about to glue for the first time

[wyattroa]

Alright I am about to glue for the first time. I have everything drive fitted and I used spa flex for 90% of it. I have the correct glue and primer for the application and want to start tomorrow. I have read when gluing spa flex to sandpaper the outside of the hose and also not to sandpaper the outside of the hose. Not sure...Just looking for clarification and some tips before starting on this. Also, if when I finish, if I end up having a leak somewhere, how do I take care of that or seal it?
Robert

[Gorgok]

I have not sanded any surfaces of pipes, flex or not, or sockets in any of my many projects. But i do make sure the end is clear or burrs and such.

Never had a leak either. To fix a leak properly would mean cutting that part out and replacing it.

[zakstrong]

pvc is easy you will be fine. a couple things. clean burrs like mentioned above. take your surface cleaner the purple one. it preps the surface. do the two pieces that you will connect. blow on it it will dry quickly.. seconds. place glue on both pieces.. inside the fitting and on the spaflex. dont sand it btw. when you glue it you will need to push them together. and twist them a little. then hold them pressed together they push back out of the fittings if you dont hold them. for like 10 seconds. to insure you have complete connection. the glue isnt really a glue it melts the pvc and they dry together. good luck. main things complete coverage with primer and glue, push pieces together, twist them and hold them together. if you do those four things you wont have a problem. practice on a extra part to see what im talking about with the pushing back.

if there is a leak not much you can do. i have successfully fixed one by applying glue and and taking a sharp pointed object... an ice pick and scratching the seem. it might work.

[Tickle]

YUP just like that^^^ your primer may not be purple just a fyi they have Orange clear and so on. I use the clear stuff cause it gives a cleaner end result. I've use to plumb for a couple years and I've never seen a business outfit use anything but the clear so that tells you something.
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[Jeff000]

Originally Posted by Tickle

YUP just like that^^^ your primer may not be purple just a fyi they have Orange clear and so on. I use the clear stuff cause it gives a cleaner end result. I've use to plumb for a couple years and I've never seen a business outfit use anything but the clear so that tells you something.
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Says clear is the brand favored by wholesalers in your area. Around here all i see is purple primer and the grey glue.
It doesn't really matter though, just make sure the glue and primer go together.


if you have a leak just cut it out and replace it.

[fishguy597]

I'm pretty sure that the reason you may have purple is cause its code for the area. I don't like using glue in the fitting and on the pipe for aquariums. if you use it it on the pipe alone it will still mushroom on the outside and seal. I'm just not a fan of having all that glue in contact with the water. its going to happen either way I just like to minimize it.

The spa hose you are using I would use some barb fittings and a heat gun. I just did it and it worked great for forming it the way I wanted and sealing. You just want to s.often it up a bit.

[zakstrong]

i may be wrong but i dont think spa flex is intended to be barbed and clamped

[fishguy597]

Y not? I'm not clamping it either. BY heating it up it just gets soft and plyable. thenonce you fit it over the plastic barb fitting it hardens and seals it. I may put a clamp on but I like it the way it is. its pretty solid. I don't know why but I just don't like the idea of using glue on it. Just a preference I guess.

[uncleof6]

Why not? Because it is not designed or intended to be used with barb fittings. It is intended to be used with regular pvc fittings, it is not even a preference choice. It is absolutely ridiculous to use spa flex with barbed fittings. If you want to use barb fittings use vinyl or tygon (pvc) tubing. Better, but VERY flexible, is silicon tubing. If you want to use spa flex: do it right! Why use spa flex at all? Because it is intended as a "flexible" pipe, the use of which avoids the large restriction created by barbed fittings.

[fishguy597]

Whoa easy there fella. All of that hose you recommended looks terrible after time . The spa line looks so much cleaner to make short connections. I didn't want to mess with a leak on a bulkhead in an overflow with water in it if it leaked. this way worse case I unscrew the mpt x barb and start over. going from a 1" PVC manifold to 3/4" returns I figured to have a little head loss. Maybe give it a try afterall if its solid and doesn't leak isn't that the goal?

[uncleof6]

Glue it right the first time, and there are no leaks. It is pretty simple. By worrying about your gluing skills, you create two possible leak points at the same connection. Does not make any sense at all. That is aside from intended purpose of spa flex, and the restriction caused by barb fittings. But then I suppose the aquarium hobby is exempt from such things as intended purpose and proper use.

As far as unsightly tubing goes, ever think about using opaque tubing of the same type? Tygon comes in opaque black. So does vinyl. I did not look into silicon. Even simpler, if your tubing is unsightly, ever think of running a bottle brush through it? A lot of crud collects in your tubing and pipe. Should be cleaned sometimes. The crud includes algae, sponges, detritus, and a stew of organics as well.

[Epicreefer]

The method zakstrong explained if pretty much fool proof. You don't need a lot of glue but you don't want dry areas either. I would always use glue on both sides of the joint. Another note with spa flex in particular, the glue takes a while to dry and being flexible as you go from one joint to the next excessive push and pull on that fresh joint can cause a leak. When I have the option I glue one side of the flex, let it dry 30 min then the other. I know it sounds tedious but it's a pain trying to fix a pinhole leak sometimes( I also have a hundred other joints to glue in the mean time). Also there are several different kinds of glue, light medium and heavy body, available at most stores. You want the medium or heavy(or the blue stuff) if your a first timer and heavy works better with flex by filling those gaps caused by flexing while a fresh joint. If you have a leak you can either drain and dry it out then blob some glue over a few times and let it dry between(just for tiny drips) or take a heat gun and gently heat up the joint uniformly, don't burn it, then it should break the glue with a twist and pull. Dry well let cool, and gob a ton of glue on it when you re glue. Realistically you won't need all this info.

[r-balljunkie]

putting on my flame suit.........i never glue the overflow piping. is not under pressure, and it makes it easy to service later on......its impossible with my setup for it to come loose....i remove the line every two months to access other equipments.