Plumbing - Sharkbite, Gatorbite reliability?

[LD1]

Tooling cost can be really expensive, but I think the tool can be rented??? But have you considered "pro-press" connections?? We used them ALOT at my old job repairing old copper. A blown line was downtime, and and drying a line out and cleaning it to sweat a joint was MORE downtime. Thus we went to the PP fittings to save time cause it can be done "wet". I personally did ~50 fittings, and some in high vibration areas and/or 120psi compressed air lines. Never a one failed.

 

[GBOUTDOORS]

I had the new house plumbed with pex so I can do all my own repairs and remodels. We just added a full bath in the walkout finished basement and I did all the plumbing of the water to the fixtures with pex but to the toilet. For that my plumber gave me a pex fitted 1/2" copper supply and a shark bite chrome shut off this gave it a nice finish out side the wall. I asked him about the shark bite as I had never used one and I liked his answer ( he said he has had to fix many solder leaks because even the best plumber will have some but never had a shark bite leak or fail) that was good enough for me.

 

[belliott]

I'm a licensed plumber. I have been for 18 years.

I'm not a big fan of sharkbites, but installed correctly I have not seen any that have failed. I seen one improperly installed cause $50,000 dollars damage a local church. They are great for working on mobile homes with polybutalene pipe.

When the Sharkbite fitting first came out we pressure test a couple of fittings with a gauge set and nitrogen gas to 400 psi before we chickened out. Sooner or later that little o-ring is going to fail and cause a flood, but sooner or later everything fails.

I really like the Pro-Press fittings and tools, but the tools are very expensive and not really a option for home owners unless you can rent one.

 

[crazyal]

Those type of fittings are common in the pneumatics world. I had some extra PEX left over that was rated for 200 psi. So I used it to plumb air in my garage, never gets about 140psi. What you need to be careful of is damaging the o-ring. Make sure the outside edge of the pipe is smooth. Copper cut with a pipe cutter will naturally have no lip but PEX can. Of the thousands I've seen I can only remember of one that the o-ring failed because it dried out and cracked. But it could have been an off beat Chinese brand with a natural rubber o-ring. Viton is a much better compound.

 

[randy41]

just used a couple of gatorbites in my basement to tap in to copper lines and after a couple of weeks they still don't leak. so simple to install.

 

[radioman]

I had to use a gaterbite in a tight corner area under the stairs next to a wood framing. soldering a fix for frozen pipes was not an option. The gaterbite slipped on and and worked since last winter.

 

[teejk]

I'm a licensed plumber. I have been for 18 years.

I'm not a big fan of sharkbites, but installed correctly I have not seen any that have failed. I seen one improperly installed cause $50,000 dollars damage a local church. They are great for working on mobile homes with polybutalene pipe.

When the Sharkbite fitting first came out we pressure test a couple of fittings with a gauge set and nitrogen gas to 400 psi before we chickened out. Sooner or later that little o-ring is going to fail and cause a flood, but sooner or later everything fails.

I really like the Pro-Press fittings and tools, but the tools are very expensive and not really a option for home owners unless you can rent one.

From my plumber friend, they do need a bit of attention to install properly. He measures/marks the pipe to ensure they are seated correctly. I guess in his opinion failures are due to not fully engaging them.

Not totally related to the topic, his aversion to PEX was that it is impossible to get a straight line (having run infloor heating in my shop floor and then through-out a new 2 story house I'll back him up on that one). So if the runs are going to be visible, keep that in mind. Sharkbites are supposed to be able to transition between copper, CPVC and PEX so another advantage. And for 75cents, you can buy a tool to remove a faulty fitting.

 

[clemsonfor]

I used them in my Inlaws house when i went from copper to cpvc. For some reason the washing maching hookups are right under the floor of the house (maybe they were worried about leaks and did not want the fitting on the wall, since there was no box thing that holds them and the drain in the wall??) anyway one of the faucets was leaking so i cut it off and put a sharkbite on,( have not taught my self to solder yet, although i have the stuff) and then went to cpvc installed a T then one way went the new washer hookup and then off the T i added a line to put a new hose hookup in the front of the house.

Which brings a new question, how do i go though the brick into a hose spigot (spelling??) Once i punch a hole what do i use to go through the brick? The hose spigots i found have screw fittings in the back, so right now its temporary with a glue on fitting then the spigot glued to that, but all that in a brick wall is kind of bulky?

 

[kenmac]

As I have posted about these fittings B-4. AS a plumber, I don't need nor do I want the liability should 1 of these fittings come off.I will not use them.What ou use in your home is your business

 

[teejk]

As I have posted about these fittings B-4. AS a plumber, I don't need nor do I want the liability should 1 of these fittings come off.I will not use them.What ou use in your home is your business

What do you do (liabilty wise) when a copper or CPVC joint fails? I have sworn off copper pipe forever...tearing open/fixing finished drywall ceilings to chase pinholes led me to that conclusion. And have they fixed the glue problem with CPVC yet? IMHO the benefit of the sharkbites is that they only get used where a cheaper solution is not practicable (they aren't cheap). If one fails, then the same economics come into play.