Plumbing help STAT!

Capt_Cully

Active member
FW test was a bust. I've got leaks in my return line at the glued ends of my unions. Don't wanna patch with GOOP. Do I use the wrong primer and cement? Is there a specific kind I should have used? Any ideas why it leaked? Any help sooner rather than later is GREATLY appreciated.
 
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You can try patching with some more primer and cement around the union. Otherwise throw it out and start over. PVC is cheap, unless if you have valves plumbed in.


Edit: Just saw the picture. Should always connect a union to an external pump in case of maintenance. It looks like your permanently hard plumbed right to the pump.
 
They are combo ball valve/unions. They were pricey, maybe $20 for both. In the grand scheme of things not that much, but it still sucks to replace them.
 
Try a little primer and glue around the edge. I see your like me and tried to keep it as clean looking as possible. A little extra purple is better than throwing it all out.
 
From the pic it looks like you weren't liberal enough with the primer and glue.
If I was purchased from lowes or hd there's not much chance of it being wrong unless you got conduit or cpvc glue.
If you have to


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Re-do the plumbing go heavy on the glue and when slipping together put a little twist on the pieces as you slip them together, and wipe excess glue off to have nice clean finish


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If you would like to keep it clean use clear primer and cement. I use the tlstuff at loses and it works great & looks great. Does make checking all the fittings before water testing harder.
 
hit the outside with primer and then a nice bead of glue around the circumference of the joint. If you can do the same from the inside of the valve you stand a better chance of it not leaking.

Next time make sure both pieces the joint are primed past the depth they are inserted too. Glue the pipe or whatever is the "male" piece first and then the female part. depending on the size of the glue applicator you may have to redip to get more glue for the female, but you don't want the female side full of glue, just enough to fully wet the surface and soften it a bit. When you insert the male in it should have enough glue to push a ~1/8" bead of glue up at the top of the female. Turn the assembly 90* and hold with pressure to keep the pieces from pushing apart. Wipe the joint of excess glue and enjoy the little high you're on for a few minutes before proceeding to the next piece.
 
hit the outside with primer and then a nice bead of glue around the circumference of the joint. If you can do the same from the inside of the valve you stand a better chance of it not leaking.
x2

and allow it plenty of time to set. That's a "high pressure" area of plumbing!
 
being an obsessive plumber I would say rip them out put new in thats a big pump that will be putting alott of pressure on those joints. I would hate to see the look on your wifes face when it floods and you say but I saved $40 haha
 
Yea Mark, when you texted me I was fishing and by the time I got back others had already chimed in....I really didn't think it was the best practice to try to fix a pvc leak by adding more primer and glue but others seemed confident...personally I'd redo it.
 
Another issue I see unless Im overlooking something is that the valves are backwards from the way I wouldnt done them. You want the valve to stay on the remaining pipe to act as a stopper no?
 
I actually much prefer the schedule 80 true union ball valves. Some of the single union valves I looked at allowed the ball to exit the housing in the closed position which totally defeated the idea of having them.
 
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