Uponer Pex-A for Repipe
- Thread starter Rwbil
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I called the JS corporate office and I was alramed how little their technical staff knew about the product. They don't have basic things like installation manuals. But what bothers me is that he said it so now they just don't know. They said they pulled the product off the market last year and just put it back on in October.
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I'd stick with a known good supplier like Sioux Chief. Not one foul word on the internet against Sioux Chief. Love their warranty as well. They don't care if you use someone else's fittings for example with their pipe. They stand by their stuff. Some companies I've heard you HAVE to use their fittings with their pipe for example.
PEX is cheap enough you don't even need to shop around. It will be cheaper than done in copper but not better. Copper is still king in my book.
Any company that pulls anything off the shelf is suspect. No reason to even continue looking into them for any reason. Other well known suppliers out there with solid products.
PEX is cheap enough you don't even need to shop around. It will be cheaper than done in copper but not better. Copper is still king in my book.
Any company that pulls anything off the shelf is suspect. No reason to even continue looking into them for any reason. Other well known suppliers out there with solid products.
So I had a hard time finding a product I could buy because I had to buy everything in bulk. I wanted a good solid product. I stumbled upon Menards a big box home improvement store in the midwest. They stock Sioux Chief and had all the fittings I needed in any quantity I wanted. I was able to order everything last Saturday and get everything by Wednesday. They even had things none of the local supply houses stocked and things that the supply houses did not stock. I have received quotes and priced things so I had a good feel on prices. The supply houses in general were cheaper than Home Depot. To my surprise, I saved about 15% from sourcing Sioux Chief from Menards. I will start on the repipe on Monday.
Jeff H Young
In the Trades
I bought online from Menards about 8 years ago I had never heard of them but worked out well saved a few bucks on stuff around the house.
HighqualityPlumbing
Member
My white Uponor pipe installed a few years ago, and also unused new pipe stored in a low light environment (garage), look like this after a few months. I can tell you however that unused pipe kept in the original cardboard box will stay white; so either light or water will cause them to yellow, but not aging alone. I would be curious to see a picture of the pipe that you said you saw that stayed bright white although it carried water. If that was just a result of the lighting situation when looking at it. I still have some unopened, white/translucent pipe from the batch that yellowed quickly when installed. Would be interesting to install both this and a brand new white version of presumably updated Uponor pipe from 2024, and compare if they yellow at different paces.
JohnCT
Still learning..slowly
I'm not a professional, but I've done a fair amount of plumbing over my 67 years owning many properties and some house flipping. I've pretty much only used copper over my lifetime but about 6 years ago I did some PEX Uponor for a friend of mine who added a bathroom to his first level (raised ranch). At that point I bought a Milwaukee expander and heads and plumbed in my buddy's bath. I've used it a few times since in some minor work.
Last year I saw the Uponor pipe I installed at my buddy's house before he finally enclosed it, and I paid close attention to the color of the 5 year old pipe because of all the hoopla about the yellowing.
Even though I've been very vocal and critical about Uponor on this forum, I did not see any yellowing of the pipe I installed at that time. The next time I see him I'll see if I can get a pic of where the PEX is attached to the copper.
John
Master Plumber Mark
Sensitivity trainer and plumber of mens souls
The stuff is gonna last probably around 35 years .... and then the chlorine will start to break it down
or possibly someone in your local city water company utility will make a bad mistake and throw too many additives into the city water and accelerate the process...
I think if you have a new home with wirsbo pex or some other kind of pex that you ought
to invest in a 2 cubic foot back washing chlorine filter on the in coming line to your home
just to take out all the chlorine from your water to be double sure and
it will certainly extend the life span of the pex....
or possibly someone in your local city water company utility will make a bad mistake and throw too many additives into the city water and accelerate the process...
I think if you have a new home with wirsbo pex or some other kind of pex that you ought
to invest in a 2 cubic foot back washing chlorine filter on the in coming line to your home
just to take out all the chlorine from your water to be double sure and
it will certainly extend the life span of the pex....
HighqualityPlumbing
Member
If it was 100% covered with something, then no yellowing is expected. The antioxidants in PEX and plastics in general only yellow from light or chemicals, as far as I know.
If your friend didn't cover it during the 5 years before he finished his house, it would have been grossly negligent, asking for trouble. Was it protected?
HighqualityPlumbing
Member
If I'm not mistaken, testing and extrapolation gives PEX-A a 50 year estimated lifetime under the "worst case" scenarios per specification for pressure, temperature, and chlorine/chloramine concentration. (Although I'm not 100% sure about the conditions of the theoretical 50 year life; please correct me if I'm wrong.)
Most real life parameters for pressure and temperature should be significantly lower than the specified limits.
I'm not sure about Chlorine/chloramine concentrations; U.S. city water (for example Los Angeles) and national limits are more than 10x the limits (for example) in Germany (4 ppm vs 0.3 ppm). I hear that PEX for residential water was only used in the U.S. starting in the 1990ies; so the real data sample of long-term results is not that long.
Nevertheless, if the tests and scientific extrapolations are only remotely accurate and not grossly misrepresented, I would assume at least 50 if not 100 years expected life for most single family home installations. The speed of most chemical reactions increases or decreases proportionally to the square of pressure and temperature, if I'm not mistaken. So 50 psi with a pressure regulator should result in multiple times longer expected life than under marginal conditions close to the design limits.
JohnCT
Still learning..slowly
There was no direct outdoor light, but some artificial lighting. Also, I installed this before the crap started hitting the fan about Uponor. At the time I installed it I hadn't heard a whiff of any kind of issues with it.
John
Master Plumber Mark
Sensitivity trainer and plumber of mens souls
In Europe they do not put as much chlorine and other additives into the drinking water
as we do in the USA..... and it was brought over here back in the late 80s...
Only time will tell how long before the crap hits the fan
Well also , odds are we are both gonna be dead and gone before 50 years passes.....
its not gonna be our problem
JohnCT
Still learning..slowly
Not me, but there are plumbers who have installed PEX in homes that now requires a full repipe in less than 10 years. I'm 67 but plan on living at least ten more ..
John
Master Plumber Mark
Sensitivity trainer and plumber of mens souls
We have a bunch of homes in town that are going bad where they used some kind of ss clamping ring on theNot me, but there are plumbers who have installed PEX in homes that now requires a full repipe in less than 10 years. I'm 67 but plan on living at least ten more ..
John
uponor pipe instead of the expansion rings... and they are going bad left and right and they are less than 15 years old...
now you are 67 and odds are you could make it another 20+ if you take care of yourself , eat right, exercise and stop sniffing
that dam PVC glue every day......you might make it....
the clock is ticking on all of us.....
JohnCT
Still learning..slowly
But I like sniffing glue!!!
I was born with great genetics - I take only a low dose statin for my total meds and have no pain of any kind, but I realize that none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. But I do keep my weight in check (not easy) and I do exercise, but not as much as I really should.
Hopefully we'll all be around a long time. BTW, my mom turns 100 in December!
John
Master Plumber Mark
Sensitivity trainer and plumber of mens souls
I am taking stats too and high blood pressure pills ... they are both dirt cheap
Going to be 71 next may..... I think the glue sniffing in crawl spaces had kind of pickled my innards
and I should live a good while too....... Breathing in the solder and lead fumes seemed to
toughen things up too.....
I am Still doing water heaters and softeners every day and the exercise keeps me in shape...
I think if I sit down it will be the beginning of my demise....
Terry Love was a good friend of mine and I wish he was still around as I
went out to Seattle for about 3 summers in a row and we went hiking around the cascades
and Mt Raineer... In fact terry took the picture I use in my Avatar...
no body knows --- for whom the bell tolls for next...
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