Gluing PVC together

[hamiltonguy]

Pretty ever build thread I've seen people have used that purple cement but I talked to a guy I know at Big Al's and he said that "that's just primer" and I should use a solvent that "melts the plastics together."

I was just wondering if anyone has used this "solvent" or is the purple cement safer?

ps. I have never plumbed anything before in my life.

 

[iamwrasseman]

pretty sure the purple is the primer and you should use a cement also . prime both parts and then cement both ,quickly assemble and hold together fo a few seconds and whaaaa laaaaa !

 

[BuddhaKiss]

Yup, that purple stuff is the primer (dries pretty fast), then use cement to glue the pvc parts together.

 

[jbird69]

Purple is primer and is only necessary if the line will be holding pressure.

 

[hamiltonguy]

Alright thanks! Just the answers I was looking for. And I'm assuming, the water coming down the drain counts as pressure right?

 

[steelhead77]

No, the water coming down into the sump is gravity fed. It is not considered "under pressure". Maybe your intake might be considered under low pressure, but still no need to use primer. It won't hurt, but you don't need it. Try gluing some some scrap before you do your actual plumbing. You don't need a whole lot of glue for aquarium plumbing.

 

[mhltcob]

I would prime and glue every piece in your plumbing (on both the male and female side of the connection). I would use clear primer/cleaner instead of purple because its less of a mess. I believe the reason purple is available is for building plumbing in which inspectors need to be able to verify that the parts were primed. After the pieces are glued I would wipe away any excess glue around the connection.

 

[Macimage]

Originally posted by mhltcob
I would prime and glue every piece in your plumbing (on both the male and female side of the connection). I would use clear primer/cleaner instead of purple because its less of a mess.

I also use clear primer and clear glue that I buy at Lowes. It looks so much more professional and nice than the purple mess around all the connections.

Joyce

 

[Texxxx]

Actually there is a difference between the clear cleaner and the purple primer. One is made to clean the pipe and one is for priming the pipe. The clear will work fine but it does not etch the pipe as well as the purple primer does. I personally use both on all pressure situations. Clear then purple then cement. If you dont want the messy look of the purple then the clear will work fine for what you want to do. If I have something I dont want the purple to show I just tape off above where the the connection stops and remove the tape after I apply the purple primer.

 

[dave2184]

PVC is a three part proccess. Cleaner, primmer, cement, however we do not typicaly apply high pressure to our systems so the primmer can be skipped.

The primmer also does not ensure a perfect joint as, I've seen preaty clean looking jobs with primmer at all the fittings that were still seeping or coud be pulled apart, because the pipe and /or fittings were not clean.

That is why it is a good idea to always use cleaner as, it removes any crud that happens to be on the section to be glued and, ensures a perfectly sealed joint even if primmer is not used. Even if it looks clean, clean it anyways you never know for sure unless you do it yourself.

 

[HighlandReef]

i usually use the primer just to be safe, but you should be fine with just the glue as long its not a pressurized line
i would use the primer on like a main return

 

[hamiltonguy]

Well I was thinking of using hard PVC for the drain to the sump and flexible tubing or vinyl tubing for the return.

Most of the sumps I've seen all used some sort of flexible tubing. It's suppose to reduce noise ?