Steve Barker wrote:
Existential Angst wrote:
"Jay-T" wrote in message
...
"Steve Barker" wrote in message
...
Jay-T wrote:
I am pre-fitting some PVC fitting for a 3-inch sewer drain line
coming down from a first-floor toilet. Where the drain comes
through the basement ceiling from the toilet, there are two
45-degree 3-inch fittings -- one is the toilet flange itself which
is a 45-degree fitting and the other is a 45-degree elbow. The
place where they come through the ceiling is hard to access.

What I would like to be able to do is put the two PVC fittings
together and then be able to easily rotate both so I can get the
correct angle I need to continue the run. The problem is that when
I put the two fittings together, they are next to impossible to
rotate while in place. I need the fittings to be able to rotate one
inside the other to get the correct line-up.

Has anyone ever tried lubricating PVC fittings first just to get
the fittings lined up correctly, then marking them for the correct
line-up, and then remove the lubricant and glue the fittings
together? Does anyone know what kind of lubricant might work for
this? So far, I have just tried dish soap, but that doesn't work
-- the parts just stick together as usual and do not turn easily.
Any suggestions on what to use?


The glue make a good lube. Rotate as needed as you glue them up.
It's not rocket science.

Actually, it is rocket science -- or at least 3-dimensional geometry
involving complex angles.

Sure, the glue makes a good lubricant -- for about 15 seconds. Then
it makes a good glue, and whatever you have in place at the time the
glue sets you are stuck with, whether it works or not. For this
application, it was a matter of having to dry fit the pieces together
first to see if they would even be capable of making the complex turn
that was involved and end up with a pipe coming down at the correct
angle to be able to make the next connection.

Hmmmm.... if that turn is *too* complex, I'd hang a sign on the
toilet that says, "Flush Often, Please".
Esp. with 3" pipe.
Mebbe N'Yawkers just have bigger bowel movements? Our code is 4".
Texas proly has a 6" code.... 48 oz steaks, donchaknow....

the outlet on the toilet is 2.5 inches at best and most are 2". 4" pipe
is overkill. And I've never seen 4" pipe in a house. It won't fit down
a wall.

Four inch pvc fits in walls! In my last house there was one interior
(non load bearing) wall that was 2x6 studs. They had some special name
for it but I forget the name. In that wall are 2 4" pvc pipes, one for
the plumbing waste vent through the roof and the other was put in and
capped in the attic just in case I ever needed it for Radon abatement.
I agree 3" is fine for the toilet. When the trap/path leaving a toilet
gets to be 4", then maybe a 4" pipe would be needed. It is however very
common for the main pipe to be 4" where the smaller pipes join and that
normally goes out to the septic or city sanitary sewer.