Black PVC, or ABS?

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cactuscake

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In February this year the drain under my tub started leaking. There was quite a mixture of pipes - brass fittings attached to the tub, a chromed copper pipe leading from the bottom of the brass fittings making its way to the black plastic coupling in this picture. The metal had corroded at both ends of the chrome middle section and we had a plumber replace as much as he could with white PVC, it took about 2 hours because of the awkward space.

Unfortunately the joint between white and black has started leaking again and I'd like to fix it. I can't tell what type of plastic the black section is though.

What I can see of the text says "...WHITE PVC-I) (off-DWV U 1 1/2 2744 UFC MA..." it is in an incredibly awkward space and it was only by sticking the camera into a hole and taking a snapshot that I was even able to get an idea of where the leak was coming from. Other than that the repairs will need to be done by feeling around.

13zub9c.jpg


I'm trying to figure out if I can just reglue the joint and if so, whether I'll need some of the green transition stuff, or if purple will work just fine.

Any ideas?
 
ABS joints need abs glue (yellow) which I don't see in the pic but maybe they were wiped really good, and PVC to abs needs transition glue. I usually prime the PVC then put transition on both and glue it. It looks as if there is a trap adaptor of some sort where it goes from abs to PVC or something of the sort.
 
Turns out it was indeed a trap adapter, and upon further testing the leak was coming from the next joint up and running down to this one. I discovered that when the plumber had switched out the old metal piping for PVC, one of the pieces was cut too short. He had tugged it all together and the screw fittings were holding at first but the tension proved too much in the end and so it kept slipping apart no matter what I tried.

For now I've made a sling out of a trusty wire coat hanger so that the lower section is being pulled up nice and snug against the too-short pipe. Should probably replace the whole set-up again, but I don't feel like doing it today... after all, I'm all showered and cleaned up now! :)
 
Ah fair enough it was kinda hard to tell in the picture but yes I think your best bet is to replace it all to one plastic or the other. I personally prefer abs but I know PVC is more popular in the states, either one will work.
 

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