Have 90 degree one inch diam. grey plastic tubing 90 deg. bend.
Want to bend it some more; hopefully to 180 degrees (or close to that) to make shape of a 'J'.
Any suggestions. Heat gun? Flame? Oven? Also will it tend to flatten as metal pipe does when bent further?
If this doesn't work could I use something else; that newer PEX water piping for example?
Help/advice appreciated. TIA
fill with sand and cap the ends before bending to prevent collapse.
Use a heat gun, spread the heat around until it starts to get limp then you can bend it without collapsing.
can't you buy an elbow at the local HW store?
Clark
Not quite sure what you mean by an elbow? This 90 degree is at moment about 9 inches across its outer tips. If it can bend some more the tips will come in to perhaps less than 5 inches and perhaps be almost parallel at 180 degrees input to output to each other Two 90s would be way too big!. Just imagine a large J like this.
In x x x Out x x x x x x x x
Not sure if you can, but I have.
I used a Milwaukee heat gun on medium setting. As soon as the pipe softens, I then bent it to the desired angle and held it in that position until set. Good luck.
gotcha, good luck, last time I tried that trick I did not do as well as I wanted. but I did not try that sand thing either.
Clark
A 180 degree return bend as clark has stated can be formed by two 90 degee elbows.
Yes, but it may or may not work with the radius he needs, whatever that is.
Not enough info to say it will work in either case.
Stick it in the tailpipe of your truck (running and warmed up) . Watch it and keep turning it until it just gives to the touch. Stick a cold coupler on the "hot" end right away to hold that dimension and make your bend. Lay it flat on the pavement and work out any kinks while it cools. Wear gloves! Once you get the touch you can do almost anything with PVC. I have seen old sparkies create things of beauty on the sidewalk next to thieir truck. Just don't forget the COLD coupler on the soft hot end so it won't get warped and it will still connect to the other pipes. Pop that off when it is cool and you have a perfect end.
OK, I gotta ask, why would you want to do this?
JK
Knew somebody would eventually ask! It's an attempt to make a compact J bend to go through the deck of sailboat near the bottom of the mast through which to take the wires from the mast into the boat; where they will connect to a terminal strip. On another group we have previously discussed which lights are required under international regulations and where they must be located on the mast while a) Sailing b) Motoring c) At anchor. Also the number of conductors needed etc. (About 6 plus a small coax for masthead VHF radio whip). The decision, so far, is to not use plugs/connectors/sockets which in the past ** have either corroded badly (marine conditions) or being deck mounted have allowed water to get through them into the deck laminate. Then during the winter the water froze and burst the deck! (Now repaired). Each winter for storage the mast is removed and wires disconnected. The fibreglass boat was made in the 1970s. We have owned it for some
20 years. Overall the project is a major refurbishing including rewiring the whole boat after some 15 years laid up next to our house. At least that makes it easier to work on, have AC power available and access to all ones bits and pieces and tools. Fixing up boats at a marina 25 miles away can cause one to drive back home to pick up a forgotten SS bolt or one particular but essential tool. (Sounds a bit like plumbers who forget their tools eh?) ** The problem started when a previous owner had a new mast installed following a dis-masting. Whoever did so drilled holes and mounted two deck sockets that allowed water to get into the deck structure. That frozen water burst the deck around base of the mast. Lots'a work might eventually get it in the water again! Thanks for the question and the advice.
Back in the early days of M.E.N. (Mother Earth News), they had an article on that. Sand and capped, then immersed in hot antifreeze. I guess the antifreeze allowed a higher temperature.
Harry K
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If you get the bend, how you going to do the pull? Sounds iffy...
I'm thinking in terms of a watertight access cover w/ rear entrance on one end and 90 on the other? Don't know if can find one w/ both entrance/exit as rear or not...
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Use 2 90 deg elbows of white PVC which is a much tighter bend. That's what I have been using on my roof for TV etc wiring for 30 years
Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/
According to terry :
I've bent grey PVC up to 2" without "proper" tools. At smaller sizes, a heat gun alone will do the trick. At larger sizes, add a helper and a stove top is useful ;-)
I heat it slowly, so I can adjust what bends when, and thereby avoid having the tube flatten. Takes longer.
With larger sizes, the stove is useful to avoid cooling as you move the gun around, and you want two hands on the pipe.
If you pour on the heat faster and soften the tube quickly and over a wide area, something like the sand (or tube bender "spring") method is required.
They sell a lot of pre formed fittings. Google LB, LR, LL.
Also you can put the pipe in the oven. It helps to have water handy. Get the pipe warm, then dry fit it in place and douse with water.
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