ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area bending pvc

Hey has any body used the slinky type coil that is inserted into pvc conduit and then you bend it just like emt,looks pretty good.

I saw those advertised in EC magazine.

Looks neat, but do they work?

Enquiring minds want to know.

I conned my boss into buying that a month ago while doing work in a greenhouse. He did not want to spend the money for it. Cheap is what he is. He bought it anyway and after useing it he said it was one of the best things he ever got. Of course he said it was his idea. They work great. I highly reccommend it.

I don't like them. They seem to work but about every other bend the pipe gets that white tint to indicate that it has been stressed beyond limits. I never read the specs to see if this color change is technically a problem but I don't trust it.

Steve heat the pipe more.

Heat???

I have seen them at the supply house counter with scraps of pipe for demonstration but haven’t personally tried one. Most of the bends customers had done looked to have a very short radius. I’m not sure that you could easily make an accurate bend such as an offset since you are required to over bend the pipe to make up for substantial spring back. I also don’t like the look of the bends but I guess looks don’t matter if the pipe is being used underground.

I use a hot box for most small PVC bending. Last year I purchased one of the Hot Bend torches for a job that required many customer bends in 3” pipe and would have say that it was a very good purchase.

Bob, I think the idea behind theses springs is not to use any heat. I’m not use that they would be any better than using a standard pipe bender.

Curt

[quote]Bob, I think the idea behind theses springs is not to use any heat. [quote]

Thanks for the info, I did not know that.

I saw them at the supply house and assumed you used them with heat.

Now that I know that I still say heat the pipe more.

Bob

Yeah,
Bending springs are meant to be used with un-heated PVC.
If it's a cold day when you're working with it outside, giving the conduit a rub with the palm of your hand can often produce enough warmth to make the bend easier.
I have springs for 16,20,25 and 32mm dia conduit.
Bending the conduit "under" your knee-cap is a pretty common technique here in New Zealand.

I just tried one today. Worked ok for offsets and kicks but it didn't make a 90 to well.