4" rubber coupling to get shower drain to sewer. Is this ok?

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gdmsndmxr

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We had a plumber come in and put this rubber coupler on so we could run a shower drain. It's going to be buried in the cement. Is this ok. The bands have been tightened to 60inch pounds..I worry that this will break one day and put sewage under our house.
It's an Aqua Dynamic coupler which I believe is a Lowe's purchase.
I put the shop towel there to check for leaks. So far, it's been good.
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Reach4

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Looks good to me. If not to be buried, the couplers would have had to be shielded in the US. Canada may be more permissive in this aspect. https://www.csagroup.org/store/product/2428454/ In fact, a normal shielded coupler might not be allowed to be buried some places. There are shielded couplers that are allowed to be above or below ground.
 

Breplum

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Shielded couplings are reliable and last forever. Under some conditions (soils expansion/contraction), unshielded couplings stretch and can offset, causing problems.
 

Taylorjm

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Shielded couplings are reliable and last forever. Under some conditions (soils expansion/contraction), unshielded couplings stretch and can offset, causing problems.
Hi. So another question for you regarding shielded couplings. When putting PVC to PVC, butt right against each other sometimes the only way is to use a fernco that's not shielded because it can't have the divider in the shielding couplings. It needs to slide across the joint. I haven't seen a shielded coupling that doesn't have the divider.
 

wwhitney

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Hi. So another question for you regarding shielded couplings. When putting PVC to PVC, butt right against each other sometimes the only way is to use a fernco that's not shielded because it can't have the divider in the shielding couplings.
What scenario is there in which you can't cut the pipe pieces so they have an ~1/4" gap between them, allowing the use of a shielded coupling? The shield is installed separately, and the rubber boot is folded back over itself and installed on one of the pipe ends before all the pipe is placed in the final position.

Cheers, Wayne
 

Taylorjm

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What scenario is there in which you can't cut the pipe pieces so they have an ~1/4" gap between them, allowing the use of a shielded coupling? The shield is installed separately, and the rubber boot is folded back over itself and installed on one of the pipe ends before all the pipe is placed in the final position.

Cheers, Wayne
Folded back over itself? Can't said that I've ever tried that. Whenever I've had to use them they seem to be too thick to fold over. Though maybe the shielded ones are thinner rubber than the non shielded?
 

wwhitney

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Folded back over itself? Can't said that I've ever tried that.
Yes, that's the way to do it. When using a transition coupling, you obviously fold back the side with the larger OD pipe, where the rubber is thinner. They are flexible enough so that the folded back rubber only extends beyond the internal stop maybe 1/4". So if you leave a little extra gap between the pipes (the internal stop is 1/8" thick IIRC, so that's your minimum gap), or if you have a little bit of axial play, you can gets the pipes aligned after the rubber is folded back on itself.

Cheers, Wayne
 

John Gayewski

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Underground we use fernco's. There are shielded fernco's for those who feel they can move. Above ground no hub type couplings. The difference between the two is the thickness of the rubber and how much pipe gets inserted into each.

The manufacturer outlines which is to be used where.
 
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