How long do you let your pvc "cure" before using it?

[Mgoc]

I'm putting some pvc together and I'm wondering how long should I let it sit before it's aquarium safe? I use Oatey brand pvc cement.

Does anybody know how long I should wait?

 

[stylaster]

never heard of having to cure pvc, now gluing it i give it 24 hours before i run water through the pipes

 

[Mgoc]

never heard of having to cure pvc, now gluing it i give it 24 hours before i run water through the pipes

Thank you Stylaster 24 hours sound good to me but maybe I'll wait 48 just in case.

And about the curing time, I only used that word because on their website there is a guideline for curing time, here is an excerpt from the document:

Set Up/ Curing Times
The set up/cure time is dependent on several factors. The pipe size,
socket fit, ambient temperature, relative humidity, solvent cement
used and the system operating pressure should all be considered
when determining set up/cure times.

 

[philr]

check the can, it should tell you how long for drinking water safe. I have never waited more than a few -4 hours. they also now have a quick dry sets in a couple of hours.

 

[reefndude]

Less than a hour for me. Glue sets up in a few mins. No problems

 

[trido]

If I'm remodeling my plumbing I've turned pumps on in as little as 15 minutes.

I've also had the glue drip directly into the tank with no ill effects.

 

[MJC]

Glue it and within a hour put it in

 

[gtbarsi]

The nasty stuff is the primer, you do not want any of that anywhere in your system. It will craze your polished acrylic on contact and stain the hell out of anything else.

 

[trido]

The nasty stuff is the primer, you do not want any of that anywhere in your system. It will craze your polished acrylic on contact and stain the hell out of anything else.

FWIW I haven't used primer on fish tank PVC in over seven years. AFAIK my favorite LFS's use it on any of their maintenance accounts either

 

[Mgoc]

I wish it could be done without cement, it would be easier

 

[Mike J.]

I do a lot of plumbing. I might wait 15 minutes before I turn the water back on and that's a lot more pressure than you'll have in an aquarium.

 

[joekool]

I use the hot set cement. It's usually blue. like others said read the can. You will smell the fumes but the glue sets up quick. Basically the cement welds the plastic together and once that has happened you can turn the flow on. The only thing you would have to wait for is if you had a high pressure running through the line 60psi plus. As far as the pipe it self. It just needs to be cleaned or washed to get dust and dirt out of it. Than you can use it right away. You can hot set and use in 30 min to an hour. Smaller the pipe the faster. anything under 2'' can be used very soon as it's not a bunch of pressure.

 

[pickupman66]

the blue cement works well too and sets much faster. you can usually use it very quickly. no need to prime it either.

 

[Reefing Madness]

I do a lot of plumbing. I might wait 15 minutes before I turn the water back on and that's a lot more pressure than you'll have in an aquarium.

Same here. Doesnt take that long for it to set up if using primer then cement.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

30 - 60 Min...and pray.

 

[duke4130]

30 - 60 Min...and pray.

+++++++1...lol

 

[cdness]

30 - 60 Min...and pray.

Sounds about like what I do too...

 

[richiero]

i wait an hour never any issues

 

[Reefing Madness]

Trick to pcv glueing is this, when your putting it together, twist it back and forth until it gets difficukt to twist, this allows for a very tight bond. After 15mins its not going to leak.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Even though several minutes are adequate, I gave my plumbing two days to allow evaporation of any petroleums.