Sharkbits

I repaired one leak only to find that I had a new one. The repair was of a copper to pex transition. Apparently I did not solder the transition fitting on well, so my solution was to remove the portion of copper with the transition fitting and to use a coupling and new length of copper. To the new length of copper I attached a sharkbite fitting (3/4"). Well the sharkbite appears to have a very small leak.

I did not "prep" the copper correctly for the sharkbite. I think that I was supposed to "chamfer" the end of the copper and deburr the inner tube?

Also I was wondering if there is any kind of take off space in the sharkbite. I thought that the take offs for both sides of the fitting was 1 1/16" so I left 1/8" gap where the pipe and pex were to be joined. Was I wrong about this?

Do they sell a tool you can create a chamfer with at the big boxes? Do I need to go to a plumbing supplier instead?

Thanks

Any place that sells the sharks has the tool the chamfers the ends and also is marking guage for proper depth of insertion.

Well...some places that sell Sharkbites, don't have a clue about the tool. I had to get them to order one. It's orange, costs about $12 retail and works on at least 1/2 and 3/4", don't remember if it has a slot for 1" as well. BTW, it's a good idea to use it on ANY pipe. Sharkbites seal via o-ring(s?). A burr, or sharp edge can nick or damage the o-ring. It might not have been installed all the way. Is it the pex or copper side that's leaking? Did you take the insert out of the copper end (it's only used on 'soft' stuff like pex)?

I did not remove the insert. I did not prep the copper and did not like the feel of the shark bite when I pushed it onto the copper.

New plan to fix leak is:

Buy new shark bite and tool. Prep copper right, remove insert and make sure that I do not leave to much of a gap between copper and pex. The leak is on the copper side.

Can the insert on the copper side of the new shark bite be removed with needle nose pliars?

Yes just pull it out.

They have some pictures (maybe it was a short video) on the manufacturer's website. Basically, yes, tilt it to get the edge exposed, and slide it out.