Add tee to existing 1" CPVC

Bob Lewis · Mar 7, 2011

What would be the preferred method to add a tee to an existing line where movement in the line is restricted? So essentially putting a tee into a rigid line.

hj · Mar 7, 2011

Since CPVC is usually an "above ground" material, there is often enough movement to "spring it out" and flex it enough to insert a tee.

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

Bob Lewis · Mar 7, 2011

It would require removing straps along a 20' section or so of run, would require messing with a bit of insulation, and in some places it is just a pain to get to the straps. Any other options or is this what really should be done?

Terry · Mar 7, 2011

You can offset with 90's and drop the offset into the waiting 90 elbows.
Instead of thinking straight line, think offset.

Bob Lewis · Mar 7, 2011

That is why they pay you the big bucks. Thanks for the suggestion.

Gary Swart · Mar 7, 2011

LOL, Bob, sometimes you have to think outside the box. It's called "creative plumbing".

Bob Lewis · Mar 7, 2011

I guess sometimes I just find myself trying to pound the square peg into the round hole and it just doesn't seem to fit.

hj · Mar 8, 2011

You asked a general question without any details of your specific application, so I gave the answer as to how I would do in most cases. The disadvantage if making the offset is that it requires 8 connections instead of 2. And every joint is a possible leak or weak spot. Using a union in a straight section would be preferable.

Jadnashua · Mar 8, 2011

You could do it with two connectors if you can find a repair coupling and then the T. The repair coupling doesn't have a stop in the middle so you can slide it. You'd need a short piece of pipe to fit inside the T and then the coupling. Then, you wouldn't need to spread the pipes to make it fit. A union would work too.

Bob Lewis · Mar 8, 2011

All suggestions are welcome. On the 3/4" line for the hot water I had used 2 unions as that was easiest to place the tee exactly where it needed to be as well as connecting the branch line. For the 1" line I had looked around for 1" unions, but the only ones I can find are the grey schedule 80 and on most they list specs as being certified for potable water in CA and VT (I believe). Don't know if they are ok here in WA. The 1" repair couplings (compression type - not the slip type which would be essentially filing the stop out of a regular coupling) are a bit bulky and was trying to avoid using them, but will if need be. From all I have read most plumbers avoid the slip on type repair couplings. The location where the tee's need to be as well as the area from where I can work from makes some methods easier than others. Unions are the easiest with the offset probably being the next choice.

Gary Swart · Mar 8, 2011

A bit off topic, but several years ago, before they make repair couplings for PVC, I had a broken irrigation pipe. It was 24" underground, so my options were pretty limited. I used elbows and short pipes and made a U shaped contraption. It looked like s**t, but it worked. I covered it up as soon I as I finished testing it. Thank God it will never be seen again! Since then they have nice slip couplings that are a piece of cake to use and really don't look bad either. These are for PVC, I don't know if they have similar fittings for CPVC or not.

Bob Lewis · Mar 8, 2011

I have only seen those slip couplings for pvc. They are slick. I came across a video where a guy was specifically using it to repair an underground pvc pipe that had broken.

Jadnashua · Mar 8, 2011

I wasn't referring to something like a Sharkbite, although they do make a slip coupling that would work. I'm not sure if they make the equivalent in CPVC, but on copper, a repair coupling looks identical to a normal coupling, but there is no center stop. You have to work fast since you need to slobber it up with the cement, slide it over the end, put the new piece in there, then slide it back before the cement hardens. The Sharkbite fitting is fairly long, and has one 'normal' push on fitting with a stop, and the other side is quite a bit longer and seals near the end...the pipe can slide in quite a ways, so you can slide it past where you need it, then push it back into the fixed pipe once you get it there.

Bob Lewis · Mar 8, 2011

The compression repair fitting is a different animal than the shark bites. A repair coupling can be made from a regular coupling by removing the stop, but from all I have read most plumbers avoid them like the plague. If the pipes were in a more accessible location I might try it.

Jadnashua · Mar 8, 2011

Bob Lewis said:
A repair coupling can be made from a regular coupling by removing the stop, but from all I have read most plumbers avoid them like the plague..

It should be as strong as a typical coupler used to join any two pieces of pipe, so I don't see why it would be an issue. The speed you have to work is less likely to be an issue for a pro. The big thing is measuring or marking so that you get the fitting reasonably centered over the two ends of pipe and ensuring you get good coverage with the glue.

hj · Mar 8, 2011

The gray sch. 80 unions are PVC, completely incompatible with CPVC.

Bob Lewis · Mar 8, 2011

These are grey cpvc...not pvc. You can find them several places. Try grainger and you will find a host of schedule 80 cpvc that is grey.

Bob Lewis · Mar 8, 2011

@Jim...the issue with the repair couplings isn't the speed at which you work, but the fact that you don't get good solvent coverage as you are only applying it to the pipe and sliding the coupler tends to "squeegy" the solvent. I'm sure it is done all the time, but seems like everywhere I see it suggested folks who do this stuff for a living reccomend not to.

hj · Mar 9, 2011

Speed IS an issue if you use a fast bonding cement. You DO apply the cement to the inside of the fitting, but the process of sliding it onto the pipe and then pulling it back makes the amount left in the fitting open to discussion.

Add tee to existing 1" CPVC

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