Viega Press Pex

bmccabe · Dec 2, 2007

I use Viega press fittings and have recently acquired a house that has a mix of copper and IPEX (aluminum core centers). For example, the risers are 3/4 IPEX and I want to branch of them with pex tubing and Viega fittings. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this? Will the Viega fittings work with IPEX?

Thanks

Cass · Dec 2, 2007

With aluminum core type PEX i would only use the plastic fittings. I don't remember who makes them right now but someone will come along and give you the name.

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

hj · Dec 2, 2007

ipex

IPEX needs the fitting with double "O" rings on them. Their crimpers are a little different size than regular PEX, but the IPEX go/no go gauge seems to imply that PEX crimper will work, (but no guarantees).

bmccabe · Dec 2, 2007

Thanks

I think I'll put a Press fitting or two on IPEX and put it under pressure for a time. That might give me a clue. I'll post the results.

Master Plumber Mark · Dec 2, 2007

the horror of it all........the horror.....the horror ........

The pipe with the alluminum core is KITECH

probably came in orange and blue.......

I have a bucket of those fittings I am trying to give back
to the supplier right now. from a job 3 years ago.....

it is basically junk alike all the rest of the stuff

Lets see.....you got copper.....you got Kitech and now
you want to use some other wonderful "Hybred" bastard
brand of pex out there that they sell in your area......

I suggest getting some sharkbite tees to get into the system with.....

also after you have scabbed into this wonderful mess
you have before you

might I suggest getting a full roll of "GORILLA DUCT TAPE"

take the tape and go up and down the Kitech pipe
a dozen or so times and over those shark bite fittings
to be sure that they never pull out...

dont worry about how it looks......
that will be the next fellows horror story and nightmare
10 years from now that he will have to deal with...

here is an extra tip....
dont apply the Gorilla Tape to the fittings untill
you are 100% sure those shark bites dont leak,,,,,
"

Construct30 · Dec 2, 2007

This site http://www.pexinfo.com/ has a compatibility chart as well as a lot of other info on PEX and the different brands, check it out.

Master Plumber Mark · Dec 2, 2007

there will be Lawsuits someday because of that site

That site really does look informative....

but truely you cant be sure what is compatible with
each other till the stuff has been out in the field for
5+ years.....

Like the KITECH fiasco in Las Vegas, with
the brass joints corrodeing shut,
it took about 5 years for this nightmare to
rear its ugly head.....in about 50,000 homes???

and the big time plumbers with 50 trucks
that did the work are out
of business.. and or changed names and
re- incorporated -----that aint fun

everyone got to share the love and the blame
in that mess.. even 5 years out......

and Kitech ran off to CANADA to advoid being sued

Already ZURN has a lawsuit on their fittings and
pex because of people trying to mix and match
at Home Depot and Lowes...

I wonder how many plumbers are in trouble with Zurn??
-------------------------------------------------------------------

WIRSBO has already recalled the SS steel type crimp fittings
and has gone back to the plastic expanding rings ONLY

because of peopel trying to "mix and Match" at Lowes...
and then when the disaster happens, their lawyers try to
name Wirsbo in the next lawsuit for
damages.....

no one wants to be named in a lawsuit
casue you have to defend yourself and that
cost big bucks...

so Wirsbo has gone back to their exclusive expanding
fittings for that reason....
------------------------------------------------------------------

yea that chart is real helpful....

I myself dont want or need to be named in the
next lawsuit.....

I got all the love I need already.

Construct30 · Dec 2, 2007

All I know is I stick with Zurn on a zurn system and Wirsbo if that is whats there. If I don't know then a sharkbite that says for PEX to transition. If you do some mix and match of your own, who do you think will be to blame? I try to follow guide lines as close as I can, it helps if you have a problem. The worse thing you can have happen is for a home owner to call some one else in and they say you're an idiot and you have no way to defend yourself because you did some thing stupid.

Master Plumber Mark · Dec 2, 2007

tell that to the fellows in las vegas....

they can still try to come back on you years later....

ask the fellows in Las Vegas....

just keep your insurance up and current..

have an umbrella policy for friviolous lawsuits in place

stay incorporated too...

Construct30 · Dec 2, 2007

The incorporated is the biggest part, helps a guy sleep at night. You should post that for the guy on the other thread that passed his test, if he wants to start a business.

Dunbar Plumbing · Dec 2, 2007

The best defense

Is to never put the product in your hands to begin with. With as many issues stemming from the product as PEX as a whole, you're gambling to know what works and what doesn't......simply by riding the coattails of one particular product that hasn't failed................yet.

Being incorporated isn't a safehold from liability; it's just a second door to open to yourself personally that most lawyers if they are determined, will open it.

Crimp rings, the mixing/matching of products, Zurn now on the hook for defective brass fittings. Kitec, RTI, mice that can chew holes through this stuff without knowing you have mice until after the fact.

I'll just sit back like I've done in my career and watch the sheep follow the flock with this product, watch their reputation tarnish as I won't ride the next wave just to save a buck, or make my work easier.

Construct30 · Dec 2, 2007

I use copper on anything new or old work if they have it, but to work on any manufactured or in some developments I have to have some PEX. I have a hard enough time finding work that pays high enough, the manufactured homes give me a high paying market because no one wants to do it. I wouldn't use PEX in a new home until they have a proven system.

What about a sprinkler system, before long we will be installing them in every new home? PEX is the system to use on them.

Construct30 · Dec 2, 2007

I looked at the viega system on their site. They also, in cooperation with Ridgid, make the pro press system for copper. It is a really nice system, but not cost effective for copper. I looked hard at it for repair work in houses with monitered fire alarm systems. Their PEX system idiot proofs the crimp alignment. I would like to see it prove itself and become the standard along with Wirsbo. That industry better figure it out and come up with one or two standards or it will hit the history books.

Herk · Dec 2, 2007

I've seen so much bad copper lately that I would never consider using it instead of PEX. People really don't like busting up the slabs under their houses because of pinholes. For those old-timers who always think we should wait and see, I'm an old-timer too, and I've seen a lot of things come and go.

When lead wiping was still common, a plumber would point to it proudly and beat his chest about how great it was. Today, we look at lead piping and say, "What the heck were they thinking?"

FWIW, I don't much like emission controls on cars, either, but we aren't likely to go back to the days when they didn't exist.

I guess we'll have to wait a few more years to see if VIega pro-press fittings hold up . . .

Viega Press Pex

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