Sharkbite - What do the plumbers think?

[sapet]

I have been in the industry for roughly 30 years, perhaps I am old and tired, and need to be sent in back of the barn like old yeller.

Here goes.

Pex B roughed house, into the finishing now ,what do the guys in the field think if I would say, I was almost tempted to put 1/2 X 3/8 sharkbite finishing valves for the vanity install, toilette install, kitchen sink install.

On record, I didn't. I crimped but, had to drive back to my shop, because I left without the crimper

So in short, be brutally honest, should I be declassified as a plumber with the thought even crossing my mind?

Most would say yes

 

[Slomoola]

You are in Canada and run PEX B? Amazing. Or is everything buried 10 feet down? What do you do for pipe insulation?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[JohnCT]

I was almost tempted to put 1/2 X 3/8 sharkbite finishing valves for the vanity install, toilette install, kitchen sink install.

I don't see any problem with a Shark outside of walls (yes, I'm aware Sharks are allowed behind walls). If it leaks, the leak will be pretty obvious.

What I HATE is PEX sticking out of walls. I would use copper stub outs - you can still stick a Shark valve on copper.

John

 

[Eman85]

I'm noy a plumber but use PEX B and copper stub outs and have no negative thoughts about a Sharbite stop slid on the copper. Under sinks where the PEX is through the floor I just crimp a valve on.

 

[Fitter30]

Hope your pex meets this code for dhw. NSF/ANSI 61.

 

[Slomoola]

Me 2.

 

[Sylvan]

I never used SharkBite, but I did remove some that had failed.

 

[Nebojsa]

I think shark-bite are safe as long pushed in correctly and pex is cut straight and debured. I could be wrong.

 

[JohnCT]

I think shark-bite are safe as long pushed in correctly and pex is cut straight and debured. I could be wrong.

No, you are correct. Installation is just as important for bites as any other system. Personally, I only use them for temporary repairs until I have more time or the right material to make a permanent repair, but I have a few in my basement I put in on a hectic Christmas Eve about 20 years ago (I was able to get to HD before they closed while my plumbing house was closed for the day). I left them in as a "test" of sorts, and they haven't ever seeped a drop.

But, it was my very first experience with them, so I cut the pipe carefully, deburred it fully, and polished the pipe to a mirror sheen hoping the bites would last until the the 26th. I slowly turned the water back on expecting some seepage, but not a drip then, or now. Still, I consider Sharkbites a temporary repair.

I will replace them now that I'm retired and have more time (probably this year), but if you ask me, they're about 85% as good as a Propress, which I also don't trust as a "permanent" repair. What I like about the Propress is that it physically stabilizes the pipe where the bites don't, but I'm not convinced that Propress is any better assuming the bites are carefully installed.

John

 

[Jeff H Young]

I can honestly say Ive fixed more copper leaks from bad solder joints than shark bites I dont know if I ever had a shark bite leak I will use under certain conditions Ive got in a jam on anglestops where a compression replacement would drip and not stop didnt wantb to solder or make hole in wall under cabinet so a shark bite adapter or shark bite stop was used

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

I have used a lot of shark bite fittings over the past 15 years... I have never really had a problem with them
on PEX pipe.... they are basically a time saver and have never caused me any troubles.....

Recently I threw a 3/4 male shark bite adapter on some 3/4 copper to hook up the hot side of a
water heater to a ss flex water line--- I filled the tank and when the unit was full and went up the line
the sharkbite adapter blew right off the copper and gave me a real good bath....
I was very lucky it didnt wait to blow off until that evening and flood the hell out of their basement.. I found that the copper was old and paper thin and did not have the firmness to allow
the sharkbite to grip onto it....
Then I thought that most copper over time begins to degrade
and get pin holes in it or get as thin as a beer can... Most everyone has seen this in older copper.
I totally have stopped using sharkbites on copper and I just take the
extra time to solder some fittings to hook up the heaters...
I think that this will also become an issue down the road with the Propress fittings as the copper wears down.... I dont think much of propress fittings for this reason

Sharkbite seems to work the best on most all pex fittings with no issues that I have come across but after my bath I just would rather not throw them on older copper lines and hope they hold

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

No, you are correct. Installation is just as important for bites as any other system. Personally, I only use them for temporary repairs until I have more time or the right material to make a permanent repair, but I have a few in my basement I put in on a hectic Christmas Eve about 20 years ago (I was able to get to HD before they closed while my plumbing house was closed for the day). I left them in as a "test" of sorts, and they haven't ever seeped a drop.

But, it was my very first experience with them, so I cut the pipe carefully, deburred it fully, and polished the pipe to a mirror sheen hoping the bites would last until the the 26th. I slowly turned the water back on expecting some seepage, but not a drip then, or now. Still, I consider Sharkbites a temporary repair.

I will replace them now that I'm retired and have more time (probably this year), but if you ask me, they're about 85% as good as a Propress, which I also don't trust as a "permanent" repair. What I like about the Propress is that it physically stabilizes the pipe where the bites don't, but I'm not convinced that Propress is any better assuming the bites are carefully installed.

John

I dont trust the propress neither

 

[Eman85]

Sharkbite fittings or that style came with inserts that went into the PEX pipe to stiffen it. Anyone use these?

 

[Jeff H Young]

Sharkbite fittings or that style came with inserts that went into the PEX pipe to stiffen it. Anyone use these?

yes i suggest using it but i discard it if copper pipe is joined

 

[JohnCT]

I found that the copper was old and paper thin and did not have the firmness to allow
the sharkbite to grip onto it....

.
I have direct experience with Sharks on thin copper. My well is about 6.4pH before the acid tank I eventually added after I started getting pinholes - too late. When I realized I needed to gut my colonial in order to repipe it, I added some patches using pex and bites to connect to what was left of my copper pipes instead of doing proper repairs. Never once have I had an issue with the bites on my gutted copper, and those pipes felt lighter than PEX when I got around to replacing them. I repiped the first and second floors of my house in new copper except for the basement which I never got around to. The basement still has the thin copper and a few bites holding it together. The copper that gave you problems would have to be paper thin in order to fail from compression fittings because the erosion is eternal and bites and press work on the OD. Your pipes must have been thin enough to crush, but that's an unusual circumstance.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

.
I have direct experience with Sharks on thin copper. My well is about 6.4pH before the acid tank I eventually added after I started getting pinholes - too late. When I realized I needed to gut my colonial in order to repipe it, I added some patches using pex and bites to connect to what was left of my copper pipes instead of doing proper repairs. Never once have I had an issue with the bites on my gutted copper, and those pipes felt lighter than PEX when I got around to replacing them. I repiped the first and second floors of my house in new copper except for the basement which I never got around to. The basement still has the thin copper and a few bites holding it together. The copper that gave you problems would have to be paper thin in order to fail from compression fittings because the erosion is eternal and bites and press work on the OD. Your pipes must have been thin enough to crush, but that's an unusual circumstance.

..
I think if a sharkbite is in-line like a coupling or a tee , then it does not have anywhere to expand or slide off to
In my situation it was just a 3/4 male adapter x 3/4 female installed on the end of the hot line... then a SS flexible connector going down to the top of the water heater.... It was a sub zero day outside while working in
this dark basement and just did not look close enough at the pipe but I was lucky it blew when it did...

I am seeing a lot of paper thin copper here in town due to aggressive water and poorly grounded electrical systems that send current through the copper lines...the copper breaks down over time....

. I dont think that propress would fare any better with copper pipe that literally bends inward when crushed a little