Quick/easy plumbing repairs

[jimmycthemd]

I recently had to do some pretty major work on one of my bathrooms. I needed a couple of cut-off valves to turn off the water supply for a couple of days while I replaced some copper pipe. The pipe runs through areas that make it difficult at best to sweat/solder a valve onto the pipe. I came upon these fittings at a home supply store (they're sold in most of them). They're made by the sharkbite company and work great! You simply cut and clean the pipe (00 steel wool) and pop the valve on. It's been there for about three months and no leaks!!! And, they're reuseable. They come with a 'horseshoe' type tool that you can pop them off and reuse it if you want.



Here's a link to their website:

http://www.sharkbite.com

Note: I do not work for or recieve any compensation for any of these products.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

I've used the shark bite products numerous times. I came across them when I re-plumbed my cabin in TN. Shark bite and PEX pipe was wonderfully easy to work with and saved me a bunch of time and a whole bunch of aggravation.


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[Lowdown3]

No problems long term with the PEX?

[610Alpha]

No problems long term with the PEX?

I have had a piece of PEX in my hot water line to my kitchen faucet for about 2 years now, no problems yet.

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-linked_polyethylene FWIW

http://www.pexinfo.com/

http://www.healthyheating.com/History_of_Pex.htm

I had a copper elbow that was doing the slow drip and it had mineral deposits on the outside and every once in a while I would see a drip on the floor.

When I went to replace with copper I was unable to get the last solder to take (I used almost a whole roll of solder). I saw my Dad have this same issue and he was a licensed plumber. I went to my local farm supply store and was going to try and figure out something with compression fittings and the guy there showed me PEX and Sharkbite.

This turned me into an instant Plumber. I am planning on redoing an external frost proof faucet using sharkbite and PEX. I will be adding a ball valve shutoff to this line too.

PEX turned me from a 0 to a Hero....lol

Connectors cost more but with copper prices high and soldering being a pain its worth the money imo. Plus the versatility of the sharkbite connectors being able to connect Copper, PVC, CPVC, and PEX with the same connector is awesome.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

When my son was 14 or 15, he and I re-plumbed the cabin in TN. Now it's only a 900sqft cabin, with kitchen, bath, laundry, outside hose bib and hot and cold water drain lines under the house. We started at about 9am and were done by 5pm with a bit of time for lunch. We had to strip out the old stuff and put in the new. Easy to work with.

I was told that the PEX would do better in the cold as it can expand a bit with the cold and doesn't get as brittle in the cold. The shark bite couplings cost a bit more, but the time saved was worth the extra $. No gluing, no wait til glue dries, just push on the shark bite coupling, make sure it's seated and you're done. No leaks or problems now 4-5 years later. Have used it in my main home also when repairs needed. Won't go back to just PVC and glue unless I'm forced to.


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[Rmplstlskn]

No problems long term with the PEX?

It was the other kind of plastic tubing that had the big problems... Forget the name. Used heavily in mobile homes, RV's and home repair. The MODERN PEX is GTG for long term, best for freezing dangers, and no internal corrosion. Fittings are the weak point and bottleneck.

Sharkbite and others like it are indeed fast and easy, but since they use O-rings, I do question the long-term viability before the o-ring Viton rots and drys out and you spring a leak...

Rmpl

[610Alpha]

It was the other kind of plastic tubing that had the big problems... Forget the name. Used heavily in mobile homes, RV's and home repair. The MODERN PEX is GTG for long term, best for freezing dangers, and no internal corrosion. Fittings are the weak point and bottleneck.

Sharkbite and others like it are indeed fast and easy, but since they use O-rings, I do question the long-term viability before the o-ring Viton rots and drys out and you spring a leak...

Rmpl

What is your definition of "long-term"?

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Personally I think that the o-rings won't have any issue of drying out but I could be wrong its happened before and it will happen again ;)

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Side note, some plumbers won't use it for various reasons, most of which won't be based on fact/experience with Sharkbite but more out of fear.

When my dad was doing his plumbing apprenticeship back in the 60's when lead sweating iron pipe was the 'WAY' and copper was coming in...all the old plumbers were all like "It's the end of our trade" wailing and gnashing of teeth. Fast forward to 2014 and we still have plumbers.

My dad was a licensed plumber in IL & Indiana for 30+ years and MO for 20+ years.