# DIY Vinyl Spraybar?



## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

*DIY Clear Spraybar?*

With all this talk about clear lilypipes and glass intake and outake strainers..how come no one uses clear vinyl as a spraybar with drilled holes?
How about clear pvc?

You think it'll work, and be relatively clear and see through?

-John N.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

If you are talking about soft vinil hose I can say that the vinil is hard to mount straight. You need a few suction cups and even with that it is not perfectly straight. The curving makes it look cheap.

The clear PVC is not easy to bend. My best attempts at bending it were with a spring inside, a jig to bend it around, and pulling the softened pipe apart while bending it. Also clear PVC is not available readily.

--Nikolay


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Vinyl also tends to get very hard and opaque when submersed for a while.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I see, alright so no on the vinyl. 

How about this idea, instead of forcing the PVC pipe to bend, have a straight clear pipe, connect with bendable vinyl tubing like the Eheims have for their spraybar attachments (like the one in my 29 gallon signature), and have that connecting to the rest of the unit? 

Any thing wrong with using clear PVC such as fading colors, connectivity, etc besides availability? 

-John N.


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## kwc1974 (Jan 4, 2006)

As far as clearer pvc being available it is readily available here in Houston
Even a search on ebay gave me a distributer, but they wanted to sell in larger quintes than I wanted. I have also been looking at bending it to make my spraybars. I have heard that true bending springs will work.
Niko, what kind of spring were you using?
An acrylic fabricator told me that if I could not find a bending spring, pack the tube with sand and cap off both ends tightly, just be carful with the heat you don't want sand grains to embed in the tube.
Your best be for controlling the heat is to use a heat gun instead of a flame.

If I ever get around to trying to make my own with clear PVC I will post it here, I have the Clear PVC rigid tube just not the time


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Tap Plastics sells clear acrylic tubing that will work well for a spray bar too. I just made one from 5/8 OD, 1/16 wall tubing that fits very well on my powerhead. I will use it for a CO2 mist system. I plugged the end of the tube with a half inch diameter disc of acrylic, also sold by Tap Plastics. Easy job, but I didn't need to bend it.


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## bpm2000 (Jul 5, 2005)

Theres been a few people who did this with clear rigid plastic tubing. I followed one guys advice and tried the spring benders (the kind that goes on the outside?) and they didnt work out so well for me - but worked fairly well with a spring inside. I did it all ghetto with a hairdryer but it worked out in the end to make 2 simple j-tubes for my 4g nano.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Anyone know what type of clear pvc i should be getting for a intake and outake pipes of a eheim 2213. Also what's the diameter of the hose, 1/2 seems to ring for me..?

I just might try this...thanks folks.

-John N.


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## billionzz (Apr 9, 2005)

I live in the Houston area and I can buy clear pvc in small quanitys. I have my outlets and returns plumbed with clear pvc.

But just this week I placed an order for some black pvc, I looks alot better than the clear in my tanks.

I guess it depends on your tank design, lighting, colors etc.. but it is something that you might want to consider.

Bill


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

billionzz said:


> But just this week I placed an order for some black pvc, I looks alot better than the clear in my tanks.
> 
> I guess it depends on your tank design, lighting, colors etc.. but it is something that you might want to consider.


Also consider that you will probably need to clean the clear PVC often as gunk accumulates inside of it! Take a look at your filter hoses to see what I mean  With the black pvc, you won't see the gunk and won't need to clean it until you notice the water flow slowing, if you ever notice is slowing.


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