How heavy is XPVC?

I recently went to look at some pvc that someone on Craigslist had for sale, and it was rather heavy. It was much heavier than I thought it would be. I keep hearing people say that pvc racks are so much lighter, but if I built a rack out of this I would think it wouldn't be that much less than a melamine one. Or at least the same as wood.

Is there different weights to pvc? Is XPVC lighter than regular PVC? How much lighter?

It may depend on the thickness of it, I have been told that it's much lighter than melamine.

This was 3/8" PVC, so thinner than the 1/2" that many people on here are using.

I was looking to get some for my new racks this fall, I know it comes in several thicknesses, anything would be lighter than melamine, lol

PVC and XPVC are different. PVC is solid plastic. XPVC has tiny air cells in it like a solid scuba diver suit? Just trying to give a mental picture. My racks complete weight right around 40lbs. I can pick it up easily and move it around. I use 1/2" for my racks which is plenty thick enough. My rack uses one sheet and I know that a sheet of melamine weighs a lot more than 40lbs. I would guess at least double but probably more.

Regards,

B

XPVC isn't that heavy at all. I've been able to easily move my new racks around while they're full of snakes. No way I could ever do that with my melamine racks without destroying them in the process.

I like XPVC so much that I'm building 4 more racks next month. It never ends!

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It is around 40lbs for an entire rack assembled. I weighed it. That's probably at least 1/2 as much as a sheet of melamine. I know 1/2" MDF weighs about 80-90 lbs for a 4'x8' sheet and I imagine melamine is close. I can move this rack around with one arm but I'm a decent size guy.

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http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...=1#post1588462

8x4 sheets of melamine i believe is 75-80lbs.

XPVC isnt an easy material to get hands on locally unless your near a plastics factory. My lowes and HD dont and wont carry it they said. So I just build my melamine racks open design.

9 slot 28qt open design for me is 80lbs
9slot 41qt open deisgn for me is 100lbs.

To me those are light as im not small so i can still move them easily

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Originally Posted by spitzu

XPVC isn't that heavy at all. I've been able to easily move my new racks around while they're full of snakes. No way I could ever do that with my melamine racks without destroying them in the process.

I like XPVC so much that I'm building 4 more racks next month. It never ends!


http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...=1#post1588462

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I'm building my third this weekend with another one due before I get more snakes in Oct/Nov. I love them and wouldn't change a thing after using them for awhile. I have a hatchling rack design I still need to build. Been slacking :p

Regards,

B

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

PVC and XPVC are different. PVC is solid plastic. XPVC has tiny air cells in it like a solid scuba diver suit? Just trying to give a mental picture. My racks complete weight right around 40lbs. I can pick it up easily and move it around. I use 1/2" for my racks which is plenty thick enough. My rack uses one sheet and I know that a sheet of melamine weighs a lot more than 40lbs. I would guess at least double but probably more.

Regards,

B

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Haha. That will teach me to go eat mid-way through typing up my response.

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

I have a hatchling rack design I still need to build. Been slacking

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I've been toying around with this too. I am running out of space though, so I was thinking about some sort of a 15qt/6qt combo. I might have to just do two separate racks but stacked.

Could one still use the regular pvc? Are there any downsides to it other than the weight? I am only asking because I can get it for a very good price.

Of course that presents another question, is regular pvc usually alot cheaper than xpvc? Or are they a similar price?

xpvc that i can get here locally is $110 for a 4x8 sheet of 1/2 thick material. not seeing a benefit to pvc if it isn't lighter. unless its really cheap. 4x8 sheet of melamine is around 35 bucks. so if its not cheaper than that then i would build with melamine. if your looking for a light weight rack then pop the big bucks and go with xpvc.
adam jeffery

PVC is fairly strong specially 3/8 the way it heats is different it is easier to heat through but it looses heat faster as well since you are talking a rack heating through it isn't an issue but heat loss could be unless you heat your snake room to correct ambient temps.

I get my XPVC for $85 a sheet cut! PVC might be more difficult to cut if it is anything like the pipes and fittings. The closed cells of XPVC make it easy to work with like wood. Someone else might have to chime in on PVC but my experiences with PVC pipes/fittings are that they are a lot more brittle. I don't have any experiences with the sheets of it.

Regards,

B

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

PVC is fairly strong specially 3/8 the way it heats is different it is easier to heat through but it looses heat faster as well since you are talking a rack heating through it isn't an issue but heat loss could be unless you heat your snake room to correct ambient temps.

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The rack would be in a basement, which gets rather cold in the winter, so ambient temps are low in winter. This would be an issue with the regular pvc more so than the xpvc?

And no, heating the whole basement more, or using space heaters is unfortunately not an option.

Racks tend not to do well in cool spaces they are very space efficient and very poor heat efficiency. It is tossed as an option but often the people whom suggest it have 'snake' rooms where the ambient air temps are 80ºF.

I run a rack in a cool room but have had to use dual heating for both warm and cool and needed to insulate the rack as well to keep heat loss at a minimum. It is a big job and lots of time effort and cash to get right. I spent 10 days of adjusting the empty rack to get the temps correct and stable.

My rack is PVCx and sucks at holding heat before the modifications I made. I am currently in the process of designing a new one that will hopefully hold heating better than the one I have. In a cool room I'd not use PVC or PVCx or melamine but in stead look at stress skin panel construction as it is more efficient insulation from heat loss. you can build your own with out too many problems look up 'stress skin panels' use 1/8 door skin on the exterior and interior skins rather than chip board.

If you have a cool room perhaps you might give thought to stackable enclosures. Instead they cost more to build but well designed they cost less to run. Just a thought.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Racks tend not to do well in cool spaces they are very space efficient and very poor heat efficiency. It is tossed as an option but often the people whom suggest it have 'snake' rooms where the ambient air temps are 80ºF.

I run a rack in a cool room but have had to use dual heating for both warm and cool and needed to insulate the rack as well to keep heat loss at a minimum. It is a big job and lots of time effort and cash to get right. I spent 10 days of adjusting the empty rack to get the temps correct and stable.

My rack is PVCx and sucks at holding heat before the modifications I made. I am currently in the process of designing a new one that will hopefully hold heating better than the one I have. In a cool room I'd not use PVC or PVCx or melamine but in stead look at stress skin panel construction as it is more efficient insulation from heat loss. you can build your own with out too many problems look up 'stress skin panels' use 1/8 door skin on the exterior and interior skins rather than chip board.

If you have a cool room perhaps you might give thought to stackable enclosures. Instead they cost more to build but well designed they cost less to run. Just a thought.

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kitedemon is right on this one. I run my racks in a 78-80 degree temp controlled reptile room. Most racks won't do well in a cool area because the Flexwatt can not compensate for the ambient temp once it gets below a certain point.

Regards,

B

I have never had the option of a reptile only room. I have belly heat for the hot spots and I run 1-2 pieces of 11" flexwatt up the back of my racks to provide the ambient temps. This has worked well for me for many years, I will continue to use this method until I can finally have my own reptile room.

I can't wait to get some XPVC when I move to San Diego, until then melamine will continue to do the job...