101–110 of 163 posts
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If you have a water dispenser (through a refrigerator), do you fill and dump two glasses before getting yourself a glass of water to consume?
I hadn't got a water dispenser like that but I'd be really surprised to find that the internal reservoir and piping was made of anything except for plastic.
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If you have a suggestion I'm sure it would be welcome. Generally, if there were a better solution we would be using it. If you know of one, you should share it with us. If you don't, maybe work on finding one.
GP made multiple suggestions and personally I read their comment as “here are some ideas, does anyone else have any?” Not an indictment of people using this material or a statement that there must be something better and everyone must switch to it. Your comment comes across a bit off-tenor. Also keen to hear if folks on here have other ideas (before you ask: I don’t have any). > Generally, if there were a better solu…
There is a saying, "everyone is a mechanical engineer". As one, we consistently have to field this kind of question in design reviews, etc.
The question, in general, is why don't you invent a new material to solve that problem, the answer generally is we don't have the budget on this $100k project to ask DOW chemical or 3M or BASF to spend 10 years designing a new plastic for us.
So while I agree in concept, in practice it's not really a helpful question/suggestion.
The way we MEs have learned to answer this question is to say we made from the most appropriate material given the requirements and operating conditions, if anyone is aware of a material that we should also try then please speak up.
Almost never is there someone that speaks up.
The other thing is there is a huge difference between "material exists " and material is mass produced and available to the general public.
In this case, to compete with PVC pipe by making some new better resin, extruding it into pipe, then making it readily available on the general market so that it's available enough to write a guidebook on how to use it to make stuff. That's a billion dollar investment.
Folks on YouTube cut, heat, and flatten PVC and then scratch build scale models out of it. This working excavator is rather extraordinary. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qam0DmWq_No&pp=ygUTcHZjIHBpcGU...
This deserves its own HN post.
Interestingly, plumbing your house with PVC water pipe is not a fantastic idea and is not allowed under most plumbing codes. The specific issue is that PVC loses strength at higher temperatures, so performance at household water pressures with household hot water is somewhat marginal. Manufacturers don’t rate their pipe at all above 140 degrees F. Having your pipe burst when you run hot water through it is undesirabl…
In the country I live virtually every house is plumbed with PVC. Works great and only fails if done extremely poorly. Of course, they don't run hot water through it. Most people here think it is bizarre to have a big tank of hot water at one end of the house (often the garage) that is sent throughout the house, rather than having instant hot water heaters at the point of use.
Water heaters are pretty clever, in a low-tech sort of way. Technology Connections did a good video about them recently. [1]
0: https://livefreehc.com/blog/heat-pump-water-heater-vs-tankle...
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It's certainly not 'way worse'. CPVC/PVC has its advantages and disadvantages, just like every other piping method. CPVC can become less pliable over time, particularly for hot water, but properly (by code) supported/strapped and glued, it can last for decades. It, like PEX, should be run to a well-secured, copper stub out where it sticks out of the wall in an area where it could be damaged. Copper is not without its…
If you go PEX, I highly recommend going the entire Uponor route and use the expansion tooling (get the powered one). No need to worry about incorrect crimps and it just works.
If you consider push-to-connect fittings acceptable, something like this could be very nice for connecting tubing to shower valves:
https://www.johnguest.com/us/en/cts-fittings/prolock/threade...
(3/8” is permitted by code, but not by the tables in the UPC - actual math is required.)
[0] PEX, unlike copper, tolerates fairly high velocity hot water. Copper has a delicate passive layer on the inside, and scrubbing it off will erode the pipe. The interior of a PEX pipe, is, drumroll please, just PEX, which is a rather tough polymer that is not going to be easily eroded away.
Folks on YouTube cut, heat, and flatten PVC and then scratch build scale models out of it. This working excavator is rather extraordinary. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qam0DmWq_No&pp=ygUTcHZjIHBpcGU...
It even has windshield wipers, that's pretty wild: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qam0DmWq_No&t=48m1s
He also seems to be working with several tools he made himself.
Folks on YouTube cut, heat, and flatten PVC and then scratch build scale models out of it. This working excavator is rather extraordinary. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qam0DmWq_No&pp=ygUTcHZjIHBpcGU...
PVC is quite toxic in a variety of ways. I would never heat, cut PVC voluntarily, especially without full breathing protection
Folks on YouTube cut, heat, and flatten PVC and then scratch build scale models out of it. This working excavator is rather extraordinary. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qam0DmWq_No&pp=ygUTcHZjIHBpcGU...
PVC is quite toxic in a variety of ways. I would never heat, cut PVC voluntarily, especially without full breathing protection