Connecting PEX to Galvanized

[nelsonba]

I am adding a bathroom and plan to use PEX for the water supply. My existing plumbing is all galvanized pipe. What is the best way to tie into the existing water lines?

[finnegan]

I know they make fittings to transition from pex to copper. I am sure that these same fittings would get you to galvanized. You can probalby find them in a google search. Houseneeds.com carries some pex prodeucts. Can you tell what shape your galvanized pipes are in? If you have access to your galvanized pipes during the renovation, you might want to consider swapping them out.

[thezster]

I just added 6 new lines in my basement using Pex. Loved the ease of installation. I found all the fittings I needed at www. pexsupply.com. Prices were reasonable and customer service was outstanding.

[nelsonba]

They appear to be in decent shape and I'd prefer to not plumb the whole house. I found some places where I could get a galvanized T fitting into place. Would I use a nipple to connect one end of the T and then two nipples and a union to connect the other? I believe I've got what I need to connect the PEX to the Tee. (nipple, then dielectric union to copper, and finally to PEX. Sound right?

[master plumber mark]

it might be better , if you can to tap in to
that galvanized pipe on the end a of a plumbing run
instead of cutting into someting and adding tees
right smack dab in the middle of everything,,,

older galvanized pipe
has a tendency to be un-forgiveing when you shake up the
whole system by either clogging up with rust or
simply leaking at a joint that has been disturbed near
wehre you have worked..

as far as transition fittings , just go down to lowes,
they make all kinds of goodies that will tie into a
feamle or male pipe pipe thread

[nelsonba]

I think I can tap into the rise from the water heater to the first elbow. It looks like these joints have been removed before (probably to replace an old water heater) and I've seen no problems so I'm thinking there will be minimal disturbance in the system. Any thoughts?

[thezster]

One last item to consider. If hooking up multiple runs... it seems to pay to have a manifold designed for Pex.

[nelsonba]

Assuming I don't use a manifold and just run hot and cold to the new bathroom and that I make my T connections at an access panel (which I believe is required under code), is there any advantage to using a manifold other than being able to turn off each fixture individually?

If I do use a manifold, what is the proper way to seal the unused outlets?

[thezster]

My manifold does not have valves for each run... I still have to shut down the house to work on faucets and such. The extra outlets have a short length of Pex attached with a Pex plug in each.

Nice to have it available with extra stubs for the next project....