Reader Find: PVC Pipe De-Bonder
By Chuck Cage
Phillip writes: “If you’ve ever broken a PVC pipe, you know what a pain it is to repair the damage. The Come Unglued tool can reverse the welding effect of the PVC cement by delivering a precisely controlled amount of head heat to undo the glue. This is awesome.”
The big upshot here, of course, is that you can save the fitting, which is likely already cemented into a pipe system.
To use this tool, you just turn it on, tell it what schedule pipe you’re dealing with, attach it, and tell it to go. It takes a few minutes to do the job, but there’s a countdown clock to keep you in the loop. It’s cordless, and draws power from an attached 24V battery.
Come Unglued PVC Pipe Debonder [Corporate Site]
January 5th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
“delivering a precisely controlled amount of head to undo the glue. ”
- a precise amount of head can solve pretty much any problem in my experience.
January 5th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Eli, as usual, is entirely correct.
January 5th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Precise amount? Is there really such a thing as a surplus of head?
January 6th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I’m not 100% clear on why this would be needed in the first place. Why not just cut the stub 3 inches longer and attach a coupling? It could be useful in cases where the stub broke right up against the fitting, but I think that’s pretty rare.
If I ever encounter a situation where I would need this tool, I’ll be tempted to try it by hand now that I know it can be done. A few minutes with an infrared lamp or a heatgun, plus a pair of big honkin’ needlenose pliers to twist out the softened stub, seems pretty simple.
Also note that their site doesn’t list pricing. “If you have to ask,” goes the saying.
January 6th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
I have found this to be a pretty common problem in the landscape irrigation world. Might be a nice tool for high volumes, otherwise there are other (and likely cheaper) ways around the problem.
January 6th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
One thing I didn’t see them input during the demo was ambient temperature. Surely a pipe buried in nearly-frozen ground would require a different amount of heating than one in a room-temperature house!
January 8th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
It has been in my experience that a tool like this would come in very handy. As a farmer/orchardist, I am constantly repairing broken pvc pipe and find it a complete hassle (and expensive). I know other guys in landscaping that feel the same way. Something like this would be a huge help. I had the opportunity to see these guys in San Antionio at a trade show. The tool was amazing - they were giving demonstrations constantly and it worked really well. The great thing was that it didn’t damage the good pipe or compling - just the broken pipe. The tool automatically knows how much heat needs to be used without heating up the coupling.
January 18th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Debonding Systems Inc. will be demonstrating the tool Come Unglued at the L.A. show Feb. 28th- March 1. We invite you to bring some glued up fittings to our booth so we can take them apart for you to see the tool in action. Please do not bring any pipe over 6″. The tools we will have at the show will handle pipe from 1/2″- 6″ any schedule. If you don’t mind waiting a few minutes I will debond a 6″ schedule 80 while you watch.
This summer we will introduce a tool to handle 8″ up to 24″. The folks that make fittings are in denial, but they are welcome to bring cemented fittings to the show, and I will take theirs apart. With NO harm to the fitting. You must see this tool to believe it.
So please visit us at booth 2260 in L.A.
Thank you,
Jim Huffman
Debonding Systems Inc
January 21st, 2007 at 11:25 am
The ambiet temperature question is a good one. We start the heat cycle with a burst of energy to take care of low temps. There is a good deal of leeway in time so temp. is not a problem. We have tested to -15 F with no problems getting the joint apart. The big problem with really cold conditions are the cement temp. requirements. Working and cementing below the recomended temp. is not a good idea. But if you want to work at -15 F Come Unglued will do the job.
Thank you
Jim Huffman
Denonding Systems Inc.
February 10th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
It is a good tool for pipes that you have full access to. To use it in a tight space would not work unless it is redesigned to allow the heating unit flex.