SpudFiles

OK, so my buddy saw my vortex airsoft gun and fell in love with it. so he built one of his own, but he doesn't have his own air compressor. He decided to build a backpack like air reservoir to use with his gun. He is brand new to the hobby and I helped him learn how to do things, I taught him how to glue pipe, plus it is on a huge poster in home depot which is where he bought all his supplies. But anyways he put this whole backpack thing together, which had like probably at least 15 fitting, its all 2'' by the way. He brought it over to my house to test it, we filled it up with air comp. and almost half the joints LEAKED. I asked him if he actually glued the thing together and he said he did. He has to be lieing, i haven't EVER had a single solvent welded joint leak.

My question is, "Is solvent welding PVC really that hard?" I know he has to be full of bull sh!t.

Um i doubt it, i've made 3 cannons and haven't EVER had a leaking solvent weld.... You just have to apply it VERY LIBERALLY. Did he use the right kind of glue? Did he prime it?

If you can't trust what your "buddy" is telling you, why is he your mate?

you have to remember just because he said he did glue them and prime them dosnt mean hes lieing but is also dosnt mean he did it right.

Erm, how hard is it to read the can???

did he twist the fitting?
I had a leak once because I didn't do a 1/4 turn

A leaking solvent weld joint is usually caused by a lack of twisting the pipe and fitting when the cement is still liquid.

Novacastrian wrote:If you can't trust what your "buddy" is telling you, why is he your mate?

i don't know, its actually kind pissing me off

you have to remember just because he said he did glue them and prime them dosnt mean hes lieing but is also dosnt mean he did it right.

no, he described to me how HE did it, and he described the right way. some of his joints were loose though, i mean they creaked when I tried to bend them, clearly not welded properly. I've heard that the twisted wasn't unnecessary, i do it anyways. but on some of his joints i could tell he did not use enough primer.

I doubt that the primer is at fault.
My first cannons used none and they didn't leak, they just blew up.

Its entirerly possible he did it right, but he may have let the glue dry (which takes a very short amount of time). I have had countless solvent weld joints leak because I didn't get the fitting together quick enough.

And who cares if he's lieing or not, instead of being mad at him for maybe lieing, help him fix the leaks with jb weld and make sure the joints are secured with screws. He's new give him a break, even if he is lieing, its probably because he's kinda embarrassed he made a mistake.

maybe he finished glueing it right before he came over and it was still kinda drying. Or maybe he simply only put solvent on the pvc pipe and not the fittings.

Maybe he used "glue" instead of PVC primer?
Or he just applied a few drops here and there instead of covering the whole surface.

Follow the instruction on this thread.

Problem solved.

As much as i hate to admit this, before i learned to solvent weld properly, i made a gun and a few of the joints creaked... I didn't pressure it because it creaked and probably leaked, so i just twisted the pipes and they came out the fittings. I then learned about it, my problems were :-
1. I only put glue on one surface so i didn't have enough
2. I didn't use primer

P.S. i did do a quarter turn

even the best plumbers get bad seals while plumbing a new house. this is why they pressure check it before an inspection.

i'm guessing he was trying to make it look pretty and didn't use enough glue/primer. it happens.

he might want to find a friend that is more helpful and less of a jerk.

maybe he should join spudfiles and read all the topics. i'm sure he could learn alot.