How to soften/flatten PVC and/or ABS pipe.

[Brandon]

Ok, here is what I want to do take a 1 foot length of 2" PVC and 4" ABS, and flatten I end so that it creates a 1/4 to 1/2" "spray head". Kind of what looks like the end of the vacuum hoses you see at carwashes, without the bend. That is the beat I can describe it. My question is, short of heating either piece with a torch, could I , say, dunk the end in boiling water to soften it and the form it by flattening it between two boards? What is the softening point of either? Thanks Brandon

[DanG]

Electrician's grey PVC is made to heat and bend. Plumber's white does not cooperate very well. You can heat the electrical stuff with car exhaust - boiling temperature is not hot enough.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing. . . . DanG

Kind of what

without the

could I , say,

flattening it

[PJx]

There will be dangerous fumes thrown off as you heat the stuff, so protect yourself.

PJ

[Martin]

We used to use a heat gun on both. Like a hair dryer, but higher wattage.

[Larry Bud]

I don't know the answer, but I would be surprised that boiling water will soften it. It has to withstand boiling water being poured down the drain.

What's wrong with hitting it with a propane torch?

[Doug McGinnis]

I have heard of using boiling (well - hot) antifreeze/water mixture. Gets hotter then water and will allow you to soften the PVC.

[Bob]

Copper would perhaps work better.

Bob

and 4" ABS, and

Kind of what

without the

could I , say,

flattening it

[TURTLE]

This is turtle.

Look take a 2" or 4" end cap pvc cap for the size pipe your going to use and just cut a slot in the cap as to what size slit size you want and just glue it on the end of the pipe and there you have the nossel you want. You can use a Hack saw,grinder , or drill to put the slot you want in the end. They make rounded and flate ended caps to put on there but a rounded cap may be better.

TURTLE

[Chris Lewis]

According to Brandon :

A heat gun (ie: one designed for paint stripping) is the right tool for the job. Do it outdoors preferably, and keep the gun moving - at 2", it'll take a while. If it smokes, it's too hot.

Don't flatten it as soon as it gets soft. You want the temperature even, and the plastic not too soft, otherwise, it'll slump or not shape properly. Consider using a stick of some sort to keep the slot consistent.

[Particularly important if you're bending pipe. If you bend it soon as it softens, you'll just have a flat kink.]

We once bent 2" PVC over a stove element set to high because the electrician forgot his heat gun. Slow, but doable. Heat gun is much better.

Some heatgun type hair driers _may_ be able to do it.

I'm not too sure about ABS tho. I've just done it with PVC.

A torch is _possible_, but it will be very difficult to heat it up uniformly without burning it.

[Chris Lewis]

According to Bob :

Have you priced 4" copper recently?

[Brandon]

Thanks for the suggestions folks. I think I am going to try the slot in the endcap first. I am going to try using a 1' piece of abs with the cap/slot on one end and a 4-2 reducer to attach to the 2' pvc source. If that does not work ( I think it will, I will just need to adjust the slot width) I am try to hammer out a piece of

4" copper pipe. ( I like the idea that copper will be more presentable and will patina eventually). Softening either pipe is a last resort. If you are curious as to what this is for... I just installed a new sand filter for my pool. I need a way to get the backwash water over the back cinderblock wall and 8 feet of decomposing granite behind it and into a greenspace. The key is, I have to make sure the resulting water flow will not erode any thing as it hits the ground.

I plan to plumb 2" pvc from the valve( buried) to the back wall, its a straight 20 foot shot), then up the wall( where I can cover the camouflage the exposed pipe with a creeping vine of some sort) in the corner and have this "nozzle" aimed out and over the back wall.

The city said it was fine to backwash into the greenspace, I just could not hard plumb to it( that was my first plan, to go under then wall and bury a pipe to the grass.)

BUT, I need to balance the need for as much flow as I can get without a resulting "stream" that will erode.

Thanks again Brandon

[Chris Lewis]

According to Brandon :

So that's what you were doing. I was thinking you were actively trying to spray it.

In this case, I think you'll have a erosion problem with a single nozzle of any sort. How about a several foot length of perforated drainage pipe mounted horizontally as a dribbler on the wall?

Either that, or build a drywell.