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Pex experts....question

7K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  Tango 
#1 ·
I’m not an expert in the world of pex. I have always been of the opinion that I shouldn’t mix different manufacturers fittings/joining methods with different manufacturers tubing. My worry is if something would go wrong I would have two manufacturers pointing the finger at each other with me stuck in the middle.

Which brings me today- I looked at a 3/4 compression fitting that some dipshiit put on 3/4” pex. It blew off over the weekend when no one was home and flooded the place.

The pex is shark bite brand. I don’t have any shark bite branded pex fittings for r their crimp tool. I’m not apposed to buying it but it’s made me wonder if mixing manufacturers tubing and fitting is really that big of a deal.

So tell me your thoughts. Am I worried about nothing? What do you all do?
 
#2 ·
I mix pex brands fitting and pipe every day without noticing. I buy stuff at regular price and some on sale in other stores. I do stay with the popular brands though. Ipex, Bow and some other.



As for SB brand pex I wouldn't worry about it. Imagine all the DIY buying different brands and they all leaked or popped, we'd of known by now not to mix brands.


On a side note :
I stay away from aqua dynamic balls valves. I've got 3-4 that leaked. One of them I used for a house main and I had to call the city back to be able to change it out in a difficult spot.
 
#3 ·
Well myself that’s the one place I will use a sharky b. I’m no pex expert either but I just recently learned there’s 3 different formulations of pex which all have their own properties regarding flexibility and stretchieness and memory - I’m paranoid to stretch pipe that wasn’t designed for it - obviously the expander tool is the one I use. It’s too rare that I run across pex needing repair for me to justify buying a crimp tool so push fitting is my answer - even though it wouldn’t be my first choice, I think it’s fine to use on those rare occasions.

To those of you who do mix fittings/pipe - which connection type are you using? All crimp or all expanded?
 
#9 ·
You are not supposed to crimp wirsbo... They even had a re-call on some clamp type system they tried back in about 2005...

. maybe it will last a while but I would not want the troubles that could happen when that hot line decides to pull apart in a ceiling.... WIRSBO is the best system out there ....It wont freeze and break and the compression tool made by milwaukee is the best on the market...
 
#8 ·
LISTEN....
you are better off to just save yourself a lot of time and misery and just admit that a sharkbite fitting is a universal repair fitting for ALL pexes except for KI-Tech pipe... Duhhhh That is what a sharkbite is best used for....:surprise::surprise: There I have said it.......

We have repaired old style grey poly with sharkbites and gotten ourselves out of terrible jams and messes that could have literally ruined a whole day attempting to find suitable fittings for..... and of course its always in a mobile home or old house where the customer does not have a pot to piss in and cant afford a re-pipe

I would never re-pipe a house in sharkbite fittings but I have seen it done before.....

Sharkbites are best for adapting different brands of pexes togethor
...there I have said it again.... and I am no less a man for admitting it....:vs_OMG::vs_OMG:


just say this mantra over a few times like a meditation..

their is no shame in using sharkbites,
there is no shame in using sharkbites
their is no shame in using sharkbites,
there is no shame in using sharkbites
their is no shame in using sharkbites,
there is no shame in using sharkbites





 
#11 ·
I was looking at another brand of SB today looking for emergency fittings and I saw"Push N' Connect PEX Push-Connect " .

I read carefully and it won't fit all kinds of pipe. So I guess it's not recommended for poly-B or wirsbo.

Push fittings work with Copper, PEX, and CPVC Pipe
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/pex-push-connect-value-pack-0631846p.html#srp




Now moving on to Shark Bite it states the same thing. I'm pretty sure they had a wider range to connect to different pipes. Looks like they got into problems and now only recommended for cpvc, pex and copper.
 
#12 ·
I have not heard anything about sharkbite not being a universal kind of connection for all the pexes..... Their are a few shark bite copy cats that are cheaper and I have found that the knock off from Barnetts is a pretty good one....

The sharkbites do work on Poly butuline pipe.... as long as you use the inserts that come with them
ion
 
#16 ·
I’m not an expert in the world of pex. I have always been of the opinion that I shouldn’t mix different manufacturers fittings/joining methods with different manufacturers tubing. My worry is if something would go wrong I would have two manufacturers pointing the finger at each other with me stuck in the middle.
To what degree will a manufacturer actually step up and fulfill their warranty obligations? It's seems in every case of flooding I've ever herd of, liability insurance is what covers the damage. Has anyone ever had a manufacturer foot the bill?
 
#17 ·
I think the dishwasher topic is a dead horse not worth beating anymore. Those mfg won't cover anything in terms of property damage.

The only experience i've had with major issues were these super low quality toilets my boss was buying and the fill valves (installed at factory) were snapping off at the tank connection. I'm not sure how many of those his insurance had to cover, because the mfg was into the wind.

Haven't had any issues with name brand stuff though. . . . Kinda strange right? ;)
 
#21 ·
We had two leaks that we ended up discovering were repairs done by excavating crews in a driveway.

The first one we fixed was a piece of 1" poly heated up and shoved onto the copper mainline with hose clamps.

The second one was 1" x sch 40 sharkbite couplings with pvc between them. The sharkbite fitting had actually deteriorated in the ground and the whole thing came apart.

I'm going to stick with exposed or accessible locations only on the sharkbites no matter who tells me they are ok to conceal.
 
#23 ·
Obviously it has a whatever contractor... I just spoke to a guy who went to school with me to get his contractor licence.(se specializes in mold remediation and renos) He said he did illegal plumbing but was tired of it. No $hit, I think he just realized what he just said and he asked for business cards. Hopefully he calls me instead, I gave him a stack of 50 cards! As I was saying in another thread it's corrupt as hell.

As you know....SB can not be buried in the ground and only compression approved fittings for underground copper.
 
#22 ·
Something to consider

Dealing with all sorts of materials & products any installer needs to throw "it may work well" out.

To be covered under any lawsuit or warranty work an installer "must" comply with the manufactures installation instructions period. Some are more detailed. If the install guide states you must use their brand, etc. if you don't install like that and any litigation comes up you have lost before you even speak.

For instance "house wrap" you have "Tyvek" which is brand name. They have about 4 or 5 variables of installation with different wall construction designs, new construction or retro-fit. Details on how and you must use their tape. A cheaper brand basically doesn't bring up any details on brand materials.

Failures happen, litigation comes up, they look at the installation, violate their instructions and you own your own. Does it make a difference, maybe not.
 
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#24 ·
Here's a repair I had to do on these 2 pex, both were cut. The house was real far in the woods outside of town.

The guy says my radiant floor is far away, don't worry. I start chipping and 4 minutes in I cut the wire!

Before the repair:

 
#25 ·
Sucks

Is that an auto vent partially clogged?

Never in Illinois, no mechanical vents in less in a trailer.
 
#26 ·
Was the auto vent comment towards me?

If so it's the homeowner who put that there, nothing is glued. He has a kitchen island there... These guys do their own plumbing and only call pros when they are real stuck...and judging from what he does as a living he makes over 90-100 000$ a year.


There was a 1 1/2 abs all fubar running below the ceiling probably feeding a temporary kitchen upstairs.
 
#30 ·
I was lucky and waited 6 months for daily search to get a deal on the brand "Watergate" I got it new in an open kit. I used it only once and it was pretty neat.

I now carry SB slip on ball valves, couplings and caps in case I need them.
 
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