UniSeals Bulkhead fittings and large PVC pipe.

[M Cosmo]

Here are some real good deal sites for Uniseals, Bulkhead fittings and Hole saw kits.  These can be real expensive.  

First a great deal on Hole saw kit that goes up to 5" 

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/18-piece-hole-saw-drill-bit-set...

Only $11.99 for the whole kit. 

This site also has good prices on bulkhead seals Threaded and Uniseals. 

You can buy Uniseals from the Uniseal wharehouse

http://www.aussieglobe.com/uniseal3.htm

You can talk them into selling wholesale if you buy a bunch. Check with Michelle Silva she has an in here also.

Aquatico had them also so does Amazon - not cheap though. 

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/1617/Uniseals/uniseal/0

By the way I used Spit to put my pipe through the 1" uniseals I have.

You can see pics of my Vertigro collection system in my photo gallery. they work great. 

What are you using and where did you get it. 

[M Cosmo]

PVC pipe. There are several kinds. As I understand (fine print disclaimer)
Schedule 20 40 80 The outside diameter is the size you are buying the thickness and resulting inside diameter is what is determined by the Schedule size. 20 is the thinest and therefore the cheapest. I buy a lot of my large fittings at Barterworld the local used building supply salvage yard.
There is sewer and other kinds of pvc. Maybe one of our resident plumbing artist can elaborate on these.
Is anyone a real plumber on this site?

[Sahib Punjabi]

Thanks...really useful information.

[David Lindemann]

Home depot just got me for $17.99 for ONE, 3" drill bit I used for net pots.

[TCLynx]

Wow that is a great price for the hole saw kit!!!!
Thanks for the tip!

I'm no plumber but I've spent a huge amount of time in the plumbing sections of big box stores and stuff. I've learned not to send my other half out for plumbing parts because he will go to the wrong section no matter how detailed my instructions.
Anyway, I don't know about schedule 20 pvc, not familiar with it myself.
the types I'm familiar with are

pressure pipe (it is the thin wall stuff but uses the same fittings as the schedule 40)
Schedule 40
schedule 80 (I've only usually seen this as fittings and short threaded sections at Lowes but it's the dark gray stuff in the plumbing section.)

Then there is the sewer pipe which is thin wall but not the same dimensions or fittings as the above stuff though there is an adapter that will fit from schedule 40 DWV 3" pipe to the 3" sewer pipe which is actually smaller.

Finally, I've found I can cheat a bit on some things and use a 1 1/2" to 3" adaptor fitting that is meant for the schedule 40 pipe but I have found the inside of the 3" part of the adaptor can be glued onto the outside of a 3" sewer pipe fitting. This is how I've gone from the 1 1/2" drains of my grow beds to the 3" sewer pipe main drain line by gluing the adaptor onto the outside of a 3" sewer T.

Now I've heard advice that recommended using thicker walled pipe for drains and stuff running underground. This might be good advice but I haven't followed it myself and "knock on wood" so far so good.

I tend to use lots of the thin wall pressure pipe in the 1/2" through 1 1/4" it is easier to cut and of course cheaper.
At the local Lowes, they don't carry thin wall pressure pipe in 1 1/2" or 2" so for those I have been using the regular schedule 40 drinking water pipe. I don't use much 2" pipe but I have used some where I needed regular bulkhead fittings and the largest pipe possible since 3" bulkhead fittings are very costly and sometimes pushing a 3" pipe through a uniseal just isn't going to happen.

The thinner the tank wall (or backing in a liner situation) the easier it is to push a pipe through a uniseal especially for the larger pipe sizes. For instance, pushing a 3" pipe through a uniseal going through a thin metal tank wall is actually fairly easy. I didn't even need any lube, just a bit of water. While pushing a 3" pipe through a uniseal and liner going through a 1/4" thick backing board was very hard and I needed help from some one stronger than myself to do it (it probably didn't help that the tank wall was not super sturdy so pushing was difficult.) Trying to push a 3" pipe through a liner with 1/2" backing turned out to be impossible the last time I tried it and we actually broke the backing board, gave up and put a patch over the hole and moved on to other options (like dual 2" bulkhead fittings.) It is possible to push a 1 1/2" pipe through a uniseal with liner and 1/2" backing but make sure to install at such an angle that you will be able to push it through without hurting yourself or others. I have pulled muscles this way as has my other half when I couldn't do it myself.

I will offer a small warning about bulkhead fittings below grade. I have taken some out in the past and found that tree roots had actually started growing through the threads!!!

Hum, any other plumbing words of wisdom??????? Oh, if you are going to try to do speed changes to plumbing where you will not be drying the fittings out before doing the PVC gluing, be sure to use the better PVC cement. I've got a few leaking fittings where I used the generic stuff that doesn't say rain or shine. Though you probably shouldn't be doing that sort of plumbing, I must admit that I do lots of fast plumbing changes where I'm not giving stuff any real time to dry.

Hopefully some one out there has some better explanations of pipe sizes and fittings and things and I hope my comments don't send anyone in the wrong directions. I am more on the side of plumbing art than engineering. I've got some quite dramatic plumbing sculpture going which would probably make any real plumbers cringe and engineers scratch their heads. About all I can say is the flow seems to be going where I want it and at the rates I want it.