Fixed my slow PVC leak with a Soldering Iron!

[stereomandan]

I just set up a closed loop system on my 90g, and I had a very slow leak at one joint. (1 drip for every 30 seconds or so) I think this is the first time I ever had a leak with PVC, but oh well, there it was. I was trying to think of ways to fix it without redoing the connection. I thought about maybe using silicon, or epoxy, or some kind of tape or rubber seal, but none of these seemed very reliable or permanent. So I thought, well the solvent and glue for PVC basically melts the joint together, so maybe I could do the same with a hot soldering iron.

I heated up the soldering iron nice and hot and ran it all the way around the seem of the joint, and basically melted the seam together all the way around. This in effect sealed up the joint and stopped the leak. PVC is usually at least 1/8” thick, so there is a good amount of material to work with without worry of poking through the pipe.

Just thought I’d share. It saved me from having to redo a whole section of plumbing, which included a nice $20 1 ½” true union.

Dan