How to bend plastic pipes correctly

To rotate or bend the axis of the pipeline, a certain type of fitting is usually used - angles with a standard rotation angle of 30, 45 and 90 degrees. But they may not always be at hand, and they are quite expensive (50-75% of the total costs).
Sometimes, to ensure the required angle of rotation, several fittings are needed, which complicates installation, complicates the design and, most importantly, due to the increase in joints, the reliability of the pipeline decreases.

In such cases, the solution may be to bend the plastic pipe itself to the required angle. However, to do this you need to know how to do it correctly so that the bend is extremely reliable and airtight.

Bending with a hair dryer

In order to bend a pipe using a hair dryer, you need to have some experience in this matter. This method requires strict adherence to the heating temperature of the bending area. It must be no less than 140 degrees Celsius and no more than 170 degrees Celsius.
If the temperature regime is less than the lower threshold, then it is difficult to ensure the required turning radius, and the product may lose shape and flatten.To avoid such defects, a fine filler should be poured into the pipe before heating: ordinary sand or table salt.

When the pipe overheats, the polymer begins to melt and it becomes unsuitable for further use. It is experience that allows you to “feel” the temperature and keep it in the range from 140 to 170 degrees Celsius.

Bending with heated sand

Since a hair dryer is a special type of tool that is usually used by professional craftsmen, not every owner may have one available.
If it is not available, you can use an alternative version, which ensures bending of the plastic pipe to the required angle without using this thermal device. For this method you also need to stock up on sand or salt. The fine filler is heated on a baking sheet or simply in a metal ladle on an electric or gas stove to approximately a temperature slightly exceeding 140 degrees Celsius.

Then the calcined filler is poured into the pipe through a funnel, while the lower end of the pipe is sealed with tape or closed with a stopper.

The same must be done with the upper end after backfilling is completed.

After holding for several minutes, the pipe material softens and bends easily without changing its cross-section.

If you then fix it in the desired position and hold it until the filler has completely cooled, then the product will be fixed in the position that was originally given to it. All that remains is to remove the tape or plug and pour the cooled sand or salt out of the curved pipe.

This method, unlike thermal heating with a hairdryer, does not require constant temperature control: it is set by the initial heating of sand or salt and then only slowly decreases.This mode best ensures the quality and reliability of bending.

Bending plastic pipes using a heated finely dispersed composition has unlimited possibilities: a polymer product can be bent to any angle, given the desired shape not only in one plane, but also performed in a three-dimensional (three-dimensional) bend, for example, in the form of a spiral.