cpvc plumbing

[Raspy]

I just did my entire new home with PEX. Love it. If you use the domestic rated stuff, you should get no chemical taste or smell as it's tested and rated to be safe.

If you do use PEX, think in PEX instead of installing it like copper, meaning bend it and fish it along as you can and don't use 90s for every corner. The manifold systems are OK, but won't allow you to install an effective recirc system if you want it. Use a simple scissors type PVC cutter to cut it.

The best fittings are copper crimp rings used with brass barbed fittings. Get the crimp tool. I've used hundreds of these fittings and, literally, miles of PEX in my radiant business for many years with no failures. You can get some nice copper to PEX adapter fittings, ready to crimp on, for the nipple outlets under the sink and at the toilet. Then you'll have a strong copper stub sticking out of the wall. For shower heads I like to put about two feet of rigid copper from the wing ell to the PEX conversion to handle the torque of the shower head nipple. If you will be coming up through a concrete slab, slide the PEX through a piece of PVC, or PVC conduit 90, where the poured slab will be. 1" PVC for 3/4" PEX and 3/4" PVC for 1/2" PEX.

I avoid the Sharkbite slip on fittings because they are just an O ring against the pipe and I don't trust them.

 

[Sprinklerman]

The shark bite will transition from cpvc to pex or copper , its a snap . Cpvc is still big in Maryland , I have pex in my camper . I have 4 houses with cpvc , no problems .

 

[woodlandfarms]

First, mobile homes used Poly Butil until 1996 when the lawsuits crushed that awful product out of existence. Do a read on it, no bueno.

For the aluminum hat wearing group, PEX has only recently been allowed for residential use in Los Angeles and has been slow to be adopted. Copper re-piping is still all the rage. I do not beleive CPVC was ever allowed as code.

The reason for pex being late to the table, though, looks to be a combination of big business and the plumbers unions (this is for the aluminim hat wearers). The rumor is that Copper Producers felt California lead the country in building codes and if the could keep PEX tamped down, they would profit. As well, plumbers take a third of the time to work with PEX and lost revenue is a big factor. You see plumbing trucks in LA always laden with copper even now.

 

[s219]

I hate the plastic connections sold for PEX, and I've found that the brand of PEX and fittings sold at Home Depot isn't anywhere as good as what they sell at Lowes.

Lowes used to carry good PEX pipe and fittings, but now they carry PEX pipe made in China and I wasn't pleased with the quality. In addition, all their rolls were dirty and manufactured 3+ years ago, and PEX needs to be stored out of UV light which I wasn't going to count on. HD now sells SharkBite PEX, made in USA, and the quality is good. I have also ordered PEX pipe and fittings online when it's a brand I trust (can get really long rolls if you need to make a long run). For my water softener install, I needed about 50 different fittings and it was way easier to order online than fiddle with all that at a box store checkout where barcode scanning plumbing fittings has always been a PITA it seems.

You absolutely need to be using brass fittings, copper crimp rings, and the crimp tool with PEX. The various types of other connectors and fittings are more expensive and less reliable -- I think they are mainly for homeowners doing quick jobs. I invested $100 in a good crimp tool many years ago and it has paid for itself many times over. The only issue I run into at times is that the crimp tool is too big to make a connection in a tight spot. Requires some extra planning sometimes.

I like threaded because it makes it easy to change them out if you have a problem down the line.

I am becoming less and less happy with threaded plumbing connections every year, because the manufacturing quality has gotten so bad that you can't count on the threads being cut right without burrs, and then many times the fittings are not properly stored or cared for in retail and they get dented and dinged up. I have had several leaky threaded fittings in the last couple years, and after inspecting the fittings I saw that there was either a major defect or damage. In one case, the fitting was squashed slightly out of round!! So I only use threaded fittings when necessary now, and carefully inspect the parts.

One more thing about PEX is that it's easy to redo or repair, with no concerns about threads sealing or having to sweat/solder a joint and manage heat. You can use a dremel or ring cutter to nip the PEX ring off a fitting, remove the pipe, and then later slide a new pipe over the old fitting and re-crimp.

I think my favorite part about PEX and crimp rings is that I have never ever had a single fitting leak. Probably have installed thousands of them at this point.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I use copper. Dislike cpvc and won't use it. To me the price difference isn't worth the risks.
I would try pex.

 

[EddieWalker]

I think my favorite part about PEX and crimp rings is that I have never ever had a single fitting leak. Probably have installed thousands of them at this point.

The only times I've had leaks with PEX is when I've used the Home Depot clamps. I'm now to the point I just wont go to Home Depot if I'm doing a job with PEX.

 

[GLyford]

I had 30-year-old copper in my house that was springing new pinholes every fall from our hard water. Partly age and conditions, partly the builder using the thinnest copper then allowed.

Doing a kitchen remodel, and since all the plumbing went next to or over the kitchen, it made sense to pull the ceiling and "wet wall" and rip it all out. It also made it easier for all the electrical changes we wanted.

I'm comfortable doing repairs in copper, and have all the tools for that but it was getting to the point that any stretch of that I had 2 or more repairs in I was replacing the whole run. I had started playing with PEX, using the stainless cinch rings. The only problem with those is the fittings go down a size, so I was going one size up on all the runs I was putting in (1/2 -> 3/4 etc.). Other than that, I like the system.

Our renovation plumber gave us a good price to replace the whole system, so we let him have the job.

It was interesting to me that he completely rethought the system layout, if I had done it myself I would have mostly followed the existing. It's still a "branch" setup, but his trunk lines didn't necessarily end up in the same places.

The other thing is, he doesn't use any kind of crimp. He uses the expander system. Pex Expansion Tools The thing I like the most about this is the fittings have the same inside bore as the tube, no loss of pressure across the fittings. So even though most of the system he installed is smaller than the original builders' hodge-popdge, the pressure is as good or better.

So far, I am very happy with the system. Once the last of the kitchen is done, I suspect I will be even happier.

 

[jfh28]

have cpvc in the barn with living space upstairs........it does seem to freeze and crack easier then copper and I don't like the plastic threaded connections to the fixtures.....but as a water distribution system it's been fine and it is a breeze to work with for any repairs or changes especially if you're working in a confined space......Jack

 

[buckeyefarmer]

What type of pex are people using? A B or C? I think expander has to use A.

 

[Cord]

I use a system with the side crimp rings. Started with the round rings, but I converted on my second project. Never looked back. The round rings are home owner grade and the side crimp is pro grade. The nice thing about the side crimp is that you can get the crimper into much tighter spaces. Plus it has a light the comes on when you reach the correct tension. No gauge necessary.