How to Repair a Leaky PVC Pipe Joint – after sawing out the bad section of PVC pipe, install the Fernco Qwik Ell flexible rubber elbow.
This repair is continued from Part 2.
Install the New PVC Pipe Joint
Now that the old leaky section of pipe is removed, I dried and cleaned the 45 degree street elbow on the “upstream” side as shown. I also deburred and cleaned the lower section of pipe that was cut with the handsaw. As you can see from this photo, the 45 degree elbow joint was never glued – a result of poor workmanship!
Test Fitting Fernco Qwik Ell
Next, I test fitted the two repair parts and marked the ends with a blue pen. The repair parts are:
- A new 45 degree PVC street elbow.
- The Fernco QL-200 Qwik Ell
The pieces went together perfectly.
I removed the Fernco Qwik Ell and checked my the depth of the blue pen marks to ensure the Ell was seated properly.
The replacement 45 degree street elbow was removed, the depth of the blue mark checked for proper seating and purple primer applied.
The new street elbow is solvent welded in place with PVC cement.
The Fernco Qwik is slipped onto the pipe ends and checked for proper seating at the two blue marks. The Quik Ell fitting is flexible and easy to work into place.
Do not use glue on the Fernco fitting. The Qwik Ell is held in place by the two steel band clamps and can be removed later if needed by loosing the clamps.
The steel band clamps are tightened with a socket wrench. I tighten it up until it’s firm, then take it in another 3/16 inch or so it squeezes the rubber fitting.
And the job is done! My wife was eager to run a load of clothes through the washing machine and the repair was leak free.
The last task is to paint over the stain on the drywall ceiling.
Leaky PVC Pipe Joint Inspection
A close inspection of the leaky section of PVC pipe that was removed was interesting. The “downstream” end is on the left, the leak is the stained section in the middle and the fused cable saw cut is the ragged section to the middle right.
This is the “upstream” end that wasn’t glued – but it hadn’t leaked here. An example of poor workmanship. This actually was a benefit in making the repair because the section popped off cleanly making the cable saw cut unncessary – but I didn’t know this at the time.
A smack or two cracked open the cut made by the PVC cable saw. The saw wire was so hot from friction it semi-melted it’s way through the pipe – the pipe tended to fuse back together behind the wire. Next time I would draw the cable saw back-and-forth more slowly to minimize the heat generation.
Hope this saves you some money on repairs!
Take care,
Bob Jackson
