Bending PVC

[Northwoods Discus]

Just a helpful note. I had a tough angle to get one of my outflow pipes into a 2" drain. I already had one 3/4 inch in and was trying to fit in the other with a valve getting in the way. I took the piece to the stove and heated it until it was soft and bendable. Slipped in place and let it harden back up. Worked great instead of many different elbows that didn't quite have the right bend.

[jeff@zina.com]

I use a heat gun for this on small bends, works best with thin wall tubing like electrical conduit. For thicker tubing, filling it with sand will keep it from kinking when bending.

Jeff

[DonMD]

I had to feed 3/4 and 1" pvc up through a floor plate and a mud sill (inside a wall) after I had drilled the holes. Flexible pvc was unbelievably brilliant!;) No heat needed.:p

[Yboat]

I'd recomend you use spa flex tubing over heating PVC, its very easy to deform and hinder flow.

[Darrell Ward]

I had to feed 3/4 and 1" pvc up through a floor plate and a mud sill (inside a wall) after I had drilled the holes. Flexible pvc was unbelievably brilliant!;) No heat needed.:p

Yeah, that stuff is good. Expensive though. You can bend it like tubing, but still glue regular pvc fittings to it. I used it on a 8ft. tank once to make return lines from the sump. The run otherwise would have had several fittings to make all the turns. The flex pvc made it easy to simply use one piece, and bend it where you needed it without fittings.

[Northwoods Discus]

This was just a short piece in a tight spot and about midnight. I have all kinds of flexible stuff but I didn't have the room for any fittings. In this situation it worked great. The Idea about the sand in the tubing I will put in the memory banks for future reference that is a great Idea. Thanks
Bill

[jeff@zina.com]

Yeah, that stuff is good. Expensive though.

Very expensive. I love it, except it can create high spots in a drain if you're not careful.

Jeff

[roybo]

Can spa hose be heated to permantly male a bend?

[adam_withrow]

There is another option for bending PVC, though I only recommend it for professionals, SERIOUS hobbyists with multiple aquariums, or people who end up helping others with their systems. It is called a PVC Bendit. It heats up pipe from the inside and allows you to bend longer lengths of pipe in a single pass. It works great for clear PVC as well as any other kind (normal white, colored, and UV Resistant). It costs a bit of cash, so if you're looking to fix one part one time, or if you're only doing the occasional repair or replace job, it's definitely not for you. If you're in the business, though, it can be a life saver.