How to Get a Good Seal With a PVC Pipe to the Head of the Pool Pump

Screw a pair of male PVC adapters into the pump opening so that you can avoid cementing the PVC pipes directly to the pump, sealing them to the adapters instead. This will allow you to remove the pipe easily if required to do so someday. Wrap the treads of the adapters with Teflon tape before screwing them in place to create a tighter seal at the connection. Use several twists of the tape around the adapter thread to build up the tread slightly; two or three rotations is sufficient. Screw the adapters into place.

Examine male adapters connected to the pool pump to determine the depth of the connection between PVC pipe and adapter end. You can tell how deeply the pipe must go by looking at the width of the small collar on the end of the adapter.

Measure the distances between the pump and the input/output valves on the pool with a tape measure. Cut the PVC pipes to cover the distance, leaving room at each end of the pipe to connect within the collars on the connection points of both the pool valves and the pool pump. Use a hacksaw to make your pipe cuts with, keeping the cut straight across the pipe. Hold the utility knife at a 45-degree angle to the end of the pipe after cutting it, and run the blade over the rim, both inside and out, to remove any burrs left. Wipe the pipe clean with a piece of cloth.

Clean out the inside of the connector on the open end of the male adapter using the PVC pipe primer. Wipe the inside of the adapter with the primer, using the applicator from the primer cap. The primer softens the adapter end slightly so that when the cement is applied, the surface inside the adapter and outside pipe actually melts slightly, welding them together once placed into contact with one another.

Clean the end of the PVC pipe with the primer. Cover a section of the end of the pipe equal to the depth of the open end of the male adapter on the pump plus an additional inch. Examine the pipe as you apply the primer. Any writing on the pipe will disappear as you place the primer onto it, showing you exactly which portion of the pipe you’ve covered.

Allow the primer to sit in place on the pipe for a few minutes to soften the material. Check for softness by lightly scraping the utility knife blade across the primed section of pipe. If a thin layer of pipe comes off on the blade, then it’s ready for adherence with the adapter.

Spread the PVC cement over the exterior, primed section of the pipe and the interior primed surface of the adapter on the pump.

Push the PVC pipe end into the adapter, so that the end of the PVC pipe lies flush with the base of the adapter opening. Repeat the process for the second connector on the pump and then the two valves, both input and output in the pool. Allow the PVC to harden at the connection end overnight before using the pipe and pump.