Pex "kit" suggestions.

[dademoss]

The new house is all PEX plumbing. The TPR on the water heater is dripping, it's getting changed to 3/4 threaded.

After that, Any suggestions for supplies, kits, fittings etc for DIY repairs?

 

[havasu]

Crimp tool, extra crimp rings and solid elbows. Also, pex clamps to ensure they are secured to the wall correctly, which stops vibration and chafing.

 

[havasu]

...and never use rat poison. It makes them thirsty before they die and will eat your pex like Swiss cheese.

 

[Caribou]

SharkBite fittings in every size pipe in your house, probably 1/2” and 3/4”. Couplings, elbows, tees, 3/4”X1/2” adaptors, pipe thread to Pex adaptors, Pex horse shoe tools, and possibly a couple I forgot. SharkBite fittings are plug and play. Start with a square cut using a Pex cutter and Just push the SharkBite on. They are expensive but I used them whenever possible as it was cheaper for my customers to buy the overpriced fittings than to pay my labor costs. SharkBites fit Pex, copper, and CPVC so if you’re adding Pex to a copper system it is easy peasy.

P.S. I have had a Pex line freeze and push off my SharkBite. I just pushed the line back into the fitting, while under pressure.

 

[havasu]

I won't touch a shark bite. In fact, never bury a shark bite fitting in a wall. Their o rings get sloppy and will break off with heavily concentrated chlorine, leaving behind a huge mess

 

[Magus]

The new house is all PEX plumbing. The TPR on the water heater is dripping, it's getting changed to 3/4 threaded.

After that, Any suggestions for supplies, kits, fittings etc for DIY repairs?

Before you hammer them together, put a tiny bit of rubber cement around the rim.
Also, invest in a solid wooden mallet, the brass is a bit brittle sometimes.

PEX tubing is pretty much freeze-resistant, but the fittings, are not so much. I use a 40-watt light bulb in a frying pan under my ingress valve. It's been below 15 with no issues.

A quick wrap of duct tape will ensure the Chinese-made PEX fits the fitting with no leaks. If you're going to copy something, COPY IT!

Make a work around piece, just in case the rats find PEX tasty with two connectors and 6' of this:
https://www.sunhose.com/clear-reinforced-pvc-hose/

3' of 1" PEX tubing will raise a blister on a crackhead's hide like a bullwhip, so carry some with you!

 

[Canon29]

Agree about avoiding sharkbite valves- theyre fine if you just doing a quicky little bandaid job and don't wanna pay for the crimping tool at the time- but expect that valve to be a problem in the future. If your whole house is pex it's worth the investment to tool up.

 

[Magus]

yeah, hence the advice about rubber cement and tape. the Chinese-made fittings are crap!

 

[Frodo]

I won't touch a shark bite. In fact, never bury a shark bite fitting in a wall. Their o rings get sloppy and will break off with heavily concentrated chlorine, leaving behind a huge mess

I. As a master plumber with over 40 years experience agree with every word Havasu said
A shark bite uses a rubber o-ring inside
Rubber breaks down over time or is eaten by chemicles

Bottom line. Shark bite is bad JU JU

 

[Magus]

Silicon rubber is better.

 

[randyt]

I prefer A pex with either uponor propex ring and fitting or veiga stainless rings. However lately I've been using oteker rings for a ring system a oteker tool is 50 to 80 bucks, a veiga tool is 285 and we need one for each sixe. The oteker works on all sizes.

I use brass fitting in concealed locations. Plastic fittings in exposed locations.

A pex can take a freeze better that B pex from what I've seen in the field.

 

[Tirediron]

I bought a pocket pex crimper it is really handy for repairs and tight spaces.

 

[randyt]

I bought a pocket pex crimper it is really handy for repairs and tight spaces. View attachment 130295View attachment 130295

I had one similar years ago. It took a 3/8 th ratchet to tighten.

 

[Neb]

I. As a master plumber with over 40 years experience agree with every word Havasu said
A shark bite uses a rubber o-ring inside
Rubber breaks down over time or is eaten by chemicles

Bottom line. Shark bite is bad JU JU

Correct me if I wrong but the company Sharkbite makes push to fit AND crimp fittings.

Both push to fit and crimp fittings are made by other companies as well.

The crimp style is more cost effective once you have crimping tool. But crimping a 3/4 fitting over my head is nothing I can do. For those push to fit works.

Ben

 

[Frodo]

Correct me if I wrong but the company Sharkbite makes push to fit AND crimp fittings.

Both push to fit and crimp fittings are made by other companies as well.

The crimp style is more cost effective once you have crimping tool. But crimping a 3/4 fitting over my head is nothing I can do. For those push to fit works.

Ben

Get 2 pieces of 1 1/2" pipe or whatever size fits your crimpers
Approx 24" long
Use them for leverage " cheater bar"

It's what all the cool kids do.

 

[randyt]

Correct me if I wrong but the company Sharkbite makes push to fit AND crimp fittings.

Both push to fit and crimp fittings are made by other companies as well.

The crimp style is more cost effective once you have crimping tool. But crimping a 3/4 fitting over my head is nothing I can do. For those push to fit works.

Ben

If memory serves sharkbite makes pex as well. I dont use sharkbite much but I have a dock job I did with a 100 stanchions. Each stanchion took 4 sharkbites to hook up. That was 15 years ago. I'm still waiting for a call...lol

 

[dademoss]

Thanks for all your help I have a crimper, cutter and 1/2 , 3/4 crimp rings coming. Next time I go to a big box store, I'll get a few bags of fittings and a couple sections of pipe.

All that work learning to cut, thread or sweat pipe shot to

Somehow, Pex feels too easy and like cheating

 

[Caribou]

Thanks for all your help I have a crimper, cutter and 1/2 , 3/4 crimp rings coming. Next time I go to a big box store, I'll get a few bags of fittings and a couple sections of pipe.

All that work learning to sweat pipe shot to

Pex B and C comes in straight lengths. Pex A comes in coils. Pex A has over 90% cross linking. Pex B has over 80 cross linking. Pex C has over 70% cross linking. The more cross linking the stronger and more flexible. You can kink Pex A and bring it back with a heat gun. You can cold expand Pex A so it is more resistant to freezing damage.

Others here have different experiences with SharkBites than I.

 

[randyt]

I can get pex A in straight lengths

Pex B and C comes in straight lengths. Pex A comes in coils. Pex A has over 90% cross linking. Pex B has over 80 cross linking. Pex C has over 70% cross linking. The more cross linking the stronger and more flexible. You can kink Pex A and bring it back with a heat gun. You can cold expand Pex A so it is more resistant to freezing damage.

Others here have different experiences with SharkBites than I.

 

[randyt]

Thanks for all your help I have a crimper, cutter and 1/2 , 3/4 crimp rings coming. Next time I go to a big box store, I'll get a few bags of fittings and a couple sections of pipe.

All that work learning to cut, thread or sweat pipe shot to

Somehow, Pex feels too easy and like cheating

We till do.a lot of copper piping.

 

[Caribou]

I can get pex A in straight lengths

It comes that way also. You might be able to get Pex B in coils, I’m unsure. I always buy Pex A. The others can develop micro cracks from freezing and eventually leak. If freezing wasn’t an issue I might be persuaded to change, maybe.

 

[Neb]

It comes that way also. You might be able to get Pex B in coils, I’m unsure. I always buy Pex A. The others can develop micro cracks from freezing and eventually leak. If freezing wasn’t an issue I might be persuaded to change, maybe.

If freezing was an issue then copper is no silver bullet.

Ben

 

[Neb]

Thanks for all your help I have a crimper, cutter and 1/2 , 3/4 crimp rings coming. Next time I go to a big box store, I'll get a few bags of fittings and a couple sections of pipe.

All that work learning to cut, thread or sweat pipe shot to

Somehow, Pex feels too easy and like cheating

There is a dressing gauge for use with push to fit. It dresses the edge of the PEX copper what ever to slip past the sealing O-ring. It also serves as a marking point to know the push to fit are seated fully.

Re: sweating

I love sweating copper! Not so much in confined flammable spaces. I once had to put in valves for the rooms into a tight spot with 0 distance between fittings. Got it all soldered up and tested.

Bad solder joint!

Had to scrap it all and start again. That lesson left a mark on me. But still love soldering.

Ben

 

[Caribou]

If freezing was an issue then copper is no silver bullet.

Ben

Copper is no silver bullet. Pex is expensive, copper is worse. People steal copper. If your copper fitting leaks you drain it, take it apart, dry it, clean it to bright and shiny, solder, and hope. Pex leaks just push it on further. I’ve put in a lot of both. In my own house I prefer Pex.

 

[Frodo]

I have installed miles of copper piping size 4". Down to 1/4" tubing
Clean is the secret and after you clean your fittings do not touch the inside of the hub with your fingers. The oil from your body can cause a leak

 

[Magus]

If freezing was an issue then copper is no silver bullet.

Ben

I used a piece of freezeproof water hose I got from my old place of work as a splice in a place prone to freezing. that was 25 years ago, it's still there. it expands faster than the copper and takes the brunt of the pressure. Kind of like a pop off seal that never pops.

 

[Frodo]

There is a dressing gauge for use with push to fit. It dresses the edge of the PEX copper what ever to slip past the sealing O-ring. It also serves as a marking point to know the push to fit are seated fully.

Re: sweating

I love sweating copper! Not so much in confined flammable spaces. I once had to put in valves for the rooms into a tight spot with 0 distance between fittings. Got it all soldered up and tested.

Bad solder joint!

Had to scrap it all and start again. That lesson left a mark on me. But still love soldering.

Ben

The reason pex has a bad rep is 2 fold
One is because of a product that came out in the early 80'sand failed called polybutylene. Which is now against plumbing codes across the USA
The other issue, And to me is a huge big deal is the Id of the pipe
Copper 1/2" pipe id is .625
Pex 1/2" pipe id is. .500

Why is this an issue to me as a plumber?
Installing pipe I use a code approved pipe size chart and a formula. Fixtures are assigned a number. Called a fixture unit
My code tells me how many fixtures units are allowed on a pipe that is X in length
Rule of thumb. Only 1 fixture unit on a 1/2" line.
Let's geek out for a minute
Let's say I run a 1/2" line to a hand sink
The add a hose bib. While you are washing your hands your wife turns on the hose bib to wash the care. With 1/2" copper. You will not notice. With pex the volume of water at the fixture will drop and you will get scalded because the cold disappeared and the hot stayed constant

So. If you use pex pipe Run 1" pipe and 3/4" pipe instead of 3/4 and 1/2

1/2"	0.630"	0.500"
5/8"	0.787"	0.637"
3/4"	0.984"	0.806"

PEX Tubing size (CTS/Nominal)	Outside Diameter (OD)	Weight lbs/100ft
1/2"	0.625"	5.80
3/4"	0.875"	11.00

Nominal Pipe Size inches	O.D.	I.D.	Wall Thickness
Type
K*	L**	M***	DWV****	K	L	M	DWV
1/4	0.375	0.305	0.315	-	-	0.035	0.030	-	-
3/8	0.500	0.402	0.430	0.450	-	0.049	0.035	0.025	-
1/2	0.625	0.527	0.545	0.569	-	0.049	0.040	0.028	-
5/8	0.750	0.652	0.666	-	-	0.049	0.042	-	-
3/4	0.875	0.745	0.785	0.811	-

 

[Frodo]

Continuation of thought
On a typical 2 bath house ,
Guest bath. 1- sink, terlet, tub/shower and 1- outside hosebib

Master bath. 2- sinks, 1 terlet, 1 garden tub, 1 shower

Kitchen- sink, dish washer, icemaker

Laundry. Washer
2 hosebibs

Install a 1" PVC service line from water meter to within 5' of tbathrooom
3/4 to kitchen
3/4 to utility room

Translocation to 1/2. With a 90 degree elbow when you exit the walluiuyuuuý

 

[dademoss]

Continuation of thought
On a typical 2 bath house ,
Guest bath. 1- sink, terlet, tub/shower and 1- outside hosebib

Master bath. 2- sinks, 1 terlet, 1 garden tub, 1 shower

Kitchen- sink, dish washer, icemaker

Laundry. Washer
2 hosebibs

Install a 1" PVC service line from water meter to within 5' of tbathrooom
3/4 to kitchen
3/4 to utility room

Translocation to 1/2. With a 90 degree elbow when you exit the walluiuyuuuý

Thank goodness I am not doing new plumbing, I just want to fix what hits the fan

 

[dademoss]

Ok, 10 Ft of 3/4 PEX A, 10 feet of 1/2 PEX A, couplers, elbows, rings, crimper, pipe cutter. I'm sure there is more, but will that do for a start?