A street elbow is an elbow with different connection ends, commonly a male or spigot end on one side and a female or socket end on the other. That arrangement can join directly to another fitting without a separate short piece of pipe between them. The name describes connection geometry, not permission to use the fitting in any piping system.
A street elbow is an elbow with different connection ends, commonly a male or spigot end on one side and a female or socket end on the other. That arrangement can join directly to another fitting without a separate short piece of pipe between them. The name describes connection geometry, not permission to use the fitting in any piping system.
Reading the two ends
Charlotte Pipe's pressure catalog labels particular plastic street elbows SPG x S: spigot by socket. The spigot end has the connection shape intended to enter the matching socket. Its dimensional catalogs distinguish these fittings from elbows with sockets at both ends.
Threaded products can use the street-elbow name for male-by-female threaded ends. Charlotte also catalogs an MPT x FPT version. Identify the actual product rather than assuming a socket and a threaded connection have the same assembly method. The material, dimensional family and manufacturer's end description all matter. The CTS and IPS size-family distinction explains why matching nominal labels alone is insufficient.
A street elbow still has an angle and a passage shape. A matching nominal size alone does not establish that its sweep or flow path is suitable for a drain, vent, water line or gas application.
Geometry is separate from approval
A compact connection can help a designed assembly fit its available space. It can also change where the following pipe begins or leave less room to service a nearby component. Dimensional drawings show those distances more reliably than a product photograph. For a curved pipe route rather than a fitting dimension, the minimum bend radius entry explains the separate product-and-method limit.
The fitting laying length entry explains one specific dimension used when reading those drawings.
The pressure rating and allowed fluid depend on the identified product. A DWV fitting is intended for its specified drainage, waste and vent application; its elbow shape does not make it an approved pressurized-water fitting. Likewise, a pressure fitting is not automatically acceptable for every drainage change of direction.
The applicable code governs which fitting arrangement is permitted. Our drainage direction-change reference explains that separate question.
What a parts description should include
Ask for the material, nominal size, angle, both end connections and intended service. If the assembly also changes size, a reducer bushing needs its own compatible end and service specification. If the repair joins old and new piping, the installer should identify the actual dimensions and approved transition rather than choose by appearance.
A sanitary tee is a different fitting with a branch connection. Street elbow describes an elbow's ends; it does not mean a tee, an extra-long sweep or a universal replacement for another fitting.