Most PVC applications, i.e. the ones they are designed for, do not require very critical procedure for joining pieces together, because most of the time the fluid going through them is not under pressure. However, certain high-strain applications, such as Spud Gunning, require that the joints are strong and airtight. The way to achieve that is proper solvent welding.
The stuff that you get at the store to put together pieces of PVC is labeled "Cement." This is a misnomer. The "cement" class of adhesives, such as contact cement, rubber cement, etc, all are used to bond two, usually dissimilar, materials together. PVC cement is actually a solvent. Welding involves melding two pieces of the same material into one. (Hmm, I wonder if there is a connection).
When you solvent weld PVC, you are actually turning the two sides that you are joining into PVC mush, the molecules all blend together, and what you are left with is essentially one single piece of PVC.
*MOVIE COMING SOON!*
The stuff that you get at the store to put together pieces of PVC is labeled "Cement." This is a misnomer. The "cement" class of adhesives, such as contact cement, rubber cement, etc, all are used to bond two, usually dissimilar, materials together. PVC cement is actually a solvent. Welding involves melding two pieces of the same material into one. (Hmm, I wonder if there is a connection).
When you solvent weld PVC, you are actually turning the two sides that you are joining into PVC mush, the molecules all blend together, and what you are left with is essentially one single piece of PVC.
*MOVIE COMING SOON!*
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Signing UpStep 1: Materials
-Two pieces of PVC you want to join
-PVC Primer (it's usually purple, some places sell a really nice clear variety, if you want it to look nice you can get this stuff. Some spudders like the industrial look of the purple stains)
-PVC Cement
*Often you can get dual-packs of PVC cement and primer
-Paper towels
PVC primers and solvents contain mostly ketones. Using commutative logic here, ketones are strong solvents of PVC. Aside from bonding applications, PVC should NOT come in contact with ketones, as it stands a chance of weakening the pipe. Ketones, such as Acetone and Methyl Ethyl Ketone, should NEVER be used as fuel for combustion spudguns.
-PVC Primer (it's usually purple, some places sell a really nice clear variety, if you want it to look nice you can get this stuff. Some spudders like the industrial look of the purple stains)
-PVC Cement
*Often you can get dual-packs of PVC cement and primer
-Paper towels
PVC primers and solvents contain mostly ketones. Using commutative logic here, ketones are strong solvents of PVC. Aside from bonding applications, PVC should NOT come in contact with ketones, as it stands a chance of weakening the pipe. Ketones, such as Acetone and Methyl Ethyl Ketone, should NEVER be used as fuel for combustion spudguns.
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I think California is the only state in which "carcinogenic" is defined as literally a one in one million chance of giving you cancer with normal exposures. When they got to point they were labeling sand, sold for the express purpose of being used in sandboxes for children, as a "carcinogen" they'd pretty much jumped the shark and become worthless. Now people can't distinguish between phantom and real threats and they end up shying away from learn new skills like PVC solvent welding and instead take up benzene gargling instead.
The moral here is don't let politicized panic labels scare you off from making and learning new skills. Plumbers and builders work with this stuff for hours, every day, for decades and they don't have higher cancer rates than vegan liberal-arts professors. If they can survive years of exposure you can survive a few minutes.
The real immediate danger from working with PVC solvent or any other strong smelling volatile substance (including some food stuffs) is that almost all of them cause vasodilation in the brain which can lead to dizziness, fainting and disorientation. If you work in an enclosed, unventilated area, you're basically "huffing" and might hurt yourself while impaired.
The principle volatile components are MEK, THF, and cyclohexanone. Of those, only cyclohexanone poses really any concern, which is listed as non-carcinogenic, but mutagenic in mammalian somatic cells. I work with much, much nastier chemicals at work on a day to day basis.
I predict many future references to this project.