Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked.....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 12:50:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

Isn't that special.

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 13:34:49 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 12:50:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

Isn't that special

Building inspector or home inspector??

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 18:12:08 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 13:34:49 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 12:50:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

Isn't that special

Building inspector or home inspector??

If PVC pipe is so flammable, what about those dryer vent hoses they sell
that are nothing but a coil of steel wire with a very thin plastic on
the outside? I could see those going up in flames long before Sch 40
PVC.

I once bought a dryer that came with one of them, and I did not use it.
I used metal pipe.

wrote in message
...

If PVC pipe is so flammable, what about those dryer vent hoses they sell
that are nothing but a coil of steel wire with a very thin plastic on
the outside? I could see those going up in flames long before Sch 40
PVC.

I once bought a dryer that came with one of them, and I did not use it.
I used metal pipe.


Didn't they quit using them for that reason and went to metal pipe.

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 19:08:11 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .

If PVC pipe is so flammable, what about those dryer vent hoses they sell
that are nothing but a coil of steel wire with a very thin plastic on
the outside? I could see those going up in flames long before Sch 40
PVC.

I once bought a dryer that came with one of them, and I did not use it.
I used metal pipe.


Didn't they quit using them for that reason and went to metal pipe.


Maybe they did quit selling them... I dont know????
I always use metal, and it's been many years since I had to connect a
dryer vent.
I hope they did quit selling those plastic things. Not only were they a
fire hazzard, but they would break after a few years and make a big
mess, if you didn't notice it immediately.

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 17:57:36 -0600, wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 18:12:08 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 13:34:49 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 12:50:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

Isn't that special

Building inspector or home inspector??

If PVC pipe is so flammable, what about those dryer vent hoses they sell
that are nothing but a coil of steel wire with a very thin plastic on
the outside? I could see those going up in flames long before Sch 40
PVC.

I once bought a dryer that came with one of them, and I did not use it.
I used metal pipe.
Pl;astic "drier vent" is not UL or CSA approved for drier use. It is
bad trouble just waiting to happen.

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 17:57:36 -0600, wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 18:12:08 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 13:34:49 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 12:50:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

Isn't that special

Building inspector or home inspector??

If PVC pipe is so flammable, what about those dryer vent hoses they sell
that are nothing but a coil of steel wire with a very thin plastic on
the outside? I could see those going up in flames long before Sch 40
PVC.

Metal pipe would be good, but my house came with a hose like you
describe. Would have required moving the dryer (and probably not
being able to put it all the way back) and the washer, and attaching
the other end up between the floor joists. Plus I had loads of
other things to do to the house.

So I left it and I've been using it for 33 years. Last year the
vinyl got a hole so I leaned a towel over the hole

Oh, I never put the heat on hotter than the lowest heat, the one just
above no heat, because I think high heat is bad for the shirts and the
elastic and maybe everything else.

But it's definitely not clogged. Some people have pieces of lint
hanging from the outside, but I have none of that. I clean the lint
filter regularly (it whistles if I don't) and I like polyester so
maybe I don't make much lint.

I once bought a dryer that came with one of them, and I did not use it.
I used metal pipe.

On Friday, February 26, 2016 at 11:12:57 PM UTC-6, Micky wrote:

Oh, I never put the heat on hotter than the lowest heat, the one just
above no heat, because I think high heat is bad for the shirts and the
elastic and maybe everything else.

Flue temp would most likely not be affected by drum temp...just the duration of the burn would be shorter.

posted for all of us...



On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 13:34:49 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 12:50:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

Isn't that special

Building inspector or home inspector??

pecker checker

--
Tekkie

On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 4:35:01 PM UTC-5, Oren wrote:
On Thu, 25 Feb 2016 12:50:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

Isn't that special.

I guess he wasn't confident enough to answer that question when it was
originally asked.

He had only been a Building Inspector for 18 years at that point.

On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house

On 5/17/2020 6:08 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house


PVC is only good to 140 deg F. You are talking about CPVC or
chlorinated PVC which is used in hot water pipes. CPVC is good up to
200 deg F. These are not melting points but glass transition points
where the polymer softens and becomes flexible but does not melt.

I had what was probably a PVC coated flexible drier vent and was told by
a repairman that it did not meet code. I replaced it with flexible
metal tubing.

On 5/17/2020 3:08 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house

1) The post to which you replied is more than four years old.
2) 140 degrees C is 284 degrees F. Is your water heater set to 140
degrees C?

On Sun, 17 May 2020 16:10:01 -0700, RosemontCrest
wrote:

On 5/17/2020 3:08 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house

1) The post to which you replied is more than four years old.
2) 140 degrees C is 284 degrees F. Is your water heater set to 140
degrees C?

Regular white PVC will get soft enough to bend in boiling water. I
have done it many times.

On 5/17/2020 5:32 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 17 May 2020 16:10:01 -0700, RosemontCrest
wrote:

On 5/17/2020 3:08 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house

1) The post to which you replied is more than four years old.
2) 140 degrees C is 284 degrees F. Is your water heater set to 140
degrees C?

Regular white PVC will get soft enough to bend in boiling water. I
have done it many times.

Yes, I was referring to the previous claim of 140 and 160 degrees C.

On Sun, 17 May 2020 20:32:38 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 17 May 2020 16:10:01 -0700, RosemontCrest
wrote:

On 5/17/2020 3:08 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house

1) The post to which you replied is more than four years old.
2) 140 degrees C is 284 degrees F. Is your water heater set to 140
degrees C?

Regular white PVC will get soft enough to bend in boiling water. I
have done it many times.
People used to use flexible plastic "duct" for dryers - the stuff
with the wire coil in it. I've seen it wherer basically only the coil
was left intact - with the plastic melted right out. That crap hasn't
been legal for likely 30 years or more (if it ever was) and I'm sure
it has caused more than one dryer fire.
Bending PVC works from 170 degrees up to about 220. Any hotter it
gets way too soft and looses shape.(all temperatures in "Yankee"
degrees)

On Sun, 17 May 2020 20:51:01 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Sun, 17 May 2020 20:32:38 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 17 May 2020 16:10:01 -0700, RosemontCrest
wrote:

On 5/17/2020 3:08 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house

1) The post to which you replied is more than four years old.
2) 140 degrees C is 284 degrees F. Is your water heater set to 140
degrees C?

Regular white PVC will get soft enough to bend in boiling water. I
have done it many times.
People used to use flexible plastic "duct" for dryers - the stuff
with the wire coil in it. I've seen it wherer basically only the coil
was left intact - with the plastic melted right out. That crap hasn't
been legal for likely 30 years or more (if it ever was) and I'm sure
it has caused more than one dryer fire.
Bending PVC works from 170 degrees up to about 220. Any hotter it
gets way too soft and looses shape.(all temperatures in "Yankee"
degrees)

I have done it with conduit more than plumbing pipe but other than
color and U/V additives, it is the same stuff. One tip, slip a cold
connector over the end as soon as you remove it from the heat if you
did immerse the end in the hot water (or in the tail pipe of the
truck). Then it will retain the shape and size while you are making
the bend. Douse it with water to hold what you have.

In alt.home.repair, on Sun, 17 May 2020 20:51:01 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:



Regular white PVC will get soft enough to bend in boiling water. I
have done it many times.
People used to use flexible plastic "duct" for dryers - the stuff
with the wire coil in it. I've seen it wherer basically only the coil

My house came with that. Counting the 4 years before I got here, it
lasted about 30 years until a rip appeared just above the dryer. I
leaned a towel against the rip to keep te air in and it lasted another 5
years. After that, I had to replace it.


was left intact - with the plastic melted right out. That crap hasn't
been legal for likely 30 years or more (if it ever was) and I'm sure
it has caused more than one dryer fire.

People used to use flexible plastic "duct" for dryers - the stuff
with the wire coil in it. I've seen it wherer basically only the coil
was left intact - with the plastic melted right out. That crap hasn't
been legal for likely 30 years or more (if it ever was)

Isn't PVC wire hosing still used for portable air conditioner exhaust?
https://amzn.to/3bIAw2U (hose with wire reinforcement)

In alt.home.repair, on Sun, 17 May 2020 15:08:57 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C.

C = Centigrade, or Celsius as the hippies like to call it.

140/5 = 28, x 9 = 252, + 32 = 284 Fahrenheit.

The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house

120 F.

On Sun, 17 May 2020 15:08:57 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house

You can't.
You have to use CPVC, a different plastic compound. I have never seen
4" CPVC but I suppose someone might make it. You just don't find it at
the Home Depot.

On 5/17/2020 8:30 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 17 May 2020 15:08:57 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 3:50:38 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC is a flammable material with a melting point of 160 degrees C. Melting begins at about 140 degrees C. The building code does not allow PVC piping to be used as a dryer vent because it can catch fire at fairly low temperatures. The Uniform building code is written for safety considering the worst case scenario...like when the vent pipe gets blocked....a child shoves a Coke can into the vent...etc. PVC is used on some high efficacy furnaces and water heaters because the exhausting gasses are cool by the time the get to the PVC pipe. Please don'the risk burning your house down by using dryer vent materials that are not code approved and US approved for dryer vent use.
Allen Blaker
Building inspector for 31 years.

melting point of pvc is higher than that if it melted ay 120 you gould not use it for you hot water in your house

You can't.
You have to use CPVC, a different plastic compound. I have never seen
4" CPVC but I suppose someone might make it. You just don't find it at
the Home Depot.


CPVC I heard is brittle. Guy here had replaced his copper plumbing with
it and told me he was working near some of it under the sink and grabbed
it to position himself and it broke.

Most PVC we see is plasticized to make less brittle.

Regardless of the softness or melting point there is a fire hazard using
it in a drier vent as a fire in the vent would break out. Most plastics
could not handle a fire in the vent.

The stuff I had, a PVC coated spring got full of lint because birds were
getting in the vent and nesting. If the cat had not jumped to the top
of the drier hearing the birds we might not have known it and a fire
could have started. I had cleaned the tubing and the vent but it was
afterwards that an appliance repairman told me my old piping was out of
code. If we had a fire we could have a problem with insurance covering it.

Might mention I put a cage over the old vent flaps to keep out birds.

Many years ago we rented a house with drier in the basement and vent was
at ground level. A rabbit crawled into the vent and got dried to death.
Took a couple of days to get a repairman. We did not know about the
rabbit but just knew the drier was not working. Weather was warm and by
the time the repairman got there the rabbit was full of maggots. Hell
of a mess and odor in drier would not leave.

On Mon, 18 May 2020 08:22:15 -0400, Frank wrote:

CPVC I heard is brittle. Guy here had replaced his copper plumbing with
it and told me he was working near some of it under the sink and grabbed
it to position himself and it broke.

Most PVC we see is plasticized to make less brittle.

This is the land of plastic plumbing and we also use PVC for lots of
other things. Sunlight will make it more brittle after a while but it
is still not glass. I have gopher tortoise burrow markers made from
3/4" PVC that have been out in Florida the sun for over a decade and
they still bend. CPVC doesn't seem to be affected any more than PVC
but if you are worried about it, use RNC (gray conduit). It is UV
stabilized.

On 5/18/2020 1:53 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 18 May 2020 08:22:15 -0400, Frank wrote:

CPVC I heard is brittle. Guy here had replaced his copper plumbing with
it and told me he was working near some of it under the sink and grabbed
it to position himself and it broke.

Most PVC we see is plasticized to make less brittle.

This is the land of plastic plumbing and we also use PVC for lots of
other things. Sunlight will make it more brittle after a while but it
is still not glass. I have gopher tortoise burrow markers made from
3/4" PVC that have been out in Florida the sun for over a decade and
they still bend. CPVC doesn't seem to be affected any more than PVC
but if you are worried about it, use RNC (gray conduit). It is UV
stabilized.


I know that PVC holds up well in sunlight. Went through this issue a
couple of years ago discussing a Trex deck. Trex is coated with PVC
because the original PE is not sunlight resistant.

I've been told by plumbers over the years that copper does not hold up
with our well water and neighbors have replaced it with CPVC and PEX. So
the CPVC comment is only from one neighbor. The PEX neighbor had
numerous leaks at the fittings.

I was 20 years ago with a pinhole leak in the copper that the plumber
recommended replacement but I have not had another leak since.

I have also since replaced the plumber.

On the original subject, we were addressing building codes. They do
change over the years and have additions to them.