of trying to pry them apart.
Don
Don
You are absolutely right..I should have added the proviso....this was done to a piece that concreted in a slab. The alternative was to jackhammer up the slab ...a major peice of work....the fire did the trick and saved a lot of work.
No, but he sure scores points for entertainment value!
And it worked!
I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know. - Mark Twain
Edited 12/7/2002 5:58:57 PM ET by RWORIGINALS
Everyone, thanks for the feedback. In my case I have a cleanout in the end of a 4" tee. I want to remove the cleanout and butt another 4" tee to the existing tee. Assuming I can't remove the cleanout is it possible to cut it off flush with the end of the tee then butt the second tee against the first and use some sort of rubber clamp around the outside of the junction where the 2 tee's meet. Does a rubber clamp exist that fits the outside diameter of a 4" tee?
Plumbing supply stores have flexible PVC couplings that connect with hose clamps.They are similar to No Hub fittings.
Ben
Don't know about the cleanouts in your neck of the woods, but ours double as a socket. You can glue the next piece right into them.
If your cleanout is a female threaded fitting that the plug screws into, I think a threaded male adapter of the appropriate size will screw right in. This will add only a couple of inches to the length of the fitting and then you can glue up whatever you need.
Yes, they do make rubber connectors for 4" pipe. It is a seamless sleeve of rubber that slides over the ends of both pipes, and is clamped in place with hose clamps. The rubber sleeve is inside a stainless steel sleeve that compresses, (slides over itself), when the hose clamps compress. The hose clamps are rivetted to the stainless sleeve. Very effective. But something that I would only use on something that I knew was not going to get any real pressure to speak of.
They also make pvc connectors. These are essentialy a piece of pvc with compression fittings on both ends. Loosen the ends, slide the pipes to be connected, into the ends. Through the rubber rings inside, into the middle of the connector. Then tighten the compressing fittings.
I have seen the second kind in sizes up to 2". I have no idea if they make them in the 4" size.Don't bogart the Ghost
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