“Assembling a large manifold in a new building consisting of a 2-inch main with 11 schedule 80 PVC TEEs, each with a 2 x ½ inch reducer bushing, I received a new set of architectural drawings changing all of the bushings to ¾”.

I had just glued the half inch bushings into place that morning. Rebuilding that manifold would have required 11 new TEEs and half a day. My customer invoice would have been $480 in materials plus $360 in labor plus $180 time to chase parts for a total of $1020.

Also I couldn’t find 11 2” TEES in my city so I wouldn’t have been able to complete the work until the next day.

What I actually did was use a sawzall to cut the spokes out of each bushing leaving a thick wall glued in the TEEs. The remaining wall thickness of the cut bushing was a little thicker than 2 inch schedule 80 pipe, so I used the next larger size, 2.5” schedule 80 and selected that cycle on my Pipe Debonder. The resulting cycle time was 8.5 minutes. I used my small Pipe Debonder to unglue all 11 bushings in about 90 minutes. I was able to reuse every TEE.

After I picked up the new bushings, I re-glued the 11 TEEs in 30 minutes, completing the job in about 2 hours.

Total cost: $180 labor plus $148 for bushings plus $180 for a total of $508, a savings of $512. Plus I could complete the change order the same day.

This one job paid half of the cost of my Pipe Debonder.”

When a pipe breaks into a threaded fitting or valve, it can sometimes be removed by using a hammer and screwdriver to try to unscrew the broken piece of male pipe from the female threads. This can be time consuming and frequently scars the threads causing the fitting to leak or to be unusable.

A clever way to solve this condition is to use the same technique plumbers use for broken glued plastic pipe joints: they unglue the socket joints and save the fitting or valve. Using a Pipe Debonder, the broken threaded pipe can be softened sufficiently to allow the pipe to be pushed away from the fitting threads without damaging them.

Using the extraction tool included with a Pipe Debonder, the broken pipe is very quickly and easily removed from the valve or fitting such that a new piece of pipe can be immediately threaded into place. If the other end of the broken pipe is glued, that joint can also be unglued and the repair can be made in such a way that the repair cannot be seen and no couplings are required.

Have you ever had to remove broken pipe from a threaded fitting?

Pumps, pipes, and fittings at a water park.

This time, we’ll let a customer in Arizona do the writing:

“When I received my Debonder, I read the well-written operation manual and I thought I understood the tool pretty well without having operated it.  I practiced on a smaller joint and it really worked, just as the guy at Pipe Debonder told me it would.

The next morning I was on the job at a water park where I had a leaking 6 inch schedule 40 ELL coming out of the concrete.  Digging it up would take a long time and make a mess for the park.  I brought along two 6” ELLs anyway just in case it didn’t go well.

After 30 minutes of arriving on the job, I had shut off the water, drained the line, cut off the pipe (too long, I add), and plugged in the Mid-Size Debonder.  The cycle was 11 minutes.  Because I foolishly cut the pipe off 1/2′” too long, the Debonder was not inserted far enough into the fitting, but the extraction tool removed the broken pipe anyway.  It was very easy to do.

To my amazement, the fitting was not an ELL, but a TEE and I didn’t have one with me.  After removing the broken pipe, I cemented a new piece of pipe to the TEE.  Then I cut out the ELL above it and using two couplings and an ELL, I reconnected the system and turned on the water.

All in 30 minutes.

I was amazed how much time and money this Debonder tool saved me on just this one job alone.

Knowing how simple it is to reuse fittings, I now wonder how I got along without this tool all these years.

I called the folks at Pipe Debonder to congratulate them on a well designed and well built tool.  They asked me why I didn’t debond the ELL and reuse it rather than replace it.  Honestly, I didn’t even think of it because the part is not expensive for Schedule 40, but I can see that there would be no couplings in the system and the repair would be undetectable had I used my head and my new Debonder to save that ELL as well.

GREAT NEW INVENTION!”

Plumbers need to know the latest in technology so they can enter the field prepared to save their customers, and their businesses or employers, time and money.

When a vocational school in Massachusetts received its new Debonder, the plumbing teacher and the students weren’t exactly sure what to expect. It became clear pretty quickly that the tool would be a hit. The instructor told us,

This is the best plumbing tool I’ve ever been able to teach students to use.  It saves the school a ton of money because we can reuse fittings. The students love using it in class and are excited to get out in the field and use this tool. It gives them a great opportunity to learn new innovative technology. It’s really cool. Once the machine warms up, which only takes a couple of minutes, we can keep that thing hot and working for us all day. We’re really happy with this Debonder.

Have you tried a Debonder yet?

Sometimes we get questions from potential customers, or just people interested in the plumbing industry, what the benefits are of the Pipe Debonder.

The bottom line is that we believe that we provide the plastic pipe industry with unique tools to save significant money for any repair to glued pipe systems.

The primary and most significant benefit is the reduction in down time.  For the worst repair requiring at most, couplings, and at least, no fittings at all, the normal down time from arriving on the job to system back on line is usually cut by 65 percent for 3” to 6” pipe, cut by 80 percent for large pipe, and cut by 50 percent for small pipe.  Most of our customers charge less to unglue pipe than they do for normal replacement of fittings repairs, but some actually charge more because the customer always gets back on line within two hours. We all know there’s a value in speedy repairs!

We have never heard of a customer going to another plumber for being overcharged because he can unglue joints.

The second benefit is the labor savings.  Shorter down time also equates to less labor required.

The third benefit is the savings in fittings and valves that are not replaced.  Naturally, the larger the pipe, the more is saved.

A fourth benefit is a cleaner job. Rather than clog up a piping system with couplings every time a break occurs, debonding both ends of a pipe run allows a repair to be made where the repair is not evident and the pipe system is as clean as the original installation.

One customer recently wrote to tell us that the Debonder is the greatest plumbing tool ever created. While we certainly realize there are a lot of great tools on the market, we’re honored to provide tools that help customers save time, money, and frustration.

I discovered a leaking 1-inch PVC sprinkler valve in my outdoor box.

The box was built with an 8 way cross manifold where my system has the primary inlet and 5 zones of the possible 7 being used. The valves are glued to a short piece of pipe and then glued to the manifold.

The conventional method of repairing this leak is to replace the manifold. The installer built the manifold with short pieces of pipe to every alternate leg so that the valves wouldn’t bump into each other. The inlet to the manifold has a glued 1-inch ball valve installed. Two of the zone valves have lengths of pipe long enough that I can cut them off such that I can install couplings on the pipe and reuse the valves. The other three valves must be scrapped and replaced.

The job entails replacing the manifold, the ball valve, three of the zone valves, two caps, and three couplings. In all, it requires 18 glue joints to rebuild my system. My sprinkler installer says that the job will take him about 2.5 hours including wiring and testing, provided that he has all of the fittings and parts on his truck. If not, he must go back to his shop or supply house, costing another hour. Total down time is half day after arrival. Total cost to the installer in fittings and parts is $39; $85 is my cost. Labor, including drive time is four hours at $95 per hour, which is $465 plus tax for a total of $495.

The latest technology for glued pipe system repairs is ungluing and reusing fittings, replacing only the pipe that is broken. This requires a Pipe Debonder tool that is commercially available. Ungluing the one joint from the manifold to the leaking sprinkler valve requires these steps:

Disconnect the wiring to the leaking valve.

Remove the soil two inches below the manifold at the leaking valve.

Cut the pipe to the leaking valve ¼ inch from the manifold and remove the valve.

Insert the Pipe Debonder into the manifold and run the 1-inch schedule 40 cycle (which takes two and a half minutes).

Remove the piece of glued pipe from the manifold.

Glue in a new piece of 1-inch pipe to the manifold.

Glue in a new zone valve to the pipe.

Connect the zone pipe to the valve.

Connect the wiring to the valve.

Total time for repair is 20 minutes. Fitting cost to installer is $12; $23 for me. Labor cost is one hour plus one hour of driving time for two hours at $95. Add parts and tax for a total of $227.

My savings is almost $200 and repair time is less than a half hour versus 2.5 hours for a conventional repair.

I want my sprinkler installer / repair contractor to have ungluing technology. Do you?