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Old 09-14-2016, 06:56 AM
 
3,279 posts, read 5,315,009 times
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I recently had to redo the "feed" to our mobile home, which consist of probably 3 feet of "exposed" 3/4" PVC pipe coming up from the ground up to our mobile home.

On the bottom, where the feed first starts, I "coupled" using a shut-off valve, from there I had a "T" coupling which allowed me to attach a garden hose, then from there just pure pipe finishing things off.

I attached all of this using "very fast" PVC cement glue, it's blue. I gave it about 20-odd minutes of drying before doing anything, and all seems fine--however, later, after reading the package, it stated to give it, I believe, 1 hour before testing at the 120 PSI setup or such (which I'd presume would be turning the water all the way on). At that point, I shut off everything and left it that way for a few hours while I was at work. This morning, with everything still connected, I added some more glue to the outside (impossible to add any to the inside, obviously) and have been giving it another hour for THAT to dry.

I am upset at myself for not having give it an hour to start with, but I don't want to redo it unnecessarily. Is it likely to be OK drying-time wise if nothing blew off earlier? Did adding more glue on top of everything help any, or would it be pointless given that the job was already done and this glue couldn't be on the inside of the pipe where it first connected so as to be as strong as possible?

Two other "bonus" questions.

(1) The pipe being "exposed" that way with 3 feet going straight up like that kind of makes me uneasy. (It looks kind of like a mini version of the Washington Monument.) It's always done OK most times, but the two times I've had to redo it over the past 6-odd years, it's been due to how it being "exposed" that way made it unstable. 5-odd years ago I threw a basketball out of anger when I kept missing shots, and it went straight for this pipe and busted it. This time more recently, I was trying to un-kink a garden hose (a huge pet peeve of mine) and got the bright idea of stretching the garden hose out all the way, but it was still attached to this setup and when I yanked on the hose too hard the same thing happened. I'm thinking I need to "stabilize" those pipes somehow, but I don't know how.

(2) I have had a hard time finding "knob" shut-off values in the 3/4" size, most of them tend to be the "lever" type and those require a HUGE amount of physical effort, especially for turning them on from having been off. The knob types require a much lighter touch, which I especially prefer given the pipe's instability. Why do they seem so bent on having the shut-off values be the "lever" type? What's wrong with the knob type to where few seem to sell them?
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Old 09-14-2016, 07:28 AM
 
Location: Johns Creek, GA
17,471 posts, read 65,994,520 times
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If you're not leaking now, you're fine.

The "lever" type valves are a better valve (ball)- "knob" types are gate; they are very susceptible to failure.

Use a piece of angle iron to support the pipe- attach it to the underside with L-brackets and/or screws, dig down next to the pipe about 8-12" burying the other end. That should give plenty of support. You may want to think about adding some pipe insulation to that also.
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Old 09-14-2016, 08:01 AM
 
Location: Texas
5,717 posts, read 18,906,789 times
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Per your personal info, you are in Kilgore Texas. The PUC, which regulates the utility companies in Texas, mandates that the water supplier provide no less than 30lbs of water pressure at the meter to a maximum of 80lbs. So I'm not sure where you get the 120lbs from but if your line pressures are 120lbs, you'll be replacing the toilet valves often. You'll also have issues with the piping in a mobile home. You can ask your provider to test the line pressure at no charge to you. You might be in a position to have to install a PRV, pressure regulating valve. Normal line pressure for a mobile home in Texas is 55lbs.
Our plumbers don't wait at all. They put the PVC together, clean up their mess, put their tools away and turn on the water. That's maybe 5 minutes at most. It doesn't take but a few seconds for the bond to stick and seal. It does take longer for the adhesive to cure but the bond happens quick.
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Old 09-14-2016, 08:40 AM
 
3,279 posts, read 5,315,009 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapperL View Post
Per your personal info, you are in Kilgore Texas. The PUC, which regulates the utility companies in Texas, mandates that the water supplier provide no less than 30lbs of water pressure at the meter to a maximum of 80lbs. So I'm not sure where you get the 120lbs from but if your line pressures are 120lbs, you'll be replacing the toilet valves often. You'll also have issues with the piping in a mobile home. You can ask your provider to test the line pressure at no charge to you. You might be in a position to have to install a PRV, pressure regulating valve. Normal line pressure for a mobile home in Texas is 55lbs.
Our plumbers don't wait at all. They put the PVC together, clean up their mess, put their tools away and turn on the water. That's maybe 5 minutes at most. It doesn't take but a few seconds for the bond to stick and seal. It does take longer for the adhesive to cure but the bond happens quick.
That's helpful information to have. Incidentally, I am not saying that our mobile home has that much PSI, I was referring to how the wording on the can of PVC glue stated to wait an hour before "testing" at 120PSI. (I think it did refer to that as being "curing.") I took that to mean that you should wait an hour before turning the water on, when as I said I waited about 20 minutes, but the "bonding" time it stated was a lot less, no more than 5 minutes if even that. I'm not sure what type of glue it was, one time for an indoor fitting near the tub I used "clear" which apparently takes longer to "bond," otherwise the glue I've used tended to be either orange or blue. This was blue and was labeled as "very fast set."

I don't fancy myself a plumber at all, but it does help to know at least a few basics for something along the lines of reattaching PVC pipe for your "feed." For that reason, 5 years ago when I saw someone selling a bunch of 3/4" PVC pipe, I think it was like 7 "strands" each about 20 feet long, some with built-in "couplers" (as well as 2-3 that were, I think, about 2" in diameter), and they only wanted $20 for the entire lot, I grabbed them. Such is also why I keep a few pipe wrenches and "tape" around (and 1 can of glue) and it's why I made a point of installing a shut-off valve, so that you could shut off the water without necessarily having to do it at the water meter.

The one person said the "lever/ball" shut-off valves were more durable than the "knob/gated" type. I have 3 shut-off valves in all, 2 are lever--one of which is just where the feed starts coming out of the ground the other is just where it ends (it screws into the metal pipe leading into the hot water heater) it's there simply because it happened to be what worked at the time for attaching the feed onto the house; the "knob" one is more in the middle just after where the garden hose is, so even if you turn off the water via this knob you still have water outside via the garden hose. If the "lever/ball" ones are more durable that's fine, but I don't like how they require so much force to turn on if they've been turned off, if I were an 80 year old with rheumatoid arthritis I can't imagine turning them at all; the knob ones are much easier.
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Old 09-14-2016, 09:02 AM
 
2,336 posts, read 2,562,293 times
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Adding more glue to the outside of the pipe will do nothing , and might even weaken the pipe. PVC glue is actually a solvent that melts and then solidifies to fuse the 2 pieces together. Typical white PVC is not meant to be used in exposed outdoor applications. It's not sunlight resistant, and will become brittle over time. The gray CPVC is better, but I'd think about replacing it with copper or PEX.
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