Bonding PVC to HDPE- or alternatives?

[Gator95]

I've got a 55 gallon HDPE container left over from the plant that I'm planning on making into a rain barrel to fill off the gutters. Walls are about 1/8-3/16 thick or so I think. Trying to decide what the best way to connect a faucet to the bottom of it.

Offhand, I was thinking of just drilling a hole the size of 3/4" PVC pipe into the side of it near the bottom and then inserting the pipe in the hole and putting a faucet at the end of the PVC pipe (so many different valve possibilites there... doesn't really matter which one I use).

Was thinking of trying PVC cement to bond, but wasn't sure it would take with HDPE. Other alternatives are epoxy, epoxy putty, or silicone caulking. The barrel would be outside and pressure will be just the head pressure of a 55gal barrel filled with water.

Any thoughts?

[LCHIEN]

I did a google for Glue HDPE to PVC

http://www.innerduct.com/products/hdpe_glue.php

[atgcpaul]

I've got a 55 gallon HDPE container left over from the plant that I'm planning on making into a rain barrel to fill off the gutters. Walls are about 1/8-3/16 thick or so I think. Trying to decide what the best way to connect a faucet to the bottom of it.
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Any thoughts?

I just bought two old barrels today so I've been reading up on this, too.

This is what I came across which is what I'm planning on doing. Instead of
gluing anything together, I'm going to get a thread tap from Harbor Freight
and screw the spigot in. Finally, I will caulk around the threads.

http://www.cityofbremerton.com/conte...ainbarrel.html

[crokett]

I think I would get a threaded PVC male fitting and another female fitting then drill the hole, insert the male fitting and screw the female on to hold it in place. Plumbers putty and/or a rubber washer would prevent leaks.

[gearbuilder]

If the lid to your drum is removable you might be able to use a through the wall fitting. If the lid doesn't come off I'm not sure how you would tighten the fitting.



http://www.mcmaster.com/ctlg/DisplCt...MainWidth=1068

Jamie

[atgcpaul]

If the lid to your drum is removable you might be able to use a through the wall fitting. If the lid doesn't come off I'm not sure how you would tighten the fitting.

Jamie

That's the boat I'm in. The tops of my barrels are permanently on. If they
weren't, I'd definitely go with the male/female fittings. I guess I could cut
the lid off, but the lid provides so much rigidity. That's why I'm going to try
the tap and screw-in spigot method.

Paul

[gjat]

You have to have some sort of opening for the down-spout, so I'd go for the male/female fitting. What you need is a bit of inginuity to get the male part of the fitting in the hole. For example, a piece of stiff wire long enough to feed from the top to the hole near the bottom. Slide on the male part then attach a block to the end of the wire that won't go throug the male. You can then pull it tight from the outside, hold it and thread on the female. Don't forget to add silicone to both sides of the hole.

[Black wallnut]

As others have also advised I'd use a bulkhead fitting http://www.dultmeier.com/search.asp?...njo%20Bulkhead

Since you need to cut a hole in the top for the in you will have access to the inside. The plastic barrels that I've been around were at most 1/4" thick. I'm skeptical on cutting pipe threads in that thin of a wall and keeping it from leaking. I've not any experience with the glue that Loring posted a link to but it might be worth a look.

[atgcpaul]

Definitely don't listen to my first plans on tapping threads and installing a
brass spigot. I'm glad I lost my eBay auction on the tap. While one website
used this method, another warned against it because when the temps
change, the barrel can crack around the hole. The bulkhead fitting as the
others suggested is the way to go.

This is an excellent YouTube video of the installation. The guy also figured
out how to install the bulkhead without having to cut the whole top off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvWginV0el4

He doesn't say what size bulkheads you need, though. I looked at several
bulkhead fittings online and some reference the size of the hole you need to
cut to pass the bulkhead through while other reference the size of the ID
hole for the spigot but none of them explicitly say which is which. Argh!


EDIT:

Found another one where you can use the bung as the spigot source. No
bulkhead needed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGFDlkJOdaM