Polybutylene inlet

Users who are viewing this thread

Hagrinas

New Member
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
California
I had a crack in my water inlet pipe. It's the blue polybutylene type, pb2110 sdr 13.5. It cracked about 8 inches from the end, where it went into a compression fitting that is 3/4" male at the other end and went into copper.

I went to my local hardware store to find out what to fix it with, and the person there sold me a black plastic pipe, which I presume is polyethylene, and I spliced in a replacement piece. Although both pieces were supposedly 3/4", the blue pipe was actually a bit thinner, so it was a pain to force the fitting in, and I had to replace the compression part, which was not a big deal.

The questions I have now in retrospect is whether what I did made sense, whether I'm likely to have problems in the future, and what to keep in mind down the road.

One problem was getting the fitting inside the blue plastic. To start off, I was able to get one end into the black plastic very easily by just dipping it in boiling water. With the blue plastic, I didn't have the option since it was in the ground, just a few inches below where it normally came out of the ground. I ended up taking a plastic drinking cup, drilling a hole in the bottom the exact size of the blue pipe, slipping it over it, and then pouring boiling water in. I ended up getting the thing forced down, but not all the way down. I was told to put two high quality hose clamps at each end, but I used only one at the blue end since the fitting was not down far enough that I felt a second one would help. But for now, nothing leaks.

If anything goes wrong, would there have been a better way to do this? It didn't occur to me at the time to put the original compression fitting underground and then just sweat in a new piece of copper and a female fitting. I don't know if doing that is even appropriate, or if building a box around it so the fitting is not buried would be more appropriate. If it fails because I screwed up, I can always try to get the fitting out, or just cut it 2 inches lower.

Is this the type of thing that is likely to cause trouble, should I just leave it alone unless it causes trouble, or am I just looking for trouble if I leave it? Would I have been better off using a heat gun to get the fitting in deeper, and if so, would it make sense to try now to make the connection better? or is there a better way or a more appropriate fitting?

BTW, the house was built in 1977 so a claim is not an option.
 

Master Plumber Mark

Sensitivity trainer and plumber of mens souls
Messages
5,533
Reaction score
354
Points
83
Location
indianapolis indiana - land of the free, home of
Website
www.weilhammerplumbing.com
Quest Adapters

if you had to ram or insert something into the quest pipe
you are probably going to have future troubles

Lowes sells quest to copper type adapters....

comes in grey with a large nut ....
the nut and two rings go on the quest pipe
about a whole inch down on the pipe..... you tighten it down to the
solid brass fitting which has a 3/4 male end on it
which goes to the copper...

the fitting cost about 4 bucks

they work very very well, considering the junk you
are adapting to... they are life savers.
 
Last edited:

Jimbo

Plumber
Messages
8,918
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
San Diego, CA
That fitting on the PB will blow...soon. Any inside barb-type fitting on PB must use crimped type clamps. Screw-type clamps cannot be tightened enough to do any good.
 

Jimbo

Plumber
Messages
8,918
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
San Diego, CA
If I read his post correctly, the OLD fitting was compression, but the new fitting he forced INSIDE the pipe, and then applied a "good quality clamp" around the outside. He mentioned there was supposed to be two clamps but only one would fit. I interpreted screw-type hose clamps, but I could be wrong.
 

Hagrinas

New Member
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
California
Follow up

I put some pictures here to clarify. http://pages.sbcglobal.net/fakeusername/Polybutylene plumbing.html

Yes, the original was compression, as in the bottom photo. The new one is a plastic barbed fitting that connects the polybutylene to the new black one.

The blue piece is the entire length that had to be removed to get past the leak.

The clamps I was told to use are screw type hose clamps. The insert is barbed plastic.

The OD of the two pieces is not quite the same. (see photos)

If I'm understanding things correctly, I can just remove the new pieces, attach a Qest fitting to the polybutylene, and attach the other end to copper.

I don't really have a good feel for what the Qest fitting looks like, but I'm assuming that it's something along the lines of one of these: http://ace.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pACE-954201dt.jpg .

If that's the case, it seems pretty clear. I would just need to lengthen the copper by less than a foot and I'd be set.

I compared the blue piece to a standard L 3/4" copper pipe and they seem to be around the same OD, and both fit my original compression fitting, so I assume that the black piece is the one with the "wrong" OD for me.

Am I understanding things correctly?
 

Jimbo

Plumber
Messages
8,918
Reaction score
18
Points
0
Location
San Diego, CA
These are the Qest compression fittings which have been referred to. You need to get a fitting with the corrct specs. If you can't find one rated for CTS then sweat a female adapter on the copper and use a Qest compression to male IPS adapter.

You are on the right track now and your persistence will be rewarded with a long-lasting repair.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks