PVC plumbing question

[Fred Voorhees]

Ok, you plumbers out there. A quick question. While towing my camper to Syracuse recently, I managed to run over what appeared to be a styrofoam cooler. I didn't think anything of it until a number of days later when I hooked up water to the camper and found that the drain line for the grey water tank was busted. Must have been the cooler.

Anyway, I want to repair the pipe before putting the camper away for the winter. I went to the Depot today for two couplings and found what were called "repair" couplings. The only noticeable difference is that you can actually slide the associated pipe (in this case 1 1/2" pvc piping) completely through the fitting. So I thought about it and I'm assuming that this is meant to allow you to cut out the bad portion of the defective piping and made an exact fit with a new length. Then, you can prime and glue up the two joints and the two couplings and slide them completely on either the existing piping or both ends of the new length and this would allow you to complete the glue up without any bending or twisting of the existing piping to get everything in place and lined up. I only would need to place the new length in between the two ends of the old piping and slide the two couplings over the new joints. Am I right in this? It seemed logical to me and if so, is there anything to be aware of or any hints for this process, besides having everything marked up for proper alignment and of course the requisite amount of speed before the glue sets?

Hope I made myself clear with this explanation
Thanks guys.

[Jack Dickey]

I've never seen , as I recall a " repair " coupling .. Only the regular couplings where the pipe goes halfway into the coupling ..
But yeah , you're correct , cut out the bad section , put a coupler on either end of the good pipe and cut to fit the repair length of PVC pipe , prime and glue up , you'll have less than thirty seconds or so before the glue sets ..
One thing I always do , is twist the piece you're gluing in a bit to be sure the glue is around all the fitting ..
You can use a hacksaw , but a PVC pipe cutter makes a cleaner cut ..
Be sure the pipe is dry as well ..

[Tyler Howell]

What Jack said The pipe must be cleaned/primed.

[Dan Oelke]

As someone who spent much of his youth as slave labor (errrrr... volunteer) for my dad remodeling an old house - Yes that is exactly what a repair coupling is for. They make such beasts for copper pipe too.

With the PVC be sure to clean the pipe well, and use enough glue. Because sliding the coupling back over the joint pushes most of the glue ahead of itself you might have an issue with the one side having enough glue. I would slide the coupling on well past the joint - slather on the glue, slide the coupling a little past center, put one more quick swipe of glue on the far end and the slide back into place. Giving it a partial twist once in place helps. Having an extra hand helps too. Be sure you know exactly where the center of the joint is so that you can center the coupling. Use a sharpie and/or mark a board above the pipe. It is very easy to get off to one side too far and then the joint leaks - DAMHIKT.

Good luck!

[Larry James]

Repair coupling do not have a stop in the center. The copper version is a real work saver. Commonly used on water and boiler piping repair. Try pushing two pieces of copper apart that are rigidly attached so you can install a shut-off valve on a boiler - then you see the beauty of a coupling w/out a stop.

Larry

[Ben Grunow]

Put the coupling in place (centered on cut) and measure to it from something that wont move. The primer will remove any sharpie marks and your reference will be lost. You could also make a light scratch in the pipe for reference.