Vacuum pvc pipe

[Minnesota Tapper]

Im in the process of building a homemade moisture trap for a gast vac pump. Following others here and doing a 3" pvc tube with a racket ball inside. Can I get away with using dwv pvc fittings? I'm having no luck sourcing the top 3" to 1.25" reducer that the racket ball will suck into to seal it up if it fills with sap. I can find this reducer in a dwv rated pvc fitting but not schedule 40.

[DrTimPerkins]

Technically you'd probably be OK using a DWV fitting, since it is on the non-sap contact side (assuming everything is working properly) on a vacuum line, however best to keep it all potable water fittings if you can make it work.

Have you managed to find a food-grade racquetball? :D

[mapleack]

MN tapper, an 1.5" reducer works fine.

[Minnesota Tapper]

Lol at the food grade racquet ball 😆. I should have worded my question better. My concern isnt with using food grade materials or not. Schedule 40 is rated for use with pressure. Dwv pvc is not pressure rated. Im not sure how that equates to using dwv fittings under vacuum? I dont want it to bust apart mid season. I plan to use sch 40 pipe and all other parts I can source in sch 40. Its just that top reducer I can only find in dwv pvc. I think it will do fine as I'm using a gast 1550 and wont be anywhere near 29". But im no pvc expert and thought id see what others had used to build their moisture traps.

[minehart gap]

[QUOTE=DrTimPerkins;
Have you managed to find a food-grade racquetball? :D[/QUOTE]

Dr. Tim, that's just funny. But yes, I did. I was talking to a technician at a farm a few months ago and he suggested using the ball out of a milk line trap. Apparently the older milk line traps will not hold up to the higher vacuum and the newer traps are larger than needed but the ball would work perfectly and is food grade.

[Super Sapper]

You also use 2 or more sched. 40 reducers to get to where you need to be. Use a 3" to 2" and then a 2" to 1 1/2 or 1 1/4.

[JoeJ]

If you go to SUPPLYHOUSE.com, you can get a 3 x 1/1/4" reducing bushing for $2.61. Supplyhouse has the widest selection of PVC fittings, valves, ss fittings at the best prices. At least 30% lower than local plumbing suppliers or Home Depot I know that most of their sched 40 fittings are NFS-61 if necessary. All sorts of DWV fittings also. If I order by 4:00 PM today, the fittings are on my door tomorrow. Shipping costs are a concern. Free shipping on orders over $100. I just plan ahead when ordering to get past the $100. mark. Pretty easy to do when purchasing ss fittings and valves

Joe

[maple flats]

While DWV might hold the vacuum, I'd think it wouldn't take much of a limb falling to bust it wide open. All of my vacuum plumbing is Sch 40 PVC (with a few components Sch 80 because that particular size or type of fitting wasn't available in SCH 40 PVC).
As others said, if you have a wet/dry line, don't try DWV for the dry line, it is not food grade, and sap often flows down the dry line if the wet line is still frozen.

[Minnesota Tapper]

Supplyhouse.com for the win! They had everything in stock I needed to make 2 moisture traps for a reasonable price.

[maple flats]

I hope it's not too late, but I made 2 moisture traps in the past but I made them using 4" sch.40 PVC in the past. I then at the top reduced to 1.25", I also had a ball valve to drain the bottom. I like the milk tank float balls rather than racquetball. I now use an official moisture trap, it works better, more dependable.