PEX Piping Newby

[laurencen]

both my house and cabin are pex wirsbo, the pipe is in 300 foot length per roll, its similar to the crimp pex but you slide a collar over the pipe end and using either a hand tool or cordless tool expand the pipe end and collar, once its stretched about 10 seconds simply slide the end over the fitting, it shrinks over the fitting instantly and done, way faster than fussing with a crimper and I believe the fittings have a larger hole than the crimp style.

we ran 3/4 for long runs and tee off with 1/2 to the fixture, to date never had a leak

 

[WranglerX]

After reading thread and then watching several youtube videos I think if I convert to PEX with next major plumbing repair, it would be with stainless steel clamps and ratcheting crimpers or with with powered expander and crimp (compression) rings... Everything else seems to look like spending a lot of time playing with crimpers and alignment and if in tight places, not practical... And with project probably being under house in crawl space to consider...



Dale

 

[joefromga]

If you use the shark bite connectors it's more expensive but for small jobs it's amazing how fast and easy to use. You can also adjust after they're pushed on (twisting) and push the collar in a reuse them instead of destroying the crimps or cutting.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Many supply houses stock pex lines that come in a plastic conduit. Great for buried work.

Pex crimp fitting work great as long as they do not corrode away. Many items under the kitchen sink have fumes that can corrode the stainless steel fittings. Not a likely problem but something to be aware of. The rings come in two normal types, one like a wedding band that you crimp down and one with a tab on the side that is squeezed to crimp the fitting. The latter type is popular because one crimping tool pretty well fits everything.

Uponor pex also called wirsbro is a better grade of pex.
It has a ring made of the same material that slides onto the end of the pipe. Then a manual or battery operated expanding / flaring tool is inserted into the end. After the end is expanded the fittings are slid in. Fairly quickly is best. The pex then shrinks back on its own around the fitting. Nothing to rust or corrode. Ever. The tools cost a bit but once you use them your likely to never want to mess with the other products.

The wedding ring bands works GREAT on air hoses and water hoses.

Do not drag any of them around and scratch them. Same for when burying them or pulling thru walls. The scratches can easily become leaks.

If fitting pex to pvc pipe is needed we use the sharkbite system for that connection. Pricy but seems to be the best way with the least issues.

Most of the pex fitting in what ever style you use are now available in plastic. Works fine and are much cheaper.

Everyone seems to have a preference on types but they all work pretty well.

 

[patrick_g]

I quizzed a plumbing contractor about PEX fittings leaking. His comment was that he had never seen a properly installed PEX crimp fitting leak. Every time he had seen a leak, a visual inspection could easily determine the fitting was not done right.

Regarding copper tubing. It isn't just taste of copper... A good friend was away from home for a few weeks and upon his return he found the Sheetrock that had been on his kitchen ceiling was on the floor and two adjacent carpeted rooms were flooded requiring carpet removal, drying, and re-stretching/reinstalling in addition to replacing the kitchen ceiling. The culprit was a pinhole in a copper tube in the attic. This tube provided water for the ice-maker/water dispenser. The pinhole was where the copper tubing was in the air touching nothing. I convinced him to switch to PEX.

Another friend had water coming out of the wall in his shops bathroom. Culprit was copper tubing sleeved inside plastic tubing inside the cement floor. No cement to copper contact. We pulled the copper tubing out and upon inspection found a pinhole. Again, replaced with PEX and all was good.

Just anecdotal evidence not a controlled scientific study but I lost confidence in copper tubing. I'm a big fan of PEX.