Anyone familiar with plastic welding?

[Red Squirrel]

If it does not work I'll try those for the 2nd one since I have two to do. Though I'm not sure if the 2" side is threaded or not, does not say. I only saw the post after I tried the pipe dope. The ones I attempted are probably not going to come apart anymore so it's kind of hard to use different fittings so if it fails I will need to try to add sealant inside where the seal is. For the other set that I did not try then I might try to order that part. I have a feeling it's not threaded on the other side though?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I connected the camlock on my lunch with the other part connected with pipe dope. The ones I bought originally where they sorta fit but the threads are not quite compatible. It did not immediately leak, so I'll know when I get home if it's good and if it's not just taking a long time to leak. The tank is also not filled all the way so I will want to do that as a test. It had sort of crossed my mind at one point to try pipe dope but since the threads were not going in well enough I just figured it would make it even harder to thread but it actually made it a bit easier by giving some lubrication. If this works out I'll do the other one the same way but I'll try to make some kind of jig that gives me more leverage when twisting it as I may actually be able to make it right to the seal. I also tried so many different connectors on there from buying from different sources online that it probably helped "loosen" the threads a bit over time so the other one may or may not be as easy to do.

 

[Red Squirrel]

So that didn't hold up. There was a very slow leak by the time I got home. I managed to tighten it even more using a screwdriver to get more leverage but it's really not going in anymore at this point without getting a bit more involved with some kind of rig that can really firmly hold both pieces but I THINK I may have actually managed to hit the seal, but it's kinda hard to tell if it's fully pressing on it or not. Going to leave it overnight.







The Y splitter is just there temporarily as a way to block it for testing. Having a standard hose end means I can find the rest of fittings I need at the hardware store so goal will be to go to pex and T off to the other totes.


There is a fitting on Amazon that is a camlock that goes straight to a hose, that one may work and is all one piece, but it's quite expensive. Reviews are mixed so not sure if I want to pay that price.

https://www.amazon.ca/Gallon-Drain-Adapter-Garden-Grade/dp/B07PY239X9/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=2%22+cam+lock&qid=1628814759&sr=8-6

The others people keep linking to are basically iterations of what I already have. Just linking to them is not going to help me, I already looked at all that. The ABS fitting at Home Depot is most likely DWV pipe which is not made for potable water.

If this still ends up leaking I think I will just go ahead and weld it. I did some brief reading on it and just thought maybe someone was familiar with it to give any tips or tricks and that was the original question. I was mostly wondering you can mix different colour plastics or if you need to stick to same colour but think I will just buy PP filler rod which I found a site that sells it, and then use that. I was going to just use recyclables and melt them down into a sheet but the filler rod will be easier.

 

[mxnerd]

Epoxy putty probably is best for the scenario I think. Mold, cover and pressure it around the connection, make it as smooth as possible.

Also make sure to clean up those pipe dope residue before applying.

Use a bit of water (not too much) so it's easier to knead the putty. It takes time to cure, probably a few days if the temperature is low.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Is that like just regular epoxy? Like the 2 part glue you can buy at hardware store? Would be worth a try. So far it's holding up now that I redid the connection but still not 100% confident it will hold up long term. I still have another one to do I may go that route.

 

[mxnerd]

Yeah, just generic 2-part epoxy putty (stick) that you knead together, it will harden as steel. Different brands/products will have different cure time.

You can make the pipe fitting surface a bit rough using sand paper, it might make the putty have stronger bonding effect.

 

[waffleironhead]

You are mixing tapered thread and straight thread. That is just a recipe for failure. It looks like your male fitting is 2"npt right? Just find a 2" female NPT to 3/4" garden hose fitting(or whatever you are adapting to).
Also be aware, not all garden hoses are food grade.

 

[lxskllr]

You could block off the existing hole, then drill/tap the blocker to add the fittings that'll work.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Just find a 2" female NPT to 3/4" garden hose fitting(or whatever you are adapting to).

That is what the challenge is. All of the ones I found are NPS and not NPT for some reason. If I could find a NPT 2" female it would be a God send and solve all of this, but I've searched hard and nothing came up at least not on a Canadian site and I don't want to order from the states as it will end up too expensive with exchange, customs etc.

And yeah won't be using garden hose, but a harden hose to NPT fitting then use a pex barb and then rest will be pex. I don't care too much what the other end is as long as it's something compatible with standard plumbing parts and garden hose is what I found.

The O ring is what really seals it so I just need to be able to thread it all the way to that. I may have successfully did it but I'll have to test it further.

 

[Micrornd]

That is what the challenge is. All of the ones I found are NPS and not NPT for some reason. If I could find a NPT 2" female it would be a God send and solve all of this, but I've searched hard and nothing came up at least not on a Canadian site and I don't want to order from the states as it will end up too expensive with exchange, customs etc.

And yeah won't be using garden hose, but a harden hose to NPT fitting then use a pex barb and then rest will be pex. I don't care too much what the other end is as long as it's something compatible with standard plumbing parts and garden hose is what I found.

The O ring is what really seals it so I just need to be able to thread it all the way to that. I may have successfully did it but I'll have to test it further.

The fitting I recommended IS a 2" cam lock x 2" female NPT. All you need then is a 2" male NPT x "whatever" PVC bushing that you can pick up at virtually any decent plumbing or hardware store.

BTW (just for education purposes) - Only SOME ABS is certified "food grade". ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) is the type of raw material (actually resin) and is used in all sorts of piping, just as PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride, also a resin) is, and like PVC it comes in many formulations to allow it to be used for different purposes from netting to plumbing to compressed air lines (IF and only IF the correct formulation of ABS is used). When using ANY plastic product it's important to know what that product has been certified for "use as". As an example, you can't assume that because you've seen or heard, say ABS, used for compressed air, that all ABS is certified or even tested for compressed air. ABS for compressed air is a special formulation, as standard ABS fittings cannot handle the repeated pressure, temperature and hammer compressed air produces safely (nor can ANY PVC product currently on the market, and yes, I know there are 1000's of places around the US using PVC for compressed air that have no idea of what hammer and embrittlement are and are just an an accident and injury waiting to happen).
"Food grade" plastic products have a level of "purity" way above what regular plastics have. This can be as simple as no dyes to as complicated as how the plastics are released from the molds or extruders, all of which raises the costs, so if it doesn't say on the product or come with a tag or certificate indicating it is "food grade", then it isn't, by law.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I already have that part except in male thread. The problem is finding a part to go from 2" male NPT to something usable. I did find one on Grainger that would fit a female thread though so it would work with the one you linked to. Other than that they all seem to come in NPS. And yeah the food grade issue is why I'm reluctant to use the ABS fittings as ABS is normally used for DWV pipe. Also I'm not keen on mixing different plastics, though at this point if I had all food grade fittings that fit I would do it. It's not as bad as mixing metals. It's just that they can expand/contract at different rates which can cause leaks. Once this is in production the temperature will be kept fairly constant though so not really a huge issue. There will most likely be a heat pump in the building these will be in.

Even the epoxy idea, I am reading lot of mixed info on if epoxy is food grade. You can get food grade epoxy but most easily available ones don't advertise that. This is why I've been leaning towards plastic welding as it does not involve adding any different type of material, it would be all polypropylene.

I did manage to use some clamps to get myself more leverage and was able to turn the other set together enough that I'm almost positive it's pushing down on the seal now, so I will install that one on the other tote and fill that with water too and see if it leaks.

The current one is leaking very slightly but I will try to clamp it down like I did the other and maybe I can get it to turn more.

 

[Micrornd]

OK, IF I understand what you are saying, you have a 2" camlock x 2" male NPT, correct ?

IF that is so, then all you need is a 2" female adapter. That is a 2" female NPT x 2" slip, hub, glue (all the same thing just different nomenclature) PVC fitting.
Even in the backwoods of Canada, any decent plumbing, hardware or irrigation shop will have that.
OR - https://www.amazon.ca/Spears-Fitting-Adapter-Schedule-Socket/dp/B008FMJT3O

https://www.amazon.ca/Socket-FNPT-Female-Adapter-Sched/dp/B00CH6CXPK

https://www.amazon.ca/4803-2-Fitting-Adapter-Spigot-Female/dp/B007Q2G5KE

(Ridiculously high Canadian prices, so local would be better)

Once you have that fitting installed, it's easy-peasy, simple PVC fittings to whatever you want to connect to.
You seem to want to go the a hose bibb, so then you would need a 2" x 3/4" NPT bushing to glue in the above fitting and then screw in the hose bibb.
Or if you want to pipe PVC directly to your end use with the above, just glue in a 2" x "whatever size you need" PVC bushing.

As to your current setup, a couple of pipe wrenches would easily tight those 2 fittings together, even to the point of breakage.

Could you explain your, for lack of a better term, obsession, with "food grade" ?
I spent 40+ years dealing with water distribution and treatment (and other water related stuff) and I can assure you there are NO "food grade" rated water distribution systems in existence except in labs.
BTW - As soon as you run the water through a garden hose, it's actually "not fit for human consumption" by US or Ca standards.

If you could explain exactly what your goals are (water distribution is kinda vague) perhaps I can help by giving you a cheaper way.

 

[sdifox]

OK, IF I understand what you are saying, you have a 2" camlock x 2" male NPT, correct ?

IF that is so, then all you need is a 2" female adapter. That is a 2" female NPT x 2" slip, hub, glue (all the same thing just different nomenclature) PVC fitting.
Even in the backwoods of Canada, any decent plumbing, hardware or irrigation shop will have that.
OR - https://www.amazon.ca/Spears-Fitting-Adapter-Schedule-Socket/dp/B008FMJT3O

https://www.amazon.ca/Socket-FNPT-Female-Adapter-Sched/dp/B00CH6CXPK

https://www.amazon.ca/4803-2-Fitting-Adapter-Spigot-Female/dp/B007Q2G5KE

(Ridiculously high Canadian prices, so local would be better)

Once you have that fitting installed, it's easy-peasy, simple PVC fittings to whatever you want to connect to.
You seem to want to go the a hose bibb, so then you would need a 2" x 3/4" NPT bushing to glue in the above fitting and then screw in the hose bibb.
Or if you want to pipe PVC directly to your end use with the above, just glue in a 2" x "whatever size you need" PVC bushing.

As to your current setup, a couple of pipe wrenches would easily tight those 2 fittings together, even to the point of breakage.

Could you explain your, for lack of a better term, obsession, with "food grade" ?
I spent 40+ years dealing with water distribution and treatment (and other water related stuff) and I can assure you there are NO "food grade" rated water distribution systems in existence except in labs.
BTW - As soon as you run the water through a garden hose, it's actually "not fit for human consumption" by US or Ca standards.

If you could explain exactly what your goals are (water distribution is kinda vague) perhaps I can help by giving you a cheaper way.

He is under the impression you can get city grade water without paying municipal taxes.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That's the thing no where local sells any of that and Amazon is not only expensive but probably questionable stuff from China with zero approvals for food grade use (probably even contains lead). Hardware stores here only sell 3/4" and 1/2" pipes and fittings when it comes to water supply piping. If I could find 2" stuff I would actually make the entire system use 2" then have a manifold that drops down to 1" going to each building, then drop down further from there, but 3/4" is the biggest you can realistically buy.

I will be building a homestead so I will have multiple water tanks for water storage and I want to set it up so I have a normal plumbing system, ex: sinks,. toilets etc and it will use water from the tanks. This is not going to be for home use. Eventually though I want to setup proper filtration so that's why I still want stuff that is food grade. I can take care of any pathogens with bleach but don't want any weird chemicals leeching in the water.

I think I managed to get it to work though. It's not ideal because of the amount of force I had to use to get them together and I don't know how well it will work long term, but for now it seems to work ok.

 

[Red Squirrel]

He is under the impression you can get city grade water without paying municipal taxes.

This is not for home it's for my homestead property. Water is one of the first things I want to get setup since I'll need it when I'm mixing concrete, hand washing, etc.

 

[tweaker2]

....

 

[Red Squirrel]

So I think I got this, it seems the trick is really the pipe dope, and just pure brute force to try to force them together and manage to turn it enough so that I can force it into the seal. it may not be ideal but so far so good. The second one I did, I put the pipe dope on the female threads (should have done that from the get go, just cleaner) then clamped that part down to a 2x4 that I can step on, then I used a screwdriver on the other part as it has a small area I can stick in it. This gave me more leverage to turn it. I was able to force the incompatible threads all the way to make the seal.

If I had many of these to do, I would probably look at building some kind of jig and just do it this way as it seems to work. Time will tell if the connection stays and the seal continues to hold though.

 

[waffleironhead]

Well that sucks you cant source the proper parts local. I can walk in to an menards and spend maybe $5-10 to get you what you need. Get a pipe reducer and straight to pex.
Glad you got it sorted.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah it sucks here for being able to buy stuff, selection is just crap compared to the states, especially for non standard parts. You really need to search deep. Even computer parts are much harder to get especially since NCIX and Tigerdirect are gone. Those where the two main places to order from that actually had decent stock.