Split Uponor Pex at Bend Support

That is dischoraging. I would reach out to the manufacturer and ask if a rep can determine a cause. Please keep us updated if you have any follow through. Thanks for sharing this.

gilbertjeffrey said:

Found this today in a 6 year old building. I’ve had leaks before from the OX Box laundry valves in this building but this is the first time I’ve seen the pipe fail. Hope this is a one off View attachment 130396 View attachment 130397 occurrence as it caused a decent amount of damage before I found it. Didn’t help that I was the third guy they called. ;p

Click to expand...

That's not good,scary in fact

Please keep us updated if you talk to the manufacturer.

This reeks of the Spartan ABS debacle in the 90s.

jakewilcox said:

Please keep us updated if you talk to the manufacturer.

This reeks of the Spartan ABS debacle in the 90s.

Click to expand...

I got the total repipe of over 100 houses, because of that pipe

Uponor/Wirsbo Expanding Pex is Gahbage!

Rip it all out and put in copper

skoronesa said:

Uponor/Wirsbo Expanding Pex is Gahbage!

Rip it all out and put in copper

Click to expand...

You would be in the extreme minority with that opinion, based on most guys that I've talked to. If for no other reason than by getting beat out of jobs on cost alone.

That bend looks clearly to have been scraped right at the spot it failed. Possibly a perfect storm if it was kinked there as well?? I have seen guys scrape long shavings off of pex pulling it through punched holes in metal studs.
I once opened a wall to find a leak and found white pex split right at the ring on a fitting. I'm assuming it was very early on after it was first used, because most of it was beginning to yellow. I have not run into that since. The building was once used as a laundrymat, so maybe there were other factors, such as chemicals, etc.

I’ve seen the pipe fail because guys get glue/primer on the pipe and it eats through and makes weak spots

@MACPLUMB777: because of PEX or Spartan?

jakewilcox said:

@MACPLUMB777: because of PEX or Spartan?

Click to expand...

The spartan ABS. Jerry is really old.

goeswiththeflow said:

You would be in the extreme minority with that opinion, based on most guys that I've talked to. If for no other reason than by getting beat out of jobs on cost alone.

Click to expand...

Did you not see the winky face?

jakewilcox said:

@MACPLUMB777: because of PEX or Spartan?

Click to expand...

SPARTAN, AND CENTUAR

There seems to be a problem with a small batch of UPONOR , RED mostly of splitting, as per other plumbing forums.

nebojsa said:

There seems to be a problem with a small batch of UPONOR , RED mostly of splitting, as per other plumbing forums.

Click to expand...

Yes, becoming increasingly upset about Uponor's poor "we will pay one leak at a time" position.
When do they admit the problem?

Viega Pex has never had these issues, too bad they stopped making FostaPex.

My boss ordered the pallets of 1/2" and 3/4" FostaPex rolls the supply house had for remaining stock and 20' sticks of 1". I get the feeling we'll be plumbing a few more houses in propress before we start using only the blue/red crap. If I built a 10,000 sq. ft. house with regular pex, I would freak at the idea of a rodent causing leaks anywhere.

I have no verifiable reason for doing this, but I always cut an inch or two off of the beginning of the roll or stick before I use it. I used to do it only when I saw visible wear from bouncing arond the truck or shop, but now I do it every time.

asapmarty said:

That is dischoraging. I would reach out to the manufacturer and ask if a rep can determine a cause. Please keep us updated if you have any follow through. Thanks for sharing this.

Click to expand...

breplum said:

View attachment 130431

Click to expand...

UHMW (not PEX/HDPE but same family) splits this way when it's bent too far for the temperature it's at. And it doesn't 'melt'. There's no temp where it'll do any bend, it just splits. Anything special about Uponor's material? Probly not, these plastics have been around a while.

DDDave said:

............ Anything special about Uponor's material? Probly not, these plastics have been around a while.

Click to expand...

I disagree, I've seen a lot of HDPE/pex/uhmwpe and never seen it fail like this. Have you seen any other brands of pex fail like this?

Regardless I don't think it's a formula issue, I think it's poor quality control. My guess is they have to get it just right or it does this. Maybe the tolerances are wider o other types of pex so they are easier to produce correctly. Maybe Uponor/Wirsbo is trying to make too much too fast or just has poor quality control.

I've seen enough Uponor/Wirsbo to know that this isn't normal. At this point I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and not claim that all of their stuff is bad, just a couple production runs.

skoronesa said:

I disagree, I've seen a lot of HDPE/pex/uhmwpe and never seen it fail like this. Have you seen any other brands of pex fail like this?

Regardless I don't think it's a formula issue, I think it's poor quality control. My guess is they have to get it just right or it does this. Maybe the tolerances are wider o other types of pex so they are easier to produce correctly. Maybe Uponor/Wirsbo is trying to make too much too fast or just has poor quality control.

I've seen enough Uponor/Wirsbo to know that this isn't normal. At this point I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and not claim that all of their stuff is bad, just a couple production runs.

Click to expand...

What's to disagree with? I coulda said it better than I did, maybe. You said it better than I did. The stuff cracks when the temp's not right and these plastics have been around for decades