PVC repair with repair epoxy

[Ron Citerone]

I installed a drain pipe under my cottage for kitchen sink. One fitting has a slow drip. Has anyone ever had success using repair epoxy to seal a pvc leak at a fitting? Trying to avoid cutting pipe out and replacing. Worth a try or waste of time? Thanks.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

My experience is that you’ll end up cutting and rebuilding. I’ve never seen patches like this viable.
Guud luck.

[Ron Citerone]

That’s my gut feeling too Aaron. It’s in a real difficult spot to get to.

[George Yetka]

https://www.jbweld.com/product/plasticweld-epoxy-putty

I tend to cut it out and rebuild it. But one time I was fitting to fitting(90,combo,combo, Cleanout) 20" pipe up on scaffolding. Would have cost me a lot of money for the fittings and labor so I gave this stuff a shot and it worked.

[Ron Citerone]

I AM AN IDIOT. Went under the house to figure a plan and realized I never glued the pipe to the fitting. I had temporarily dry fitted it to get a measurement for the Fernco on the other end and forgot it wasn’t glued. Rather an idiot than have to crawl under the house and rework it. Thanks guys!!!

[Bruce Wrenn]

I AM AN IDIOT. Went under the house to figure a plan and realized I never glued the pipe to the fitting. I had temporarily dry fitted it to get a measurement for the Fernco on the other end and forgot it wasn’t glued. Rather an idiot than have to crawl under the house and rework it. Thanks guys!!!


Been there, done it. Stuff happens. P-1 plumbing licensee in working life. Not having been solvent welded made it a lot easier to take apart.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I AM AN IDIOT. Went under the house to figure a plan and realized I never glued the pipe to the fitting. I had temporarily dry fitted it to get a measurement for the Fernco on the other end and forgot it wasn’t glued. Rather an idiot than have to crawl under the house and rework it. Thanks guys!!!

You are in good company. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and didn't even want the t-shirt! It just shows you are human Ron.

[Bill Dufour]

I would think a mixture of PVC dust and chips mixed into PVC glue would be better then putty.
Bill D

[Brice Rogers]

Ron, it is good that you found the problem. I too have dry fitted a PVC fitting and forgot to glue it.

For a low pressure applications (like a drain from a sink), the glue joints are not as critical as a high pressure line. But for 80-100 psi, I use a solvent primer (purple) and then typically use the "Red Hot" brand (blue) glue. Seems to work well and doesn't get as brittle as the clear glue.

For one application (PVC pipe for swimming pool skimmer), I used a two part putty made for swimming pools. I just kneaded the two colors of putty until they were uniform in color. Then I pushed it into the gap (under water) that needed plugging. It was only under about 1 foot of water, and a non-pressurized line, so the pressure on it was just a one foot column of water - - less than 1/2 psi. Worked great. Stuck well.