sawney beane wrote:

wrote:
sawney beane wrote:

I've read that plumbers preferred polybutylene because homeowners can't
get the crimpers. That's why I was unable to replace my water heater
myself. It would be nice to have pipes I could fix myself.

Why not just use the Qest (sp?) compression fittings? No crimper
required. I've used pb with compression fittings for at least 20
years. No leaks, no splits, no drips. Oh yeah, and no water hammer and
no pipe sweating but they're advantages of pb (and PEX), not the
fittings.

You've made my day. I'm confident that I can work with compression
fittings. If I begin to have trouble with my PB, compression fittings
will allow me to replace it piecemeal, and I can replace a water heater
without calling the plumber.

Glad to be of help. BTW if you do continue with the Qest fittings
you'll find that you can make the transition to brass (or copper) by
using one half of a brass union (the non-moveable part) and just the
nut, stainless ring, and the bungee-thingee (technical term g --
it's the part that slips on the pipe and actually forms the seal) from
the Qest fitting. That way you buy one Qest tee and it gives you three
nuts to transition to the brass/copper.