[skoronesa]

........ brand new crimper on the shelf for years and years. .....................It works perfect for PEX. Same size exactly.

Well don't you just feel silly!

 

[Master Mark]

We did a house in ki-tech back in about 2002 .... I dont know why my brother in law wanted to use
the stuff.... We ended up with a couple of half rolls of the junk and a bunch of fittings in a 5 gallon bucket
I ended up throwing it all out probably 10 years ago.. I sort of wished I would have kept the fittings just in
case. The house we did still is working ok and we have replaced a couple of water heaters since then
but its really not wise to fool or cut into any of that crap...

Legend has it that down in Las vegas their was a 45 truck company that had to file for bankruptsy
because they used that stuff under floors and for homes... then Kiteck went belly up and left everyone
holding the bag of excretement......

 

[skoronesa]

............... then Kiteck went belly up and left everyone
holding the bag of excretement......

Should have used sweat copper

 

[Master Mark]

Should have used sweat copper

I agree, but at that time our supply house was pushing that junk and the brother -in-law had
a hard on to try the stuff.....we only use wirsbo pex now days.

 

[skoronesa]

I agree, but at that time our supply house was pushing that junk and the brother -in-law had
a hard on to try the stuff.....we only use wirsbo pex now days.

I am really interested to see how pex holds up. Obviously rodents will be and have been an issue already. And there have been some cases of uponor/wirsbo getting brittle. We use viega and I have yet to hear of any systemic issues BUT that could all change in a decade.

I think pex/polyethylene will be fine long term. We've used it for well pump drops and main lines from the well/street for decades and it's held up great. Especially the thicker stuff, no issues there.

It's the fittings for pex I worry about. Brass/bronze corrodes, and plastic gets brittle.

 

[Tango]

I am really interested to see how pex holds up. Obviously rodents will be and have been an issue already. And there have been some cases of uponor/wirsbo getting brittle. We use viega and I have yet to hear of any systemic issues BUT that could all change in a decade.

I think pex/polyethylene will be fine long term. We've used it for well pump drops and main lines from the well/street for decades and it's held up great. Especially the thicker stuff, no issues there.

It's the fittings for pex I worry about. Brass/bronze corrodes, and plastic gets brittle.

Pex here for +-30 years, pipe and fittings are fine. Now we use plastic fittings.

 

[Master Mark]

I am really interested to see how pex holds up. Obviously rodents will be and have been an issue already. And there have been some cases of uponor/wirsbo getting brittle. We use viega and I have yet to hear of any systemic issues BUT that could all change in a decade.

I think pex/polyethylene will be fine long term. We've used it for well pump drops and main lines from the well/street for decades and it's held up great. Especially the thicker stuff, no issues there.

It's the fittings for pex I worry about. Brass/bronze corrodes, and plastic gets brittle.

I have found that the plastic fittings seem to work better than the brass ones when dealing with wirsbo pex...
I am more worried about the chemicals that are being thrown into the city water systems and their reaction to the plastic
pex ... At this time we are having fits with water softener resin going bad at faster rates due to the chlorine and other chemicals
they are putting into the systems.... some day its all gonna be a clusterfuc/

Its all gonna hit the fan some day no matter what you use--- I have spoken about this before but we are getting a lot of leaks
on rotting copper drain lines all over town that was installed back in the early 1960s.... I got a few of them that I dread to ever have
to deal with up in the second floor ceilings of their homes....

I made a thread about rotting copper fittings about 5 years ago and Redwood went ballistic
about how I was making temp repairs on the stuff .... We had a little spat over it , then he left the forum....

 

[skoronesa]

...............At this time we are having fits with water softener resin going bad at faster rates due to the chlorine and other chemicals
..................

I made a thread about rotting copper fittings about 5 years ago and Redwood went ballistic
about how I was making temp repairs on the stuff .... We had a little spat over it , then he left the forum....

Why not just install simple spin down filters after the softeners? Even a wye strainer would be better than nothing.

Most of the time when I see copper dwv fail it's the uric acid when they don't flush after peeing. I have temp repaired some drains too, depends on the situation. Usually it's just until we can come back to replace it. Sometimes I solder the pinhole shut, other times it's silicone, red rainbow, and a hose clamp. I always keep a good selection of hose clamps on the van.

 

[Master Mark]

Why not just install simple spin down filters after the softeners? Even a wye strainer would be better than nothing.

Most of the time when I see copper dwv fail it's the uric acid when they don't flush after peeing. I have temp repaired some drains too, depends on the situation. Usually it's just until we can come back to replace it. Sometimes I solder the pinhole shut, other times it's silicone, red rainbow, and a hose clamp. I always keep a good selection of hose clamps on the van.

You can install an activated carbon filter if the customer wants one, but they are not free and
you cannot convince people that it will extend the life of the water softener... I dont know what
you mean by a wye strainer..??.. The small spin down carbon filters have to be changed out every so often
and most folks are simply too incompetent or lazy to do this task ....I cant make them , only advise ....

On the rotting copper issues
I have been cutting 3 inch fernco fittings long ways and sealing up 3 inch leaks mostly at the toilet elbow bends....
with a generous amount of silicone on the pipe and smeared in the fernco fittings.... clamp them down and
they work pretty well for 20 years... or until the next leak rears its ugly head....

This is the conversation that me and Redwood tangled assho/es over 5 years ago.....lol

 

[skoronesa]

You can install an activated carbon filter if the customer wants one, but they are not free and
you cannot convince people that it will extend the life of the water softener... I dont know what
you mean by a wye strainer..??.. The small spin down carbon filters have to be changed out every so often
and most folks are simply too incompetent or lazy to do this task ....I cant make them , only advise ....
............

I was suggesting you put a filter AFTER the softener in case the resin failed it wouldn't get to the rest of the house.

A wye strainer is a fitting most commonly used on heating systems before sensitive components to prevent rust/sediment from damaging them. They're also handy when a whole house is piped with galv, you can put them before the stops for a faucet so it doesn't get damaged.

 

[Master Mark]

I was suggesting you put a filter AFTER the softener in case the resin failed it wouldn't get to the rest of the house.

A wye strainer is a fitting most commonly used on heating systems before sensitive components to prevent rust/sediment from damaging them. They're also handy when a whole house is piped with galv, you can put them before the stops for a faucet so it doesn't get damaged.


View attachment 129020

That will not solve the problem, it only will end up shutting down the
whole system when the softener implodes... Most times the resin has
been a hassle to get out of the lines but rarely have we had damaged
faucets or washing machines