Unfamiliar with shower water pipe/fittings

My girlfriend "adjusted" the dial for the water in our tub/shower a little too much and broke the handle. I went to replace the shower hardware and I am not familiar with the types of fittings connected to the tub/shower.

This is a 3-point tub/shower setup with hot, cold and a dial in the middle to turn on shower or tub. The old fitting was kohler brass, with flexible pvc pipe attached to a brass threaded valve that screws into the fixture, and there's a copper ring around the flex pipe about 1/2-1/4" above the brass threaded fitting. I do not see how to unscrew or screw this flex-pipe off/on the fitting without twisting the pipe uncomfortably. I do not see how to disconnect the flexible pipe from the brass fitting either. So now we have no water in the bathroom until I figure this out. I got a new fixture to install, but I am not sure how to disconnect and reconnect this existing hot/cold/shower/tub piping.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Also, do you need a special tool to unscrew the pipe that goes to the tub outlet?

Help! I live in the middle of nowhere so there's no plumber to call.

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"Flexible PVC pipe" attached with a copper ring leaves me thinking this tub shower is plumbed with PEX,absent any proof other wise.Replacement will require special,expensive tools.Consider bringing in a pro.Somebody installed it.
Or heres another idea.If just the "handle" is broken,wouldnt it be simpler to replace the handle?

He said handle but I bet the stem broke.

The handle broke, but the thing has been leaking and is in bad shape and needs to be replaced. I got a new Peerless fixture at Lowes to replace it. I didn't realize how much they're making this stuff out of plastic nowadays, but it should be better than the old fixture which never fit well in the first place.

I'm working on getting a picture uploaded.

I managed to unscrew one fitting, but I don't think that I should mess with the rest. It does look like this is some sort of special piping. Take a look and let me know.

Here's a picture of the fixture:

valve

The big things that the pipes screw into are unions. If you unscrew the large nuts the valve will come out. But that does not help you with installing the new one, and since you must have "spun" the one you did remove it will probably leak, unless you make a new connection. You need special tools and some ability to connect that PEX tubing. You should call a plumber. He will probably be able to do it for about what you will spend in time and money doing it yourself, but I would not consider a Peerless faucet, even though it is made by Delta, a long term investment.

What if I replace the PEX tubing completely? I know there's an access panel on the other side of the wall. I haven't taken it down though.

What might you recommend that I could get at Lowes fixture-wise to replace what I have? I wasn't terribly impressed with the quality of the fixture.

If I can access the other side of the tubing, might it be worthwhile to replace the piping with something more standard? How difficult would that be and what type of material should I use?

I'd prefer to DIY this if I can because we're in a small town and there's probably one plumber within a 100 mile area that will charge an arm and a leg. I don't like the fact that this highly-proprietary stuff was used in the first place.

That PEX tubing is becoming quite popular, and might go a long way back. Trying to redo that in copper might be a real pain. If you are lucky, the PEX fitting won't leak, and you can screw it into a new union.

There are a couple of 'systems' for mating pex to a fitting. The one you have appears to use a crimp ring. To replace it (if you have enough slack since you'd have to cut off at least an inch or so - the depth of the existing fitting), you would need an expander tool to allow it to fit over a new fitting, then the crimp tool to hold it in place. You might try to find them on ****, and sell them when you are done. Since you might get a set already depreciated, you might not lose much.
There are (I think) some pex fittings that do not require the expander/crimping tools. Look into Sharkbite fittings. They are more expensive than the normal production fittings, but then you don't need special tools to make the connection.

I looked into it and I see what you mean about the prices for the tools. That is expensive! Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be much slack to cut enough off of the line.

Would it be safe to assume that aside from calling a pro in, my only option would be to get a pex decrimp tool to remove the rings and then another tool and materials to re-crimp the fitting onto the tube? Can these fittings be removed and reset without having to replace the tubing or cut part of it away?

PEX has a memory. So, when you want to put on a fitting, you use the expander tool to expand/stretch the tubing from the inside, remove the tool, quickly insert the fiiting, then install the crimp ring unless it has a reinforcing ring also installed already. Over time (don't know the actual time), the tubing returns to its original size, locking it onto the fitting (the ring helps, but isn't the only thing holding it in place). There are ridges on the fitting to help prevent it from sliding out of the smooth walled tubing. There is no way to reliably remove the fitting without damaging the tubing. Even though the fitting was turned to remove it from the union, it may not leak; it's that memory thing...then again, it might. You won't know until you reinstall things.

Looks like PB to me.

Yeah, I was wondering about the color...pex is usually translucent.

fittings

Get some "QUEST" fittings to put that back together with .ACE or Home Depot usually have them. Take a piece of it with you for comparison.

If the tubing is gray in color you want to replace as much of it as possible. It is fameous for leaks.

Ok, here's what I've done. I went and bought the PEX tool. $172 from Lowes. Pricey, but I can see how useful it will be and I want to be empowered to make my own repairs in the future. A pro would cost as much and this way I learn and can fix things in the future. My apologies to any plumbers online here, but around where I live, there isn't anyone available but the town plumber who rapes people because there is no alternative.

By the way, FYI, Lowes will RENT the PEX toolkit for $20/day or $5/hour with a $40 deposit.

Anyway, yes, it's the grey tubing... doesn't seem very stable. I got some PEX from Lowes.. different animal.. white, slightly translucent and nowhere near as flexible. I got enough parts to hook everything up, HOWEVER, I am concerned about one thing... the line to the tub faucet.. this appears to be a standard elbow iron + straight pipe fitting. I do not have an extra one of these... Can I unscrew the one on the old fixture and use it? If so, how? With a pair of vice-grips? This is the only part of the install I'm not quite sure of. I have looked at the PEX stuff and it's fairly easy to deal with. I may end up extending the existing tubing with some adapters, but I got enough to re-run the whole set of lines if necessary. However, I do not know how I should handle the line from the fixture to the tub spout. Recommendations?

Also, I took back the Peerless fixture and got a top-of-the-line Price Pfister set that's all metal. It has those "unions" -- I'm curious do I need any kind of gasket when I attach the union or should I just use pipe dope when I screw it on?

It should be threaded in the valve.

Remove the old steel pipe with 2 channel locks, 1 to hold with the other to turn with, or pipe wrench.

Get a copper 1/2" male adaptor and solder on copper pipe to replace the steel pipe.

Use teflon tape and screw into the valve.

Then when the valve is installed place a copper 90 on the end of the copper pipe and stub out into tub 8", then solder the copper 90 and you will be ready to cut copper pipe to correct length and install tub spout.

Pb

In one picture the tubing looks like gray PB, but in the one where you show the fitting it appears to be white PEX, unless it is just overexposed. If it is PB you also need a special crimp ring to use on the polybutylene tubing. The PEX rings are not the correct size for it.

The line is grey... so I guess maybe I need to get a special ring for the PB side of the tubing.

Now I'm a little concerned about soldering pipe. I am fairly good at doing other types of soldiering, and I have a small propane torch, but it's not something I've done before. I'm not sure where I have to cut the pipe. I'm just hoping it will fit with the same fixture. Alternatively I could try to run some PEX to the tub spout... it may bend enough.... is that a suitable alternative?