Bamboo Tips - Tips Area
Finishing - Drain Tubes - Gluing

< Home < Tips Area < Finishing < Drain Tubes < Gluing

For those of you using clear plastic fluorescent light tube protectors for drip tubes, have you tried using regular PVC cement and if so have you had any bad reactions with your varnish?  (Ron Rees)

For what it's worth, I used PVC cement.  You only need a tiny bit.  The standard PVC fitting fit mine (can't recall the size) and would have probably held the varnish fine, but I didn't want to flood my floor with varnish should the tube fall over.  (Rick Crenshaw)

The glue I used is 5 minute epoxy  on my clear plastic fluorescent light tube protectors for my drip tube. No reaction to varnish. I used a PVC cap and the glue has very little chance to contact the varnish. I used a hot water spit cock value which I cut threads for so no glue there.   What happened to your varnish?  (Rex Tutor)

Nothing I have just relocated the shop and the old dip system stayed in the floor at the old place. I thought that I would try this since space is at a limit and the new shop will not be built for about a year. I bought five minute but thought that I would try PVC and see how it worked just for the ease of things and I thought that I might ask others.  (Ron Rees)

Like I saw in another e-mail, the cap is 2 inches and fit the tube tight - little or no glue contact with varnish.  (Rex Tutor)

A buddy of mine glued up the PVC piece on the bottom of my tube with what he called "PVC glue" and I've run a dozen or so rods through the tube in the last couple years with no problems.  The tube fits inside the PVC piece, no glue on inside of tube.  (Ed Riddle)

If you're trying to put a cap on the bottom there is a simple round PVC connector that will fit inside the clear tube and the cap will fit on the outside of the tube.  When you put them all together they will press fit so sweetly that you will not need to use PVC cement.  I'm on my second drip tube setup and I've never lost a drop with this connection.  Off hand I can't remember the proper name for that part.  But it looks like a PVC sleeve that is made for this application.  Just look around in the various boxes until you find it.  Grab one of the HD clear tubes so you can check the fit.  The other nice thing is that when you change tubes down the road you will reuse the fittings.  (Jim Harris)