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I had new plumbing installed and someone told me the elbow used under my toilet is incorrect. The company says it's fine. I'm trying to determine who is right.

Here is the fitting:

enter image description here

The manufacturer is Canplas I found their website and list of elbows here: https://canplas.com/plumbing/product_category/pvc-elbows/

Using the barcode I found this to be the specific elbow: https://canplas.com/plumbing/ct_product/192253l/

It says it's a long turn (different than the long sweep that they also sell).

I live in Indiana and this is what my building code states:

enter image description here

So I'm curious, would this elbow be considered a quarter bend or a short sweep? If it's a quarter bend, then it appears that this would in fact not be up to code. However, if it's a short sweep then I think it is okay because the fine print says it's okay for 3" or larger pipe.

Any idea?

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  • Interesting question - I did a brief search and failed to come up with an actual definition of what a "short sweep" or a "quarter bend" really is, other than comparisons between them which say that a short sweep has a slightly longer radius than a quarter bend - no definitions of what range of radii puts the fitting into the quarter-bend, short-sweep, or long-sweep categories ... I guess it's up to the various manufacturers to decide how to label and market their fittings :P
    – brhans
    Commented Jan 11, 2022 at 16:11
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    Could you ask your building inspector?
    – RetiredATC
    Commented Oct 22, 2023 at 19:23
  • There's no such thing as a short sweep for PVC drains. Search the internet for cast iron short sweeps and then you'll find them. Quarter bends have a center line bend radius equal to their pipe size +/-5/16" for pipe sizes up to 4". Long sweeps have a center line bend radius equal to their pipe size plus an inch +/-1/4" for pipe sizes up to 4". (The fittings start bending after their hubs overlap glued pipe.)
    – popham
    Commented Oct 22, 2023 at 19:45

2 Answers 2

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Perhaps there's something more behind a paywall or somewhere my googling didn't find, but here's all I could come up with:

According to this publication from the Building Officials Association if British Columbia titled:

BC Building Code Interpretation Committee AIBC APEGBC, BOABC, POABC
File No: 06-0017         INTERPRETATION         Page 1 of 1

An acceptable 90 degree elbow of 4" size or less is permitted to be used to change direction on fixture trap arms as long as the center-line radius of the bend is equal to or greater than the size of the pipe - and they refer to this as a "long sweep".
An elbow with center-line radius less than the size of the pipe they refer to as a "short sweep", and is not permitted to be used to change direction on fixture trap arms.

The terminology they use, just "long sweep" vs "short sweep", conflicts with the IPC table categories of "quarter bend", "short sweep" & "long sweep", but it might be safe to assume here that the IPC "quarter bend" is equivalent to the BOABC "short sweep" - and means anything with a bend radius less than the pipe size, while both the IPC "short sweep" and "long sweep" are covered under the BOABC "long sweep" - and means anything with a bend radius equal to or greater than the pipe size.

From the product description page, the manufacturer of your "long turn" 90 elbow states:

Installed in a PVC White DWV piping system to allow for a 90 degree change of direction from a P-Trap U Bend from vertical to horizontal.

So they probably expect that this part would be used as the 'exit' point of a U bend being used as a P-trap.

If my assumptions are correct, then it appears that it is right on the edge of the "bend radius equal to pipe size" mark, and probably legal for use as a vertical to horizontal transition...

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    Ah, marketing... Once again creating confusion & chaos where none existed or is required.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jan 12, 2022 at 13:38
  • ASTM D3311 defines the fitting dimensions.
    – popham
    Commented Oct 22, 2023 at 19:00
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ASTM D3311 prescribes dimensions for the different PVC fitting patterns:

90 degree fitting

A quarter bend 3" fitting has G = 3-1/16". There are generally no short sweep fittings, where this is consistent with parts for sale (cast iron has short sweep fittings). A long sweep 3" fitting has G = 4-1/16".

A quarter bend 4" fitting has G = 3-7/8". A long sweep 4" fitting has G = 4-15/16".

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  • This would make the OP's fitting in question (CANPLAS 192253L) a simple "quarter bend" in spite of being designated "long turn". In my plumbing experience with PVC and ABS DWV, the fitting shown by OP was known as a "regular 90", there was nothing available in between that and "long-turn 90's", which had a MUCH larger turn radius.
    – kreemoweet
    Commented Oct 23, 2023 at 5:39
  • @kreemoweet, the UPC's language of wye+1/8 bend (e.g. UPC 706.4), I think, has incentived all sorts of fittings with the "combination wye and 1/8 bend" radii. In UPC jurisdictions like, I assume, yours, stores have no incentive to stock "long sweep" fittings. Instead they stock "long turn" fittings, where "long turn" encodes the UPC's turn radius spec instead of the IPC's. Stocking "long sweep" fittings would burn customers for no reason, where ideally the wrong fittings would just sit there on the shelf unused forever. I guess they might stock the wrong stuff for repair work.
    – popham
    Commented Oct 23, 2023 at 6:44

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