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How to fix under sink connection?

Hi thanks in advance for helping.

I'm working on the plumbing under my kitchen sink and have a question about a connecting piece (marked as #1 in the photo). The issue is that this piece seems slightly too short.

It needs to be tightly connected to the lower section (marked as #2), which has a rubber seal ring and a tightening nut. The upper section (marked as #3) doesn’t have a seal ring and doesn’t insert fully—it looks like a flexible end that’s meant to bridge the connection. Right now, it only goes in a little bit, and most of the threaded area (wrapped with white waterproof tape) is exposed.

Is there a way to make this connecting piece (#1) slightly longer to ensure a more secure fit?

This is that connector piece

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EricL

Hello @fan8956

Just a friendly reminder that any plumbing work must be carried out by a registered plumber for safety and compliance.

The piece you are looking at is composed of three parts - Holman 50mm PVC DWV Female Iron Connector (top section), Holman 50mm x 1m PVC DWV Pipe (middle section cut to size) and Holman 50mm PVC DWV Male Iron Connector (bottom section). They were joined together to create this artificial extension. If the assembly was not properly measured or test fitted it could come up short or not fit properly. It's vital that you do a dry fit (no adhesive) first to ensure fitting.

The current fitting you have can no longer be adjusted as it has been glued in place. It will be necessary to create a new extension at the correct length. I suggest using Protek 125ml Type N Blue Cement Solvent to join the pieces together. Please note that this glue grabs on contact and has little or almost no time for adjustment.

Please remember to wear personal protection such as gloves, goggles and a mask.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

fan8956

Thanks a lot Eric. For the “middle section cut to size”, would Bunnings be able to do that for me? Or how can I do that myself?

EricL

Hello @fan8956

I'm sorry, they will not be able to cut the PVC pipe for you. You will have to cut the pipe at home as you will need to measure the new distance between the connectors. You can use an ordinary hand saw, or a hack saw to cut the pipe. Please remember to sand the edges of the pipe to remove the swarf on the pipe ends.

Eric

AlanM52

Hi @fan8956,

Plumbing stuff often needs a bit of coaxing (wiggle & jiggle) to get things aligned which then makes it easier to mate the two sections and... the nut will find the thread and (more) easily screw on.

Sink plumbing-2.jpg

I have inserted two reference guide lines, vertical black and horizontal white near the top to highlight alignment errors.

Note how the pipe coming in from the left (a bit to long) is already pushing the top section to the right.

As you can see that misalignment error culminates at the bottom of the lower section, now well out of alignment.

With the nut unscrewed use cupped left hand under the U bottom and gently pull to the left to align with the next section.

Push nut back up and wiggle back and forth so it finds the thread (more) easily and will screw up tight.

Cheers

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