Question about PVC, Glue

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Jimmy K
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:22 pm

Does anyone know how PVC and glued fittings would hold up against gasoline?
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saefroch
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:40 pm

-Step back for a second... what are you doing with gasoline?

In theory, I think solvent-welded PVC would hold up fine in a reasonable amount of time, but that doesn't mean I'd ever try.
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Lockednloaded
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:46 pm

are you asking if gasoline would deteriorate PVC glue, or if glued PVC fittings would handle gasoline combusting?
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Jimmy K
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 6:42 pm

Don't worry, I'm not burning anything - just making a gas tank for one of my projects (nothing cannon/gun related).

I know most automotive gas tanks are made from HDPE, but I don't have access to any. I would rather make a vessel out of PVC before I have to start welding a vessel together out of steel, which is what it sounds like I am going to have to do.
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 7:29 pm

Depending on the size of the tank, if you want a quick and easy gas tank use an one gallon paint can. Sometimes they can be bought clean, if not you can find an old one and clean it out.
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Crna Legija
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 9:00 pm

unless you need to make a funny shape, why don't you just use a jerry can.
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Jimmy K
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 9:08 pm

The tank needs to be sturdy and tappable since there's going to be a lot of lines going in and out of the tank, so I'll probably steal a metal tank off of one of my engines instead.
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:59 pm

A member of spudtech did a test a long time ago, and find that over a 54 hour period, gasoline had no effect on the PVC at low temperatures.

http://www.spudfiles.com/spudtech_archi ... php?t=7896

Some companies also refer to their PVC has having good->acceptable resistance to gasoline, and I would assume glued connections would be similar in their resistance.
Since this is not a pressure application, I would say go for it and see how it works. However, steel tanks bring serious peace of mind.
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Jimmy K
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Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:58 pm

Here's what the tank was for, if anyone is interested. Cobbled this up today- should be ready to test for tomorrow. I went ahead and made one out of PVC. If it doesn't work, oh well. It wasn't too expensive.



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