PVC fittings shelf life

[dshop]

I have buckets full of PVC connectors from the 1990's. they have been stored in a dark crawl space.
Are they useable or junk? I would hate to toss useable parts.

 

[Viper98912]

I also hate to throw stuff away, and theoretically they should be built to last a long time, but the reality is that if you use them and they eventually cause a leak, the time and repair cost of that leak will be many many many times more expensive than just buying some fresh ones for a few bucks.

 

[nadogail]

I am not aware of "Shelf Life" for PVC fittings; but the older I get I keep being reminded that there are many things I have not learned yet.

 

[unslow1]

If they had a shelf life I'd be interested in how they ever got approved for plumbing.

 

[flan]

I found this online;

https://www.ipexna.com/media/2005/longevity-of-pvc-systems-bulletin.pdf

 

[NOEYEZ]

No shelf life unless exposed to UV from sunshine......It is the UV that degrades the polymers in the plastic......I test them hitting them with a 16 oz ball pein hammer with average force.......Any cracking is a dead giveaway that they are nothing but scrap...

 

[Red 17]

I feel better now about using the fittings from my dead brother's garage--fittings he must have gotten from his late FIL. They were marked with an "Ole's" tag, a store that folded in about 1986.....

 

[yelchevelle]

Like noeyez said, UV gets it. If you have pipe in use exposed to sunlight, painting it helps protect it. A pool builder friend that moved back east said that it is code in Arizona to paint the pipe on an equipment pad. He couldn’t believe no one here does it.

 

[dougf]

Dark is good, UV is what kills plastics, Send it!

 

[Innovate1]

The plastic gets harder and more brittle with age but I would say they would still be usable. For example you can use a PVC pipe cutter - the kind that just forces a knife blade through the pipe - easily on new pipe. Try it on one that is several years old and the pipe may crack instead of cut. The older it is the more likely. Not really sure on how long that takes but if working on 10 or 15 year old pipe it will be hard and crack. So be sure to use primer on the joints to soften up the glue joints. And use a hacksaw to cut old stuff.

 

[Showkey]

If PVC fitting had a shelf life ………would it not have the same service life

 

[619DioFan]

Depends on how big your compressor is and how much psi you plan on running through them.



O come on , you know someone had to say it.

 

[Crabman]

Around where I am there are many oyster floats made of pvc. They are in the sun all day, every day. Maybe they fail, but i have not heard of it. The aquaculture guys have many of them. So the UV may degrade it, but not sure how fast.

Here is a picture of one of mine after a winter clean up with some fresh oysters I picked up off the bottom.

 

[egdede]

You can just watch PVC turn chalky and crumble over a couple of decades in the CS sun. I'll bet those float tubes wouldn't do well under pressure....

 

[reader2580]

I remodeled a bathroom a couple of years ago. Some of the PVC was so brittle it broke if you looked at it wrong. Other PVC was just as strong as new pipe. I believe the bathroom was originally plumbed in the late 80s or 90s.

 

[Crabman]

You can just watch PVC turn chalky and crumble over a couple of decades in the CS sun. I'll bet those float tubes wouldn't do well under pressure....

Luckily only need to hold air and float. Not sure I would want to apply pressure.

Would be a bummer if they sank!

 

[kbs2244]

what is the difference between storage in a dark crawlspace and being in use inside a dark wall ?

 

[rustyjames]

One of the last things in life I'm going to be concerned about is weather my PVC DWV plumbing is going to fail.

 

[djjsr]

Glad I read this. My 100+ year old house was replumbed about 25 years ago with pvc/cpvc. I was thinking it might be time to do it again. Then I see in that technical bulletin "Because PVC is immune to corrosion, a minimum service life of at least 100 years can be expected". None of my pipe is exposed to sunlight so I guess I'm good til around 2095. I'll put it on my "to do" list. I'll be 145 years old by then so I might have to hire it out.

 

[67CarGuy]

Yeah, if it hasn't been sitting in the sun the last few years, I wouldn't worry much about it. Given my luck, I'd still need to run to the store to pick up some fittings that weren't in there...

 

[Mr_fixit]

Depends on how big your compressor is and how much psi you plan on running through them.



O come on , you know someone had to say it.

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