"John J Stewart StewartWeb.org" John@NOSPAM wrote in message
...
I installed corrugated pipe to take downspout water away from the house.
One downspout goes into a Y. The corrugated pipe is in ten foot sections.
I put this Y together while the ditch was empty, then filled it in. The
connections are not watertight. The fill was somewhat loose and the first
rain pulled the connection to the downspout down. In digging it out, I
found the dirt around the Y was very wet. Testing before filling would not
prove anything. I already know it leaks.
It is not watertight. Are corrugated pipe connections supposed to be
watertight? I would think
the dirt would provide the seal. While ther may be some leakage, in time
it
would pack. I tried various kinds of tape. Nothing holds on the plastic
pipe. I tried silicone caulk, but I'm not very confident about it. There
is just plain too much wiggle in these parts.
John Stewart
If you are talking about the hdpe plastic corrugated pipe, it seems to be
made by several different manufacturers, and the parts often mate very
poorly. For my Y connections I first tried rubber sleeves to get a tight
fit, then used screw-type hose clamps to tighten the ends together. Did not
work well, tended to pop out of alignment. My latest effort was to take off
the clamps and the sleeves, and just telescope the ends together, then wrap
with heavy duty plumbers tape - sold in big box stores. It is fairly
stretchy/rubbery and super sticky, and rated for outdoor use. Sometimes it
is called the Ultimate Duct Tape. Regular duct tape will not last,
underground. This worked fairly well but still some small amount of
leakage. I hope you remembered to push the connections together so they
overlap, then snap. They are not meant to abut eachother.
Silicone glue will work loose, and when you use the plumbers tape you have
to pull the joint completely free of the ditch and tightly stretch-wrap it
all around the joint, with several wraps.
I sort of like the concrete approach a previous poster suggested.
Next time I run drain lines, I will abandon corrugated pipe (nothing sticks
to it, for one) and go for the solid pvc with glued joints - it is forever,
and will not leak.
By the way, dirt never provides a seal against hydraulic pressure, and yes,
as you suspected, corrugated pipe just leaks, that's it. It is a crappily
designed product, and only works in long, seamless runs. In some downspouts
I have used no joints or y's at all, just for this reason, and press-fitted
the drain line onto the end of the spout, then run it right out to the
street. Try to avoid building any drain line in "sections" - always buy the
hose in bulk, on the roll.
Good luck.