I would like to glue a small chunk of pvc pipe into a 3 gallon plastic bucket (from the depot) and, it needs to be strong enough to hold up to 7th graders. We are going to be measuring my students lung volume.
I think the buckets are polyethelene, and I am not sure if I can solvent weld to them
any thoughts?
Jeff
Listeners write in about fireplaces affecting family harmony and bionic suits, before asking questions about brick steps, ground-source heat pumps, and building a dome greenhouse in Maritime Canada.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
I'd sugest a pvc bulkhead fitting - no solvent adheasive, just screw 'em together
Never underestimate your ability to overestimate your ability
Oops....
I need to secure the pipe to the side of the bucket to serve as a sleeve to run flexible tubing through.
I could (and might have to) use really good duct tape to secure it to the side of the bucket
Does the sleeve need to be water or air tight to both the bucket and flexable tube?
Let me put it another way - what the he|| are you doing?
Phat
Never underestimate your ability to overestimate your ability
Ok here goes....
when you are breathing you are allowing air to rush into your lungs, and then pushing air out. I want to know the amount of air that is coming out of the students lungs. This will give us an approximation of the lung volume of the students.
In the past I taped 2 3 liter bottles together, filled them with water and inverted them in a rubbermaid tub also full of water. (this experiment is done outside)
Students then feed a length of surgical tube into each bottle opening. The surgical tubing is attatched to a T fitting and a longer length of tube out of the tub.
students would then slide a clean drinking straw into the surgical tube, exhale, and the air from their lungs would force water out of the bottles, and then measure the amount of water needed to refill the bottles ( and hence lung volume)
The problem with this was it is amazingly messy, the bottles, got crushed and I have students with 6.5+ liter lungs. Swimmers.
So I have been tinkering with other designs, liked the idea of using a 6" PVC sliding up and down in an 8" pipe, but then found out that 6" and 8" PVC pipe is ridiculously expensive. like stupid expensive....
So I went to plan B
and noticed that a 3 gallon bucket slides up and down in a 5 gallon bucket, and they are pretty cheep at the Despot. So I drilled a 5/8 inch hole to accept a stopper ( to fill the upside down 3 gallon bucket)
I also noticed that each 1/2 inch is about 500mL and marked it on the outside of the bucket.
The problem I am having is securing the surgical tube to the inside of the upside down bucket, I temporarily taped a peice of pvc tube in and seemed to work pretty well, but I want a more permanent solution.
Wonder if crazy glue or silicon caulk would work
You can get a barbed fitting of some sort to fit, seal inside with silicon caulk.
got it, thanks for the explanation.
I'd still use a plastic bulkhead fitting - found at my favorite toy store.<!----><!----><!---->
Go to yours with a piece of the tubing that you like, and I bet with some rummaging around you could come up with an adaptor of some sort that will make the transition from the tubing to the bulkhead fitting.<!----><!---->
Even if it’s a bad connection – stuffing a barbed fitting into a female bulkhead fitting, if you can make the connection somewhat solid, then slathering it up with some sort of goo might make it air tight.<!----><!---->
This is the closest thing to a kid resistant solution that I can come up with. <!----><!---->
Never underestimate your ability to overestimate your ability
The best product for this particular application is definately an epoxy. Specifically, an epoxy designed for plastics. Recently I did something similar (glue PVC to a exhaust fan flapper fitting) and this plastic epoxy was extremely strong, durable, and airtight. If you apply it in several coats, getting progressively and progressivly thicker, it should hold up much better than gorilla glue or super glue.The stuff I got was from Home Depot, and came in a dual-syringe like container. Pushing the plunger dispensed an equal amont of hardener and resin.To speed up the dry time, I put a space heater near the joint and it was rock hard in 15 minutes.--Andy
sounds like your trying to grow some hydroponic "tomatoes"Due to recent budget cuts the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off until further notice.
I had to come up with a water tight connection for the bottom of a lexan bottle (resevoir-type water level I use at work) and simply used a hose barb fitting with 1/4" pipe thread. A hole was drilled barely large enough to get the threads started and the fitting was run into the hole essentially making rough threads. Then the fitting was removed and 6 layers of thread tape was added and the fitting was run back in. The best part was then using a 1/4" female to 1/2" male brass adaptor that then was screwed on the threads sticking through the bottle like a large nut.
I have left water in the bottle for months at a time with zero leakage to date. Total cost: about $2 at HD.
Go to some place like a boat shop and get a bulkhead fitting or hull drain. Or just paw through all the odd plumbing fittings at your local hardware store. You'll find some sort of plastic feed-through fitting threaded for a plastic nut.
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
For that matter, just get a large rubber grommet.
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
Since what you are making is essentially a wet spirometer you just need to secure the tubing to the side of the bucket as it enters the water and then curves back up.
You might try a section of bendable copper tubing which when bent over the lip of the bucket would stay put on its own and then attach a flexible plastic tube to that for the students to blow into. Each student could have their own removable tube. You know - no swapping spit.
Carry on from there to make the rest of the measuring apparatus.
A polyurethane glue like gorilla glue or elmers poly glue would be your strongest option. You need to have a way of clamping or keeping pressure on the glue joint so the glue sets up correctly. If you can get the pressure, the glue is exceptional strong.
I'm guessing the plastic bottle the glue comes in is also polyurethane. The cured glue dosen't stick to that very well...
Phat
Never underestimate your ability to overestimate your ability
Use some sort of a flange or bulkhead fitting, held on with threads. The poly bucket won't take most solvent glues.
happy?
Why don't you use conduit instead of DWV pipe. You can glue a threaded nipple onto the conduit, stick the nipple through the hole & fasten it with a bushing.
Check out the clear vacuum 2¼" plastic piping. Relatively inexpensive.
Mounted through the lid of a plastic bucket it could tower several feet.
Graduated scale?
Would it work?
Gord
I tried several glues - hot glue, polyurathane, etc. None would stick to the buckets.
But you can get a small length of threaded fixture pipe and nuts and washers for each side - be careful how big you drill so you almost have to screw it in the bucket - and it'll seal. You can clamp your flexible hose to that.
It sounds like a project the kids will dig. Hope it goes well.