Plumbing question

[Fri]

gah, anyone here got plumbing knowledge? The english names for these parts confuses me. I have some pipe related work, and need your help.

What is 'nipples' for pipes? Which one is 'female' and which one is 'male'? And what is 'double nipples'

This isn't actually on the names, more on general plumbing:

How do someone connect pvc pipes generally? If say, someone want to connect pipes by... eh, how do you say this.

Basically, you want it so you can deattach the pipes for maintanance once in a while. how do you connect them pipes in the first place?

Thanks before.

[Alteran]

Which one is 'female' and which one is 'male'?

I am not a plumber.

Keep that in mind. However, I believe that for anything using the terminology, the male part fits into the female part. With the example of a plug, the wall part is female and the part with metal prongs on a wire is male.

Sorry I can't help with anything else.

[thubby]

What is 'nipples' for pipes? Which one is 'female' and which one is 'male'? And what is 'double nipples'

This isn't actually on the names, more on general plumbing:

How do someone connect pvc pipes generally? If say, someone want to connect pipes by... eh, how do you say this.

Basically, you want it so you can deattach the pipes for maintanance once in a while. how do you connect them pipes in the first place?

Thanks before.

nuts are female, bolts are male.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipple_(plumbing), it connects 2 pieces of pipe.

pvc pipe is usually connected with solvent, but there are fittings that allow for screwing them together.

[Tirian]

I'm not a professional plumber, although I have installed a bathroom in my house so I've plumbed.

You can google "pvc pipe joining" which will probably give you some videos on the general way of using solvent and PVC cement to bond two pipes together. That's a permanent seal, though. If you want to be able to disconnect them someday without too many tears, I suppose you probably want a "push fit fitting", and you can also find videos for that if you google for it.

[Kcalehc]

Before you start make sure there is no water in the pipes! Make sure you read the instructions of anything you bought to plumb with, and that you have the correct tools for the job. Also note that PVC pipes are generally not good for water under pressure.

If screw fitting two pipes together use PTFE tape (plumbers tape) on the thread before screwing them together. It helps form a water tight seal. Also don't forget to use rubber washers if they come with any joints you buy.

I recently re-plumbed 3 of the toilets in my new home for various reasons (one was loud, one leaked and the other didn't flush unless you held the handle down the whole time). As I'm not a professional plumber I had to learn most of this the hard way.

When you finish, put as little water in the pipes as you possibly can and wait about 5 minutes. Put a dry piece of paper towel under any joins you made and see if they are dripped upon. I say put as little water in as possible, simply because draining can take a while, and then re-filling over till you get it right can use up quite a bit of water.

[Fri]

Before you start make sure there is no water in the pipes! Make sure you read the instructions of anything you bought to plumb with, and that you have the correct tools for the job. Also note that PVC pipes are generally not good for water under pressure.


Ah crap. I"m building a hydraulic ram using pvc pipes. Basically it's a water powered... water pump..

[Keld Denar]

Yea...unfortunately, PVC isn't gonna be very good for that. I have some books around my office I could probably find some info on PVC burst pressure if you'd like, but I almost never use it at work. Carbon steel, stainless steel, and a little bit of aluminum, yes, PVC, no. And unfortunately, cutting and threading steel requires some decent sized tools which you probably aren't going to have. If this is for like...a school project, you could probably contact a local plumbing and fitting contractor. If you get materials and give them measurements and whatnot, they might donate some time to help you get everything fitted up.

And yea, nipple is just a fancy pipefitter word for "short section of pipe". I'm not really sure about residential plumbing, but industrial nipples are usually cut and threaded to order, rather than bought stock like other fittings such as elbows, Ts and reducers. Nipples are often used to couple two fittings together, or to fit up to a piece of equipment.

And yea, as mentioned, male couplings have the threads on the outside and go into the female coupling which has threads on the inside. Not all couplings are threaded, but the inside/outside mechanics are pretty much the same.