PVC primer in pipe

[LagunaGlide]

Curious what happens to PVC primer that gets into the pipe when gluing them together. I noticed a bit inside the pipe, and wondered if that is slowly going to leach into my system. Any thoughts on this?

 

[roberthu526]

It evaporates really quickly. No worries about leaching. You actually need to put the parts together fairway quickly actually or the pipes start to harden

 

[tdileo]

Yeah, it’s fine and evaporates very quickly. I had a leak and while replumbing accidentally turned the return pump on about a minute after I finished priming the PVC and putting it back together and my heart seriously stopped as I thought that it would get into the water and I would quickly lose all my fish and corals. Well I guess that 60 seconds was enough for it to COMPLETELY dry. I didn’t lose anything thank god!

 

[lapin]

You can skip the primer. Its not needed. Don't confuse primer with cleaner. In fact some studies that were done found primer actually weakens the joint. It pre-softens the pipe pieces before you put the solvent on them. The solvent applied to both pieces will be good enough. It does dry quickly. You should let it dry at least 15 min before pressure testing.

 

[LagunaGlide]

good deal. Thanks for the replies. Glad it won't be a problem

 

[Waters]

You can skip the primer. Its not needed. Don't confuse primer with cleaner. In fact some studies that were done found primer actually weakens the joint. It pre-softens the pipe pieces before you put the solvent on them. The solvent applied to both pieces will be good enough. It does dry quickly. You should let it dry at least 15 min before pressure testing.

While I agree that primer is not necessarily needed in our reef plumbing (since we normally aren't running high pressure systems), primer doesn't weaken the joint...it actually makes it stronger by allowing the softer pipe to fuse much more easily. That is why current house codes require the purple primer, so it can be visible to inspectors.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I intentionally coated some exposed PVC return pipes in the water with purple PVC primer because it makes it blend in better than the bare white.

 

[lapin]

https://www.plumbingsupply.com/the-great-pvc-primer-debate.html

 

[mfinn]

I intentionally coated some exposed PVC return pipes in the water with purple PVC primer because it makes it blend in better than the bare white.

I have too