Questions at bottom, details in body:

I had a pinhole leak in line from meter to the house. After locating the leak and seeing 3/4" blue plastic pipe, I assumed PEX and off to Home Depot I went for parts. Upon returning home, I cut the pipe. It didn't cut like PEX, it short of squeezed before cutting. The O. D. is the same as PEX, but the I. D. is larger. The wall thickness seems to be about half that of the PEX I bought, so the coupling and pinch clamps didn't resolve the problem and back to Home Depot I go.

I picked up a 3/4" shark bite coupling and a 3/4" PVC compression coupling and crossed my fingers. After cutting out the first repair, I didn't have enough pipe to use one of the new repair methods. I cut in some PEX, and went mystery pipe --> PEX (via PVC compression) then PEX --> mystery pipe (via shark bite coupling). It has held overnight without issue.

My questions are:
Any idea what the mystery pipe is? Says 3/4" service line pipe and then lists 180psi at 73° F as max pressure. Beyond that, it is all numbers like a catalog or serial number. Can't find type anywhere.

How long should I wait before trusting the fix to not be temporary? I do want to scrap the compression fitting for another shark bite and tape them, but is this repair a pass fail or will time and pressure push things apart?

Thanks in advance.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ffips, June 20, 2018 07:04 PM

Perhaps its Polybutylene pipe? If so, most property owners are replacing it entirely,

Was the house built between 1978-1995?

Poly was before PEX and has a larger ID.
HD should have couplers to connect Poly to PEX. The normal Sharkbite couplers have a tan release ring. The Poly Sharkbites have a gray release ring.

Part number U4016LFA
www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-...0632-_-202270633-_-N

quote:

Originally posted by mjlennon:
Perhaps its Polybutylene pipe? If so, most property owners are replacing it entirely,

Was the house built between 1978-1995?

House was built in 1999. Giving a +/- of 2 years would be 1997~2001. Some concrete has a 1998 in it.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Poly was before PEX and has a larger ID.
HD should have couplers to connect Poly to PEX. The normal Sharkbite couplers have a tan release ring. The Poly Sharkbites have a gray release ring.

Part number U4016LFA
www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-...0632-_-202270633-_-N

I had two of those in my hand last night before the Home Depot employee convinced me I wasn't dealing in poly.

Are the tolerances tight enough to use the PEX/PEX coupling?

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:

I had two of those in my hand last night before the Home Depot employee convinced me I wasn't dealing in poly.

Are the tolerances tight enough to use the PEX/PEX coupling?

Most HD guys need to stick with stocking the shelves.

If you're asking, is it ok to use a PEX fitting on Poly, no. It would probably work for a while but the connector will not support the tubing properly. If it did, they wouldn't offer a fitting specifically made for Poly.

I will gather the PEX/Poly fittings and replumb tonight. Hopefully there isn't a blowout before then.

Working on adding photos, stay tuned.

Poli was a choice of some builders around here,its crap.
You can count on more leaks in the future.
you might plan ahead for replacing it,from the street to the home.

Before cutting:


Pipe markings:




Current repair:

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:
Poli was a choice of some builders around here,its crap.
You can count on more leaks in the future.
you might plan ahead for replacing it,from the street to the home.

That's great intel, I appreciate the heads up. Might be a weekend project in near future.

PB2110 is definitely Poly.

HD will also have the crimp type coupling adapters, if you prefer.
UC4016LFA
www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-...-UC4016LFA/202270594

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
PB2110 is definitely Poly.

HD will also have the crimp type coupling adapters, if you prefer.
UC4016LFA
www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-...-UC4016LFA/202270594

Thank you for the confirmation, I hadn't thought to Google PB2110.

I will temp fix with some Sharkbite push ons and replace the line sometime prior to fall.

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:
...snip...

I will temp fix with some Sharkbite push ons and replace the line sometime prior to fall.
FIX AS SOON AS THE 811 LOCATE CLEARS.

FIFM

Wife came home to house being pressure washed by burst line. A crack appeared 6" upstream from my repair. Quote of $4500 to trench (497') new 1" PEX line from meter to house. Looks like I dawn the CLAB hat for the next few days. At least I can use PTO so I get paid to be my CLAB.

Second quote of $2600, that is getting closer to someone else plumbing for me.

Anyone have ball park rates for 1" PEX installed ug?

It's Summer time, find a couple kids with muscles and git-r-dun. Bet you could get it done quick, cheap and they'd feel as if they hit the lotto.

Is PEX the go to for house supply lines now?

Is it the go to for wells also?

The plumber suggested going from 3/4" to 1" due to length of run and nimber of bathrooms.

He also suggested black service poly instead of PEX due to service pressures. Past a regulator, PEX should be good to go.

I am gonna while I am still not thrilled with watching $1600 vanish, I am also not in a hurry to trench 550' and the backfill it.