Thread: Purple PVC Cleaner

I found out today that there is an approved purple PVC cleaner that is invisible unless you use an ultra-violet light to see it. So on new construction inspections if you don't see the standard purple cleaner on drain lines you will need an ultra-violet light to complete the inspection. It should make jobs look better but harder to inspect without getting up close to the glued joints.

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Originally Posted by James Duffin

I found out today that there is an approved purple PVC cleaner that is invisible unless you use an ultra-violet light to see it. So on new construction inspections if you don't see the standard purple cleaner on drain lines you will need an ultra-violet light to complete the inspection. It should make jobs look better but harder to inspect without getting up close to the glued joints.

May be approved by the manufacturer or a laboratory but not by code as far as I'm concerned. Purple means purple. Purple does not mean invisible. The code requires purple so that it will be evident that the primer has been applied. Key word: "evident".

I would not accept some invisible purple primer that requires a UV light. (I'm an AHJ in SC.)

It's approved in NC as of Sept 1 of this year...605.22.2 and 705.8.2. I'm sure SC will be soon.

Originally Posted by James Duffin

It's approved in NC as of Sept 1 of this year...605.22.2 and 705.8.2. I'm sure SC will be soon.

605.22.2: "When an ultraviolet primer is used the installer shall provide an ultraviolet light to the inspector to be used during the inspection."

Not likely to happen! When I do a rough-in, there is no plumber to be found.

I bet he will be there with the required UV light if he used clear primer and wants you to pass the job!

Originally Posted by Joe Funderburk

605.22.2: "When an ultraviolet primer is used the installer shall provide an ultraviolet light to the inspector to be used during the inspection."

Not likely to happen! When I do a rough-in, there is no plumber to be found.

Originally Posted by James Duffin

I bet he will be there with the required UV light if he used clear primer and wants you to pass the job!

Joe,

That is one of those things where the inspector has the contractor use the light on EVERY fitting and EVERY joint (BOTH ends of couplings, ells, etc.). And the plumber has to move the light completely around the fittings to prove the primer was adequately used.

Of course, if the inspection fails and there has to be a re-inspection ... the entire process needs to be repeated at EVERY fitting end.

And the inspector takes a photo of the fittings to prove that he checked them in case someone comes along later and says differently.

I don't get what the big deal is using the purple stuff. It's not like PVC is so pretty you'd want to leave it exposed to begin with.

My father-in-law (master plumber in CT and MA for 35 yrs) taught me to be neat with my joints, so there's only a hint of the primer (typically around 1/4" exposed). Same thing with my solder joints, which have only minimal brazing exposed, no excess drip at the bottom, and all flux wiped clean. He learned to be neat when working on defense contractor facilities where all of his joints were x-rayed.

But no one pays for a neat job anymore; they pay for the fastest crap you can get past an inspector.

That purple stuff stains like crazy. (Obviously.) So much so that most places I see don't use primer inside during the trim-out when putting sinks together. This sounds like a decent way to maintain code compliance while not risking ruining an expensive finished floor or cabinet or whatever.

No matter how neat a person tries to be with glue or primer or solder, there's always that one out of a hundred where a glob of solder flows all the way down a pipe.

Originally Posted by Corn Walker

I don't get what the big deal is using the purple stuff. It's not like PVC is so pretty you'd want to leave it exposed to begin with.

My father-in-law (master plumber in CT and MA for 35 yrs) taught me to be neat with my joints, so there's only a hint of the primer (typically around 1/4" exposed). Same thing with my solder joints, which have only minimal brazing exposed, no excess drip at the bottom, and all flux wiped clean. He learned to be neat when working on defense contractor facilities where all of his joints were x-rayed.

But no one pays for a neat job anymore; they pay for the fastest crap you can get past an inspector.