If it's just an elbow, jam a rag into the elbow and then into the pipe, glue it, and pull the rag out.

If its only a drop or two no problem. Wipe the gluing surface with a dry rag, quickly apply primer then apply glue to both the outside of the pipe and the inside of the fitting. Attach the fitting and if possible quickly rotate the fitting a bit to insure an even spread of the glue, but be sure you have the fitting properly lined in its final position before the glue begins setting.

Wouldn't the rag stick to or wipe off the glue on the inside of the L? The pipe goes into the L. Anyway its a 3 footer.

The drops are every 5 seconds - can't work that fast even with the Red Hot which has its own primer.

I shoved an air hose up the pipe and guv it an enema hoping it would delay the water for maybe 30 seconds and give me time - Nope - just more water and water also came out an open hose bib. I blew into the hose bib and again got more water. I layed that pipe in there about 1982 and can't imagine where all that water is coming from. It runs from the connection point to a hose bib thence to 2 sprinkler valves. The Bib is 1-2 feet higher than the opening. The valves are about the same level and are closed. After the initial gush it has not ceased to drip

Pack some bread in there. It will buy you some
time, and when you turn the water on, it will
wash out.

I use a shop vac to get water out of lines so I can sweat/glue them. It should give you enough time to get your work done.

Wouldn't the rag stick to or wipe off the glue on the inside of the L?
You wad it up really well in the pipe, only enough sticking out in the ell to pull it out when you're done. Glue won't stick to it. PVC glue disolves PVC..it's not much on adhesion.

There is a difficulty for every solution.

It finally quit dripping.

The water was, however, standing at the edge bulging with surface tension. I flickt some out with my finger. I shoved a rag several inches in for several minutes. It came out wet but not soaking. I shoved in another dry rag several inches. I applied glue to the pipe, the fitting, the pipe, pulled out the rag and applied the fitting.

I hustled down to the other end (3'6") and, beating the advancing water, glued on with feverish fingers, the final link to my sprinkler valve manifold system. Then, as advised, and being extremely worried about several other things, I forgot it. About 6 hours later I shot the pressure to it and it held.

Probably too late to advise, but for future reference, why not just use wet set cement, available everywhere?

Wet Set, Wet Conditions Hot Blue PVC Cement is a very fast setting, medium bodied PVC solvent cement specifically recommended for wet conditions or when quick pressurization is needed. Recommended for pressure pipe: Schedule 40 & 80, Types I & II, up to 6". For irrigation, natural gas pipe and conduit pipe. NSF certified for use in potable water, sewer and drain, waste and vent systems. Formulated for fast initial set up. Effective temperature range 10°F. to 100°F. UPC listed. Meets performance requirements of ASTM D-2564.

z1700---

My can says, "Red Hot Blue Glue ...For All Pipe Schedules and Conditins...Wet Conditions OK..."

The "Wet Conditions OK" is up in the top left corner of the label. Right under where my thumb rests when reading the label. Never saw it. :-)

I know this is a 10 year old post, so I just add this for future people that might end up here. I ended up here looking for a way to do similar. Mine was just a small stream of water that just wouldn't quit so I could do the gluing to a set of irrigation valves.

Finally found an option that worked for me - used a can of compressed air, and hot-glued it into a balloon. Then I could blow it up when down in the pipe. Once blown up in the pipe, remove the can of compressed air, bend the red fill tube and find a way to keep it bent while doing the work so the air doesn't go out of the balloon. Was finally the thing that worked for me.

gthomson-

That's a clever idea; thanks for sharing. I do something else: I wad up a paper towel and tie a string around it, and then shove it about a foot into the pipe with a stick, and it wicks u the water to wick up water. After I pull it out, I shove another string attached- paper towel wad into the pipe, and then I thread the string through the fitting I'm about to glue on. I then glue it up, and remove the paper towel wad by pulling on the string. If the pipe is horizontal, there is usually enough flex with PVC that you can also use a wooden wedge under it to lift the end about 1/8": this is often enough to allow gravity to contain the dripping long enough to do a glue-up.