LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

PVC fittings and pipe size differences dust collection

2K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  JeffP 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi

I was given a ton of elbows and y fittings for 4" pvc that I want to use for a dust collection system. I believe they are sized for schedule 40. They are too large for the green pvc drain pipe of the same 4" diameter. Is there a way I can use these fittings with the cheaper thinner wall pvc I find at lowes or am I forced to use sc40 pipe only?
 
#2 ·
Depends on how much effort you want to put into it. You can heat thinwall and stretch it (or shrink it) with a heat gun, or you could use any of a lot of methods of filling the gap. That would include wraps of duct tape, wooden doughnuts, jamming the thinwall into the fitting past the larger joint area, and probably several dozen other ways I haven't thought of. If it was me I think I'd try to figure out the cheapest way…either toss the fittings and buy thinwall ones, or stick with the schedule 40 pipe.
 
#3 ·
There are reducers available that glue into a schedule 40 fitting that adapt it over to the S&D size pipe. You will just have to figure if it works out cost wise. From a plumbing supply house this stuff can be pretty cheap compared to prices at Home Depot or a local hardware store.
 
#4 ·
I remember seeing a home improvement show where a plumber had pieces of PVC glued together and he needed to make changes. He cut the PVC pipe off as it left the fitting and then used a special tool to ream out the PVC that was glued into the fitting.

You could find a short piece of schedule 40 pipe, glue it into the fittings, cut it off, and then use the above mentioned tool to ream it out to the correct size for the pipe you need.
 
#10 ·
You could just use the southern-pride "there, I fixed it" solution.

just butt the two things together with no particular care or interest in how well or unwell they mate…then "mate them" with duct tape.

Actually, I would recommend this method, but with the "real" duct tape that pro's use for HVAC installations. It is metal-backed peel & stick tape.

You could darn near fix a blown engine block with that stuff. I just love it. Unlike "regular duct tape", this stuff doesn't dry out and fall off after a few months. You can find it next to the cheap duct tape in the HVAC aisle at Home Despot or Lowes.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top