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Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted
Is this a thing now to use only the Sharkbite compression type stuff? Twice now I've had some work done in my house by a guy who goes to our church who is a plumber, he does great work but doesn't appear to ever solder anything? He's done a hose bib and a hookup to our fridge for water/ice that he had to do below in basement and both times he's cut the copper supply line but the T fitting that goes on is a compression, not soldered on. Is this stuff good to go? I have zero experience with it.


 
Posts: 33608 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Three Generations
of Service
Picture of PHPaul
posted Hide Post
IANAPlumber, but I LOVE sharkbites for re-work, copper or PEX.

Haven't had one leak yet.




Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
 
Posts: 15181 | Location: Downeast Maine | Registered: March 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Raised Hands Surround Us
Three Nails To Protect Us
Picture of Black92LX
posted Hide Post
Work smarter not harder.
Shark bites just flat work and generally take less time then soldering.
Cost a bit more but on small jobs it is no big deal. Plumbing new construction not so much.


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Posts: 25354 | Registered: September 06, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted Hide Post
I looked at both fittings and they appear to be what's called NIBCO PressSystem?



 
Posts: 33608 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of ibexsig
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Tried and true. We use it at my work all the time for plumbing. Works great in places you don't want any heat from a torch.
 
Posts: 315 | Location: NE Wisconsin | Registered: January 26, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Is this stuff good to go? I have zero experience with it.

Their seal relies on an O-ring. Would you want a new house with a couple hundred of them buried in the walls? But ain't they convenient...
No, I'm not a plumber


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Posts: 5785 | Location: Pegram, TN | Registered: March 17, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fortified with Sleestak
Picture of thunderson
posted Hide Post
I was skeptical the first time I used them, I'm a believer now.

As far as soldering goes, if they're not using press fittings they're using pex line. I would guess that copper is reserved for special applications or customers who insist on it.



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Posts: 5371 | Location: Shenandoah Valley, VA | Registered: November 05, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
It's not you,
it's me.
Picture of RAMIUS
posted Hide Post
In my limited experience, it's good stuff.

I briefly worked with plumbers in between jobs a few years back and they loved it.

I actually broke a pipe and had hot water spraying all over the place, it was a massive old apartment building and the water could not be shut off quickly for some reason, as I was screaming for help, plumber arrived and fixed the pipe quickly with a shark bite thingy.
 
Posts: 7016 | Location: Right outside Philly | Registered: September 08, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
I have done hundreds of copper fittings with solder and have also used the shark bite fittings. Sometimes doing remodeling work a copper line needs cut and something added. For soldering that line needs to be dry inside and out, otherwise the solder won’t work. I can spend an hour trying to get all the water out, finally put flux, heat and solder to it and have steam/water start bubbling out. This means starting over to get more water out.

Or, I can cut the line, file the sharp edges smooth and slip a shark bite fitting on - doing all of the connection in about two minutes. Now, as a plumber, let’s say $50/hr. do you want me to solder or use a $8 shark bite fitting?
 
Posts: 2130 | Location: south central Pennsylvania | Registered: November 05, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Mired in the
Fog of Lucidity
posted Hide Post
If your pipes ever freeze you'll be glad you had PEX! It will expand and contract but will not split, at least in my experience.
 
Posts: 4850 | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His diet consists of black
coffee, and sarcasm.
Picture of egregore
posted Hide Post
No sense in soldering if technology has advanced. Soldering with a torch makes it give off metal and flux fumes. I'd guess many older plumbers are walking lead mines after a lifetime.
 
Posts: 27834 | Location: Johnson City/Elizabethton, TN | Registered: April 28, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
posted Hide Post
hard PEX and compression fittings are the way to go. Just remember to clean the compression fitting and the PEX itself

leak tight in a fraction of the time



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


 
Posts: 53086 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
I have no data points to back this up, but I have read that sharkbites or their equivalent would be fine indefinitely in an indoor environment. It's where that o-ring is exposed to sunlight or weathering that I would start worrying.

I think it would be like rubber washers in a valve - inside the house, 30 years with no problem. Out in the garden hose, two years is about it.


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Posts: 2064 | Location: The Sticks in Wisconsin. | Registered: September 30, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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GTG, no worries.




 
Posts: 10045 | Registered: October 15, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Essayons
Picture of SapperSteel
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by egregore:
No sense in soldering if technology has advanced. Soldering with a torch makes it give off metal and flux fumes. I'd guess many older plumbers are walking lead mines after a lifetime.


Generally agree, BUT: These connections may not age well. If you care about leaks 100 years from now, then it matters. But if you think your house will be gone before then, then the shark bite connectors are a perfect solution.
 
Posts: 3452 | Location: Arimo, Idaho | Registered: February 03, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of wrightd
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Regardless, isn't solderered copper the best there is ?




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Posts: 8634 | Location: Nowhere the constitution is not honored | Registered: February 01, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of lastmanstanding
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My son in law is a plumber. We remodeled our downstairs bathroom a couple years ago. Lots of joints all compression seals. Not one problem in a few years now.


"Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton
 
Posts: 8504 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: June 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nosce te ipsum
Picture of Woodman
posted Hide Post
Press-fittings are different than Sharkbite, I *think*. And they are not cheap. But a tiny drip through the line is no obstacle, like it would be with soldering.

I've seen them on commercial jobs where-as Sharkbite are not approved.
 
Posts: 8759 | Registered: March 24, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Too soon old,
Too late smart
posted Hide Post
This may be outdated information or maybe varies by locality, but I seem to remember some years ago that compression fittings in concealed areas were not permitted.


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Posts: 1487 | Location: NoVa | Registered: March 14, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of JasonATI
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The press fittings are not that expensive but the tools I've seen were over $500.

They have to use them in places where you can't us a torch like in a hospital.
 
Posts: 428 | Location: South Dakota | Registered: October 13, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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