Oatey and pressure testing

[Israel clayman]

why does oatey say don't test with air?

I built my own pressure tester to check all my lines it test with air not water then I was reading the back of the can and it said do not test with air does anybody know why this is?

 

[Mike1162]

It may just be for safety purposes in case of a failure. Air will compress many times more than water & would send shrapnel much further than if filled with water.

 

[Bill1974]

I don't know if any PVC pipe is rated for compressed air. But normal sch 40 can hold the pressure if it's not compromised in anyway. If it is compromised, it can fail and set shards of PVC flying. And surprisingly it does not take much pressure since the pool line have a decent volume. When you pressure test with water, when it fails it's not dramatic as the pressure is disapated a lot quicker since water is not compressible.