I have a 3" dia. PVC pipe I'd like to put into a PVC coupler that looks like a brimmed hat with a hole through the top. I think the coupler is sometimes used for toilets. I'd like to be able to rotate the coupler freely.
I could sand the the top of the pipe. I tried a simple experiment with a
1" dia pipe and a coupler by using 3-1 oil between the two, and it works pretty well. However, that has a huge lever mechanical advantage. The 3" device will be outdoors exposed to the hot sun in the summer. I could put a lever arm on it to help turn it.
I've built pistons from PVC pipe to be used to move stuff at Halloween. I've used both lithium grease and powdered graphite. The graphite is usually better at it isn't as messy as the grease. But, if the 2 pieces were made to be normally glued together, I think you need to remove some material to make them slip better. Of course, that depends on how often or how much you require adjustment.
The pipe is vertical, 8' tall, with a camera housing mounted on the top. There are times, infrequently I hope, when I might need to turn the camera housing to better point north.
Sounds like you want it mostly grippy, so the wind doesn't affect the direction. At this point, a good quality moly grease comes to mind. Wheel axle grease, for example.
Look into Dow/Corning 111 silicone lube. That will even make a fairly leak tight joint up to a few PSI but be easy to move or separate. It is similar to spark plug grease.
I suspect I might be able to get away with leaving it pretty much as it is, and use my oil filter (strap) wrench to turn the upper portion. That gives me a good lever arm.
Wind is probably only a factor in keeping the (vertical) pipe from swaying. I can pour sand down the tube, or guy the base about 4' from the ground.
If I can find a way to easily sand the top of the 3" pipe effectively, I think I'll try that.
I use Dow Corning DC4. Its a silicone dielectric grease but works well for making moving objects out of PVC. While you are at it put some on all your light bulbs and you will never have another stuck one again.
I think I would leave that upper fitting made up (leave it not glued, but quite firm) and install a lubed coupling low on the pipe to allow turning without climbing a ladder. It would be easy to drill a through hole to insert a rod for turning leverage. PVC pipe deteriorates when exposed to UV rays. If this is semi permanent, protect with a coat of paint.
I posted a question similar to yours a few months ago (maybe under a different user name -- I'm not sure), but for a different reason.
The reason that I posted my question was that I was dry-fitting a series of PVC toilet drain fittings to make a strange turn through a floor and over a basement wall to get to the sewer stack. I wanted to be able to dry-fit the fittings first and then be able to turn them to get the right series of angles. So, I wanted some type of lubricant that would work so I could make the adjustments and then mark the final positions for each fitting.
I received a number of replies regarding possible lubricants, and I tried a bunch of ideas on my own (soap, silicone spray, powder, etc). Nothing worked, but someone pointed out the the male and female fittings on PVC pipe are actually tapered slightly, and they are made so they don't quite go all the way in until the two pieces are being glued. The glue works like a solvent which softens the PVC enough to allow the two pieces to seat fully and then the glue dries and the joint becomes watertight.
So, here's the bottom line in terms of what you want to do. You will need to sand the male end of the pipe and/or the inside of the "brimmed-hat" toilet flange to get them so they will rotate smoothly with one inside the other. Then I think that almost any lubricant will work -- silicone spray, grease, whatever.
Here's the set up. The "hat" coupler is on a heavy steel plate, and screwed to it. the 8' PVC pipe slides into the coupler about 3", maybe
4". The pipe is screwed into the coupler. At the top is a coupler like that on the bottom. Reversed of course. On top of that is about a 10" tube with a dome on it. Inside it is a camera. This enclosure is screwed into the coupler on top. I want to be able to turn the upper 10" high enclousre on occasion if the top of an image is not close to north in a sky picture.
I sanded the top of the 8' pipe fairly well by turning a belt sandpaper inside out. The camera enclosure moves reasonably easy. Heat in the summer tops out here from 90F to 100F for about 60 days of the year.
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