mounting a box on a pipe

[AdamJ2]

Hello everyone,

I have a 100mm diameter pvc pipe and I need to mount a plastic box or any water proof design to house some electrical components. The pipe will be submerged few meters deep in water which is why the water proofing is needed. Although this seems like a simple enough task I haven't done anything like it before and I'm worried about making a silly mistake here or there. I would really appreciate if some has any idea for a good solution to mount the box on top of the pipe.

 

[LittleInch]

A drawing or sketch would help.

Is the box on or inserted through the pipe?

Where is the seawater pressure?

What holes are in the box?

What sort of forces are present to move the box?

If its PVC, then some sort of glue is usually best, but we're a little bit blind here.

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[IFRs]

Can you cut in a PVC Tee, extend the pipe upwards and end in a PVC cap?

 

[AdamJ2]

Hi littleInch,

thanks for your response. I've attached a draft drawing to help explain what I mean. The box is meant to be on top of the pipe. The seawater pressure is going to be 1.06 bar (it's only slightly submerged). There are only two 10mm holes in the box where a hose will be inserted as shown. The forces will be small waves of 0.5m height. The main purpose of the box is to prevent the water from reaching what's inside it. please let me know if any additional info is needed and thanks again for the help.

 

[IRstuff]

How long does it need to survive? PVC allows for lots of options; you could glue a purpose-build platform for the box to the pipe, and bolt it to the platform.

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[LittleInch]

Does it have to touch the pipe?

Even if it does I would google "subsea piggyback clamp" / block / saddle and you'll get some good ideas.

You could probably cut out what you want from solid PU foam or similar or 3D print something which would house a square box instead of a cable.

If all you are worried about is clamping the box then this would work but any reason why it needs to be a square box and not a short pipe section?

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[AdamJ2]

Hello IFR,

that's actually quite a brilliant idea, I've attached a draft drawing of I believed you meant. I think will actually work well as one of the things I was wondering about is how to glue the box to the pipe.

Thanks again for the help and any additional ideas or comments will be very appreciated.

 

[AdamJ2]

Hi IRstuff,

it only needs to survive for two hours at a time (the 2 hours test will be repeated few times though). Using glue was my first thought but I wan't sure how to get the contact between the pipe and box. Your purpose built platform idea might however work and I'll look into ways of possible implementation. Thanks!

LittleInch,
I doesn't have to touch the pipe and doesn't necessarily have to be square but I thought a square might make fitting the components inside easier. I've had a look at the piggyback clamp and found some promising products which might do the trick. If all fails I might just try to a get tee into the pipe and glue the box on top of it as shown in the picture.

 

[IFRs]

The box can't be the pipe coming off the tee? In other words, can the box be round? There are tons of fittings you can attach to a pipe, perhaps a threaded cap or plug would seal it up for you?

 

[AdamJ2]

IFRs,
The box shape was fairly arbitrary, I guess you're right a pipe storage coming off the tee would also do the trick and would probably be significantly easier to implement. thanks!

 

[LittleInch]

Why don't you just glue or clamp on a set on saddle tee, but don't drill the main pipe out and stick all your electronics inside the branch pipe?

Like this

https://www.plumbingsupply.com/saddle.html

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[AdamJ2]

thanks for the suggestion. I think it's a very good idea as there are some cheap saddle tees available but my only concern is that I might not fit everything inside the branch pipe. I'll test it out in solidworks and see how it goes, thanks again.

 

[LittleInch]

You can always make the branch pipe bigger with a reducer?

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[XL83NL]

When we have (electrically powdered) tracing on our pipe spools, we attach the JB (junction box) to the pipe with a simple pipe clamp. It’s waterproof, as most of the JBs are for ATEX zones and outside location. The JBs are also square boxes.