Polybutylene tubing

[lmm600]

Couldn't find anything by searching these forums; so maybe someone can give me some information on working with or replacing polybutylene pipe? I know its not good stuff. Just curious what to do if you have a leak? Replace sections if not all of it or is there some style of fittings for repair?

 

[Wrex]

If you have a fitting leak it should be replaced with a copper fitting.

The fittings tend to degrade and leak first then the pipes themselves begin to leak.

The above however is just a band aid for the bigger problem those pipes are crap and need to be completely replaced.

Thank the bean counters that saved a few bucks on those materials rather then doing it right with either copper or pex.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

bite the bullet and change it all

if you plan on staying there for a few years
I suggest that you just change it all out
to Wirsbo PEX or eventually you will regret it....

 

[Redwood]

PEX lends itself very well to Poly-Butylene repipes. A lot less intrusive than copper or, cpvc.

 

[lmm600]

OK now for my next question. Is this poly butyl and quest (spelling?) the same thing? Or just what is the differences in all these types? I am used to big stuff so these small types have me confused. I have a mobile home that was built in 1990 and have heard of the class action suit with the piping (have not had any trouble yet). Thats why all the questions.

 

[Wrex]

Polybutyl piping was largely sold under the name brand Qest or Quest whichever way you want to spell it so yes they are the same thing.

There is a replacement program out there for the piping however you must be experiencing a leak or have had to repair a leak to get it replaced.

 

[Redwood]

There is also an ever decreasing window of eligibility dates.
There is also some bearing on the amount of chlorine in the water and its affect on the Poly-Butylene piping system.
In short the lawyers won!

 

[Wrex]

There is also an ever decreasing window of eligibility dates. In short the lawyers won!

Don't they always?

Its really funny that when formulating the pipe they didn't make sure that the formulation could stand up against chlorine?

Chlorine in water??? No way !!!

There should be no window they should replace all of these faulty pipes until they have been wiped from the face of the earth IMO.

To add insult to injury I actually was able to locate online sites still selling the butyl fittings with crimp rings!

I hope noone is actually still using those things.

 

[Falcon67]

We have Qest and and have had no leaks - it may be ours to keep forever LOL. No leaks, all copper crimp rings and fittings so it should last a while I hope.

 

[Wrex]

I mean't using them for repairs copper fittings are best for that.

In some cases they can last quite a long time it depends on the concentration of chlorine (or lack of) in your water.

 

[Plumber Jim]

for a simple repair untill you can replace the pipe Home depot used to sell Quest compression fittings.

 

[hj]

Pb

All polybutylene is the same and the class action suit time frame has expired. They could not have used PEX in place of PB at the time, because it was not available then. PEX in the USA is a fairly recent development.

 

[Mattbee24]

If you are just trying to get by, get some sharkbite fittings and transition to PEX wherever needed.