SharkBite connectors

**nin28** · 04-17-2007, 01:07 PM

Has anyone ever used SharkBite connectors for copper tubing. If so, what do you think and have you used them for a long period of time? Thank you.

**jadnashua** · 04-17-2007, 01:15 PM

I haven't personally, but if you do a search (see blue bar at the top) you'll be able to see what others have said in the past. Other than the cost, people love them. Well, if ultimate size is a factor, they are bigger than a sweated connection, but that often isn't an issue.

**Terry** · 04-17-2007, 02:05 PM

I use them sometimes.
They seem to work fine.

They are a lot more money than standard copper fittings, and most of the time standard copper fittings are what I use.

They do have their place though for some repairs.
They also mix with CPVC, copper, and PEX

**nin28** · 04-17-2007, 02:48 PM

I'm not an expert by any mean at plumbing so I wanted to try them out. Also, the spot I'm trying to work in is extremely tight, so I would probably use them in this situation even if I was an experience pipe sweater. Thanks for the info.

**Dunbar Plumbing** · 04-17-2007, 03:41 PM

I was in a room of plumbing inspectors last night and couldn't get an answer on whether sharkbites are code approved by the local authority.

I've only got two out there, that's it.....doing the conversion to cpvc.

**master plumber mark** · 04-17-2007, 06:39 PM

they can get you out of mean, mean situations

without having to tamper with odd ball set ups....

recently we tied a water heater into old cpvc 1/2 lines

by jsut installing copper on the top of the heater and

putting on two of the 1/2 shark bites to the palstic.....

saves lots of pain and suffering

they are legal everywhere and are supposed to be ok

underground too...

**Dunbar Plumbing** · 04-17-2007, 06:59 PM

because I don't know if it is a new trick or not.

If you use those pvc cutters that are the scissor type and you are dealing with pipe that is either hard to cut through, old, or you are in a serious tight spot where a saw, cable saw, mini-hack won't reach and you're between joists?

Heat the blade. I had no options today and I was working on a tubular pvc waste and overflow that some hack put it in and had the trap falling 2" the wrong way. Nothing would get in there to cut it reasonably straight.

I had one of those smaller pvc cutters that wasn't the rachet type and with my log lighters I use for lighting pilots on water heaters I sat and got the blade reasonably hot, no way red hot though.

The tubular drain was a year old so you know what happens when dealing with older pipe or cold pipe.

The heat on the blade allowed me to cut the pipe without cracking it, it was hot enough to help with getting the initial cut into the pipe since those blades go dull after a few uses.

Let me know if this is an old trick or a new one; I just had no way to cut this pipe and my last resort method worked.

**kordts** · 04-17-2007, 09:39 PM

Sharkbites are sold in a Home Depot near me, and the price is low, they are cheaper than compression fittings. I use them as the union on my water heater installs. I have had a couple now where I didn't have to sweat. A couple brass nipples and 3/4" female by tube sharkbites and I'm outta there.

**Cass** · 04-18-2007, 04:16 AM

I keep them on the truck just incase they are needed for specific situations.

They are 2 expensive 2 use on a regular basis.

**dgold** · 04-19-2007, 05:03 AM

I'm a homeowner, but I do keep a 1/2" sharkbite cap and a 3/4" sharkbite cap in my "plumbing" box in my shop now that I've used them a couple of times. In case anything goes wrong, for $10 for both, I have the piece of mind knowing I can cut and cap just about any pipe in the house in under a minute without having to mess with cement or sweating anything.

They're also re-usable. So if I have to use a cap to stop an emergency leak or something, I can always remove it once I get into the repair and use it again elsewhere.

They're a great way to transition from copper to CPVC: easy & fast.

They're also great if you do a lot of DIY projects. You can shut the water off, cut and cap a line very fast, and then turn the water back on for the wife until you're ready to reconnect everything again.

Just my two cents.

**kordts** · 04-19-2007, 06:18 PM

Rugged,
whassup? Sharkbites are NSF 61 approved and that means they are legal in Illinois. I used one in ritzy Northshore suburb, long story short, it was before I had my mini-pancake air compressor and I had the water off for over one hour and I still couldn't sweat. I installed the Sharkie and the inspector flunked me. He told the homeowner he had never seen that hack fitting before. I faxed his boss some cut sheets I had downloaded and asked if I still failed. He wasn't happy, but I told him that unless his town prohibited everything but sweat joints, which meant all the compression stops in town were illegal, he had to pass me, because it was NSF 61. I won.

**Xenomorph** · 04-19-2007, 09:27 PM

Good for you kordts!

Originally Posted by kordts

Rugged,
whassup? Sharkbites are NSF 61 approved and that means they are legal in Illinois. I used one in ritzy Rorthshore suburb, long story short, it was before I had my mini-pancake air compressor and I had the water off for over one hour and I still couldn't sweat. I installed the Sharkie and the inspector flunked me. He told the homeowner he had never seen that hack fitting before. I faxed his boss some cut sheets I had downloaded and asked if I still failed. He wasn't happy, but I told him that unless his town prohibited everything but sweat joints, which meant all the compression stops in town were illegal, he had to pass me, because it was NSF 61. I won.

**Dunbar Plumbing** · 05-08-2007, 09:07 PM

Kudos to you on that one Kordts. I got into an argument with a ohio plumbing inspector that got me a lot of heat when I got back to the shop when I worked for someone else.

My thinking/logic was right, but the inspector is always right, no matter what. I just challenged that and the inspector called the shop, advised "how hard we can make it for you guys" and that was the last time I was allowed to converse with plumbing inspectors.

I did a water heater replacement today that was all CPVC. They should ban that garbage. I turned out of the tank with copper, reconnected with sharkbites.

There is really nothing else I can use to transition out of that CPVC. The **** was brittle, already strained and I made darn sure that I didn't connect that copper to the sharkbites until they were cool.

That took some effort as I had to jig up the connections first.

In KY, CPVC male and female adaptors are banned from use. Only transition adaptors in brass are allowable.

Off topic,

I lost my ass on the replacement today; $300 was not enough and having a torn rotator cuff freshly injured didn't help matters much.

**kordts** · 05-08-2007, 09:40 PM

Cash-Acme makes a water heater kit. It has 2 pieces of copper with male adapters sweat on, and 2 Sharkbite couplings. I used a bunch of Sharkbites yesterday. I made a 5 port manifold with ball valves and ran a 1" PEX line to each unit. It was a nasty, tight crawlspace. I couldn't roll over from my stomach to my back. I wasn't going to sweat copper in that mess. I used a 3/4" X 1" Sharkbite to start the run and then another one to tie into each unit. They were expensive, but it was a lot cheaper using only two fittings per run than plumbing it in copper.

**Dunbar Plumbing** · 06-05-2007, 08:26 AM

For years I've been turning down anything tied to that CPVC junk, and now, these sharkbites are hitting thier marks with allowing me NOT to use any glued connections that can/will leak over time with my name on them.

In KY, they are approved in non-concealed locations but will soon be acceptable in concealed locations from the take of the inspectors.

I can count on both hands how many I've used and I'll admit, my sales are going up now since I was so notorious to say no to any plastic water lines. What is good is the fact that I don't have to worry about any connections blowing apart days/weeks/months/years down the road with a furious customer on the other end wanting a payout.

My liability insurance rides for 10 years from date of work. That's a loooooong window of opportunity for anyone with thier neck sticking out.