PEX crimp tool?

[paulsharvey]

I use PEX extensively. I particularly like the fact that it can freeze with no damage.

I had an old copper waterline from the barn out to a hydrant in the pasture. It was only buried 24" deep due to rock ledge. We rarely get 24" of frost here anymore but occasionally, the darn thing would freeze. The last time I had to dig it up to make repairs, I replaced the whole run with PEX. That was 8 years ago and it's frozen twice since then, but it thaws with no damage.

Copper, when we used it, which was pretty often 20+ years ago, was always sleeved under the slab. Around here, soil is always very acidic, but water is always very basic.

I used to be a fan of copper, and I still have no issue with it, but you can't make a justification for the price over pvc/cpvc. Galv, we only used in gas and air, but we did often repipe galv to copper or pvc.

For outside stuff, just run PVC, Sch-40, with the bell and sigot pipe, no issue. It's flexible enough to make gradual turns from well (or meter), to house or barn.

 

[Racer4]

What kind of problems do you have using well water? I would imagine it varies by region and what minerals, etc. are in the water locally. The fittings I used appeared to be brass, never had a problem with that before...brass fittings have been used forever with copper pipe.

High iron, acidic water here in PA. When I first ran the pex up to my bathroom, I used a couple brass pex elbows in the middle of the run. 15 years later, they were oozing and very corroded. Replaced them with plastic.

I would not use shark bites either, as they are mostly brass.

 

[IndyIan]

I just used 8' straight sections when I did mine. No runs long enough that I'd need to use couplings, just tees/elbows. I see they also sell it in coils, how quickly does it straighten out when uncoiled? I can see how that could make pulling lines "interesting".

Code here at the time with pex was no hidden connections in the walls, which I did follow with the only elbow at the fixtures to get it straight out of the walls. I think the rolls were 250' and its not a big house and used a good size drill bit to make the hole. In the basement we used 3/4" in straight sections to manifolds with 1/2" runs. I learned to pick a nice linear route so pulling wasn't too bad. I could see a 3000 sqft house with 3.5 bathrooms would be a bit of chore to do this way.

 

[4570Man]

High iron, acidic water here in PA. When I first ran the pex up to my bathroom, I used a couple brass pex elbows in the middle of the run. 15 years later, they were oozing and very corroded. Replaced them with plastic.

I would not use shark bites either, as they are mostly brass.

Do you not have problems with sink and shower valves as they’re also brass?

 

[bcp]

MUCH easier to pull long PEX in a new house with no drywall, than replacing rotten copper on an old house.

Bruce

 

[woody]

I don't remember the name but I got the ratchet type from Homedepot and it worked good but I had trouble getting it to snap back when done, so I ordered a non ratchet type and I need a cheater pipe to use it so I went back to the ratchet type but I figured out how to get it to turn loose once the crimp was completed so I like it alright. If I was going to do very much I would probably invest in an electric one.

 

[woody]

I can use my subsoiler to lay the pex pipe under ground and here in Alabama I have not had any freeze.

 

[Racer4]

Do you not have problems with sink and shower valves as they’re also brass?

On my old well I did. It’s was shallow and lots of acidity. The new well is 280’ and not nearly as acidic.

The problems occur when the fitting is in the middle of the run.

The plumbing supply house by me carries both plastic and metal fittings. Plastic is much cheaper too.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

High iron, acidic water here in PA. When I first ran the pex up to my bathroom, I used a couple brass pex elbows in the middle of the run. 15 years later, they were oozing and very corroded. Replaced them with plastic.

I would not use shark bites either, as they are mostly brass.

If the brass contains zinc the zinc can leach out over time which undermines the brass. They call it "dezincification." Newer fittings will be labeled "DZR" for "dezincification resistant" and they use an alloy without zinc.

 

[bcp]

A galvanized pipe is no longer galvanized after a few years exposure to my water or dirt. Rigid copper tube was paper thin after around 40 years. Replaced it with PEX.

Bruce