Schedule 40 or 80?

[nemofish2217]

It's really just the home depot or lowes valves that are crap and hard to turn. I bought mine from my local plumbing supply ( I use my brothers account and pay alot less since he's licensed) I couldn't believe the difference. The valves on my 75 are a pain. The valves I put on my 20 gallon are easy to turn much better quality.

I'm guessing you can still get a higher quality valve in schedule 40? It looks like the gate valves I saw on BRS were schedule 80...

 

[Tigerdragon]

You know i have used schedule 20 pvc and it has worked fine also has a bigger id than 40 or 80. Since our systems arent under press and most plumbing is hidden why use the thicker of course anything bigger than 1" is going to be 40 or 80 so in that sense with the larger dia pipe you have no choice

 

[SGT_York]

Most gate valves are schedule 80, I even think the cheaper ones are 80's, you can readily notice the significant loss in internal diameter. with a gate valve the plumbing isn't as important as per say a return line. Friction loss will result in less flow on a return line in a siphon line more friction loss just means the gate valve isn't closed as much.

 

[phillrodrigo]

I'm guessing you can still get a higher quality valve in schedule 40? It looks like the gate valves I saw on BRS were schedule 80...

The reason most use gate valves are they can be set in small increments. If you buy a lowes or home depot ball valve it's almost impossible to do that. The ball valves I get from the plumbing supply store turn very easily so small increments is possible. Gate valves are expensive like $35 ball valves are like $5 to 10. Getting them locally isn't really possible either I don't think I haven't seen them. So if you mess one up you would have to order online.

 

[MondoBongo]

i swear by schedule 80 bulkheads. they are much easier to work with, easier to install without leaks, and you can put more torque on them to make sure they stay water-tight.

the only downsides are that most things are drilled for schedule 40, 80 is harder to find in stock at most hardware stores, and it costs more.

when i drill things myself though, i drill for schedule 80 bulkheads. for the actual piping, i usually end up using schd 40 because it is easier to get.

 

[nemofish2217]

Most gate valves are schedule 80, I even think the cheaper ones are 80's, you can readily notice the significant loss in internal diameter. with a gate valve the plumbing isn't as important as per say a return line. Friction loss will result in less flow on a return line in a siphon line more friction loss just means the gate valve isn't closed as much.

If I stick with schedule 40 pipe, would it then be a better idea to get a slightly larger valve (say 1.25") and use reducers to bring it back down to 1" so I don't increase friction and inhibit the siphon?

 

[skey44]

Sch 40 is sufficient. If you want it to be grey paint it. If you want to spend a lot of money on something your probably going to cut apart in the future go for it... It's your money.