Anyway, my 12 year old electric water heater moved on to another plane last night, and I had to replace it. Not any real big deal, but I discovered sharkbite plumbing fittings. Friggin' magic. I had to relocate and replace a shutoff valve, and use some flex hose for the water, and these things are great. Push them on... that's it. No sweating, no twisting, no nuttin'. Just push them on over the pipe, and they're secure. No leaks, no drama, and they come right off if I want them to. They work on copper, PVC, and flexible line.

 

Very cool stuff.

 

Sharkbite Fittings

Never heard of them but I'll try them out. Good job.

I wouldn't use them on any pipes that are in walls though.

Very interesting. Hope that special o-ring in the fitting doesn't degrade over time.

I wouldn't use them on any pipes that are in walls though.

 

I wouldn't either but it's totally legal and up to code. My co-workers use it but only for quick jobs or if it's in a tough spot to sweat it in.

They are great. I used them for my sprinkler piping. No issues in the last 3 years and I have had to open em up a few times.

they are expensive though

I just replaced a water last week too with shark bites and they are bad a**

After losing some pipes to freezing a half a dozen years ago, we did some research and found PEX. I will never again use copper pipe for water.

 

I own both styles of crimping tools now. I could install the pluming in an entire house with Pex in an afternoon.

 

The best part...the lines can hard freeze...and are fine again when they thaw. Clearly not something you want to do constantly, but once in a while isn't a problem.

I'm going to 2nd the PEX as well. Used it in the shore house with a manablock system (a central water distribution manifold). Fantastic. Pipes are color coded as well so there's no guessing whether something is the hot or cold line.

After losing some pipes to freezing a half a dozen years ago, we did some research and found PEX. I will never again use copper pipe for water.

 

I own both styles of crimping tools now. I could install the pluming in an entire house with Pex in an afternoon.

 

The best part...the lines can hard freeze...and are fine again when they thaw. Clearly not something you want to do constantly, but once in a while isn't a problem.

 

With the price of copper you won't be the only one not using it. Holy crap the prices are crazy.

Isn't the jury still out on whether PEX leeches chemicals into potable water supplies? Especially hot water?

Isn't the jury still out on whether PEX leeches chemicals into potable water supplies? Especially hot water?

I was just reading up on this... PEX does not leech, nor does any other plastic piping...

 

Many of the studies were done under advisement from copper companies...believe it or not and the results were heavily skewed.

It seemed that these plastic pipes pvc pex and alike were absorbing lead and then releasing it.. PEX and pvc are plastic and dont contain lead or anything else that leeches into water on a significant level.

Plastic pipes do however contain chemicals that are released from sunlight in the form of gas, which should not be an issue in a house.

About 3 years ago we rebuilt my brothers bathroom with pex and its still going strong. Recently we replaced his hot water heater with a hot water on demand system and used pex for that too. It is some great stuff.