Plumbing - Sharkbite, Gatorbite reliability?

[studor]

A house in my neighborhood recently required gutting and rebuilding when a soldered copper shutoff valve failed after 20 years or so (the solder cracked and pushed a bigger hole over three days while the owners were elsewhere). I think you can find all kinds of reasons not to use new materials and techniques and while I would not use "bite" fittings for a big job, when the "professional":thumbsup: does not put shutoffs on sinks they work very well.

 

[kenmac]

What do you do (liabilty wise) when a copper or CPVC joint fails?

I don't use pvc and have never had a soldered / brazed copper joint blow apart in 30 yrs of Plumbing/HVAC. I use pex , but I use the band clamps and have never had 1 come apart at the barbed fitting with the clamp. I know plumbers that have had these slip on fittings slip off and cause major damage. They don't use them anymore either. But, hey.Use what ever you want .I challenge you or anyone to go to a construction (residental / commerical) site and see if any plumbers are using these slip on fittings. But,,I have no dog in the hunt, fight, etc, Just giving my experence as a plumber and plumbers I know that have had problems with these fittings

 

[Rustyiron]

A plumber is $50/hour or more around here. If there is water in the line, a sweated joint might cost you an hour or two (water in the lines was always my problem). Do the math! The fact that my plumber uses them on his own house tells me something.

I'll have to agree, I was only thinking in "new construction" terms, and a whole house plumbing job. Every tool or choice of material has it's own application. I've been lucky, it's been years since I've had to sweat a "wet" line, my last house was cpvc, and now in a pex house. The wet sweat was in my copper house with acidic well water.

 

[clemsonfor]

I don't use pvc and have never had a soldered / brazed copper joint blow apart in 30 yrs of Plumbing/HVAC. I use pex , but I use the band clamps and have never had 1 come apart at the barbed fitting with the clamp. I know plumbers that have had these slip on fittings slip off and cause major damage. They don't use them anymore either. But, hey.Use what ever you want .I challenge you or anyone to go to a construction (residental / commerical) site and see if any plumbers are using these slip on fittings. But,,I have no dog in the hunt, fight, etc, Just giving my experence as a plumber and plumbers I know that have had problems with these fittings

I really dont think anyone is inferring plumbers will use them on a new house. Or even a homeowner for that matter, they are just to expensive. they would cost more than all other matierials if you were useing cpvc or pex. I think here the question is do homeowners use them, our soldering abilities are not going to be as good as a pro, we will have water in most of the lines we deal with complicating the issue. For you no matter what you can fix a solder joint in about the same time maybe a bit more time and for cheaper.

I on the other hand have not taught myself to solder yet, i dont doubt that i could do it just haveent learned yet. And for me it was way easier to use one Under the house. If it bursts it will do about ZERO damage other than a wet crawl and under surface of the home. But in my soldering ability i may have a Cu joint fail as well???

 

[two_bit_score]

I really dont think anyone is inferring plumbers will use them on a new house. Or even a homeowner for that matter, they are just to expensive. they would cost more than all other matierials if you were useing cpvc or pex. I think here the question is do homeowners use them, our soldering abilities are not going to be as good as a pro, we will have water in most of the lines we deal with complicating the issue. For you no matter what you can fix a solder joint in about the same time maybe a bit more time and for cheaper.

I on the other hand have not taught myself to solder yet, i dont doubt that i could do it just haveent learned yet. And for me it was way easier to use one Under the house. If it bursts it will do about ZERO damage other than a wet crawl and under surface of the home. But in my soldering ability i may have a Cu joint fail as well???

Exactly. :thumbsup:

 

[kenmac]

I really dont think anyone is inferring plumbers will use them on a new house. Or even a homeowner for that matter, they are just to expensive. they would cost more than all other matierials if you were useing cpvc or pex. I think here the question is do homeowners use them, our soldering abilities are not going to be as good as a pro, we will have water in most of the lines we deal with complicating the issue. For you no matter what you can fix a solder joint in about the same time maybe a bit more time and for cheaper.

I on the other hand have not taught myself to solder yet, i dont doubt that i could do it just haveent learned yet. And for me it was way easier to use one Under the house. If it bursts it will do about ZERO damage other than a wet crawl and under surface of the home. But in my soldering ability i may have a Cu joint fail as well???

All I'm saying is , As a plumber, I wouldn't advise anyone to use these fittings where there's a potential for water damage. Outside underground would be ideal. The soldering days are about over. I can remember the days of leading the old C I / ductile iron drain joints. Most times the pro press is used for copper water & gas. or pex with crimp style barb fittings are used. I'm just an old plumber offering the OP advise on these slip on fittings.

 

[Ehanson]

My problem is the o-ring seal is doing the work. Not knowing the quality of o-ring (Nitrile, Buna, Flourocarbon, Viton,)
I am not sure how long the o-ring would last? I have seen O-rings deteriorate to a cracked crumbly mess. Personally I would not use them, especially if I do the work for someone! I need to sleep at night) . I like copper and sylphous (silver solder). If you are worried about burning wood, get a silicone baking pad, or welding blanket to protect the wood.
Just my two bits!

 

[clemsonfor]

kenmac I understand your concern and advice. But in the case of a repair to a copper plumbed house I cant gut put in glue or use pex it would either be solder joint or compression fitting or sharkbite, and like I said I did not feel like learning to solder for this project.

 

[michael.white]

I've used them where working space is concerned, e.g. I can only fit one hand into the working space (unless I want to start ripping out a lot of drywall). I've also used them when fittings are right up against drywall. No problems yet, but they've only been there for about ayear.

 

[Bikewanderer]

I had some in a rental house. Changed out a water heater and jostled the pipe a little bit. they started leaking. I reseated them but eventually gve up and soldered it all back together. Another time I was working on a house with CPVC in the walls and almost nothing sticking out. It went in there and has been fine. I keep a few in the toolbox now. Been there for years. I almost never use them.

I always resolder the pipes when I need to. If you cut the pipe and install a coupler you can drop the end enough to get the water out.