Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

i have a pair of these 2WP powercut cutters as well .. they are great for the slightly larger pruning jobs
but then i have used them on everything from tomato pruning to cutting off dead bits from trees mine have coped with the hiding i have given them

oh and replacement parts are on their website too ( im up for a new blade as mine has also sheared off but it lasted for 18 months before it happened and the blade before that was only blunt after 3 years of use ( found mine at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney )

and worth the $50 i paid for them

Hadn't thought of that. As I have a heat gun, you may have saved me a few bob in fittings. Thanks OBO

Cool

Just dont get them too hot ...

Try cutting the pipe off level with the fitting - heat it from the inside then force one jaw of a long nose pliers between the pipe and fitting with the other jaw inside the pipe now just rotate the pliers and the pipe peels away from the fitting - I had many holes in my hands from spearing with screwdrivers and other pointy things and bent and broken fittings from trying to pry the pipe out before I discovered this trick
John

Bell-ends (female joins) are a good way to mark a nice square cut.

I got shown this tip from an installer of reticulation systems..

When you have old PVC fittings glued to a piece of pipe ready for the bin (from either an old project or a simple stuff up, don't throw them away.


1. put on some gloves (preferrably leather get two pairs of multigrips/pliars
2. cut the pipe so it's about an inch from the end (2.5cm) of the fitting you want to salvage.
2. take your tin of solvent glue, and paint it inside the pipe (note: inside the pipe, NOT the fitting that's being salvaged).
3. take your trusty BIC lighter, and set fire to the wet solvent inside the pipe.
4. As it get's hot (obviously being VERY careful not to burn yourself... ) BLOW out the flame, then put one multigrip on one end of the fitting and the other on the Hot end, slowly twist the pipe in on itself and the heat should start to separate the plastics.

To describe the twisting action, simply hold each end of the fitting in multigrips in each hand and twist in opposite directions... and voila they'll separate.

BEWARE this can be dangerous if you touch the plastic, DO NOT Touch for at least 5 minutes afterwards, and keep a hose handy, and if you haven't worked it out, do this outside in a ventilated area.

If you burn yourself then your just proving Darwin was right about evolution

Here is a trick for HOT HOT weather. I find the hydroton on top of the grow bed gets too hot and burns the seedlings. I have added a 25mm joiner to the top of the outflow pipe so the bed now fills 30mm or so higher. The surface gets wet by capillary action and no more burnt plants.

Now a question, can you get bigger outflow surround pipe as I cannot get my have inside the stuff we are using now.

Best wishes from John in York

+1,
I also have difficulty getting in the 90m pipe I have been using as drain surrounds. Do they make a larger size in that weight?


Tony

Yep 100 mm normally used for sewage

You could try a small bucket?

When putting pipework in trenchs(underground), run extra pipes for future expansion. You can run them up out the ground and cap them off, because you know down the track you will want to expand.

Yep, I put 150mm pipe around mine rather than 90mm - my hand doesn't come close to fitting into 90mm pipe.

Sometimes I have found that seeds have poor germination success when they need to be deep down in the gravel to be in the moist area and then struggle to get through to the top of the gravel. This is particularly the case with seeds that call for shallow planting. So I am testing out temporarily popping a straight connector onto the standpipe that is cut down on one side to temporarily raise the water level about 15mm in the bed while seeds germinate and put down some roots. Once they are going you can take it off and lower the level again. As I say I am testing it out now, so only a theory at this point.

Great thread! Particularly liking the separation and recycling of glued PVC bits. Bound to come in real handy!!

Noticed this post on Pg2




...well, maybe not in everyones tool arsenal, but I found one of these to be perfect for pipe cutting....



Super accurate, clean, square cuts every single time!

I use my metal cutt off saw when I have a lot of pipe to cut. Just run a sharp blade around inside/outside to clean up. Some times the small grinder with a then blade when You are working in position away from the bench