PVC glue OK for tank

[Getupkid]

Tonight I am planning on finishing my sump. In order to do this I have to piece together some peices of PVC pice. Before doing this I just want to know If the glue will harm my tank somehow. The label on the bottle I have is called Oatey Regular Clear PVC cement.

[Rick O]

Your PVC glue is safe provided you allow it to fully cure before putting it in your tank. At least 24 hours, 48 would be better. Also be sure to use the primer.

Rick

PVC cement is safe, it can be used immediatly
in small amounts i.e. one or two glued joints
Larger projects can benefit from a longer curing time. I have heard from lots of people doing serious plumbing that its safe within minute, Though personally if you can flush the piping out with water first, I feel its an easy safety thing, and run carbon for a day or so after firing it up. Better safe than sorry

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[Rick O]

Doug,

, it can be used immediatly

I respectfully disagree. If you check Oatey's website: http://www.oatey.com/faq.html
you will see they have a chart of curing times. The minimum curing time for surface temperatures of 50-90F is 5 hours. It's not the strength of the joint I was concerned with but the toxins in the glue. Although I never took chemestry in school I would think that the glue will be releasing solvent vapors until it's fully cured.

Rick

[repstein]

I always thought those toxins were just to smell and get high. Ohh sorry wrong board.
I doubt the toxins will hurt anything and yes be sure to use the primer to soften the pvc so the glue gets a better bond.

++Russ

Rick, I did qualify that by saying small repairs and running carbon. Curing would be better but it doesnt always happen

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[Salt Creep]

I recently glued about 8 connections together for my return lines which connect to a spray bar. I used Oatey clear PVC cement and did not use the primer. The joints are all solid as a rock and have not leaked a drop. I also put the pipes into use about 20 minutes after I glued them. My tank contains xenia, colt, shrooms, meat coral (LPS) and none of them showed any signs of stress or toxins.

WHAT'S MY POINT????

IMO you only need the primer if it is a MAJOR job under high pressure like the plumbing in a house behind the walls that you have a legit nightmare with a slow leak. However the primer is about $2 so better safe then sorry I guess.

If the stuff is toxic then I either have the hardiest corals on the planet or am the luckiest reefer around..........I would vote non-toxic because the stuff was practically still wet when I added it.

Just so no one thinks I am careless I only did this after asking A LOT of people the same question you did and getting told many times it was OK to use.

HTH

[Rick O]

I'll admit that I don't always wait 24 hours but since Getupkid has just experienced a major loss of life in his tank I think it would be wise to in his case.

Salt Creep, if you don't think is toxic then check this out: http://partners.oatey.com/assets/htm...ALP_link1.html

As for the primer; I work with PVC on a daily basis and have seen many failures when primer was not used. All of these were on air conditioning condensate drain lines that contained no pressure. The problem is that over a period of years the joint becomes brittle. I don't care to save a couple of bucks and take a chance of a joint coming loose and spraying the contents of my sump into an electrical outlet.

Rick

[Getupkid]

Hey guys
Thanks for all of the advice. I only had 4 parts to glue together and everything went well. I let the glue cure for 24 hours and ran carbon on my tank. The sump is up and running well but I still have one more question. When I filled the sump I left enough room for water to siphon from the tank in case of a power outage, and not overflow from the sump and onto the flow. My question is, If the power goes out the sump won't over flow, BUT if the power comes back on (say all this happened in the middle of the night, or while I was out) the pump in my sump will overflow my tank. - hope that wasn't too confusing - Is there any way to start the overflow siphon back automatically?

[Rick O]

Depending on what type of overflow box you're using many of them will not break the syphon when the water flow ceases. Some people run an airline up the inside of the U-tube to the top and connect it to the air port on a powerhead. This will keep any air sucked out of the tube and prevent the syphon from breaking. One of our LFS even installs small nipples in the top bend of the ones they sell to connect an air tube to.

This is hard to describe without pictures but it is a common question so maybe someone else can post some pics or link you to some.

Rick

Rick makes a very valid point about using the primer with the glue, why risk it to save a few bucks.
Also erring on the safe side is definatly the way to go. Salt Creep is right I read several big reef BB and alot of plumbing questions come up, the vast majority answer ya its OK right away.
The official position is let it cure at least 5 hours if at all possible and use fresh carbon on the system after firing it up. Quick fixes are at ones own risk.
BTW Rick thanks for posting Oatey's site
I will archive this thread since its a topic that comes up often

------------------
I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

tagged for archive