wrote in message
...
On Nov 25, 8:20 am, "RBM" wrote:
"brassplyer" wrote in message

...

I needed to replace an outside spigot, was hoping for find one that
used a compression fitting, the guy at Home Depot was trying to sell
me on these Shark Bite pipe fittings.

Seeing that the crucial interface pieces appeared to be some kind of
PVC and an O-ring I was leery, wondering what the long term
dependability of it would be compared to time-tested compression
fittings or soldered joints. "Quick and easy" doesn't inspire trust.
Okay, it works for now, but how's it going to hold up 5, 10, 15 years
from now? You obviously don't want it degrading and springing a leak
inside a wall, perhaps undetected for an extended period while it
causes water damage.

Any experiences or opinion

I have the same doubts as you do, but as an electrician that does tons of
work with plumbers, I can tell you that they all love the stuff, they
swear
by it, and assure me that it won't fall apart ten years from now. I'm
still
a skeptic, but for whatever reason, the stuff has made believers out of
plumbers.

Like you and RBM, I have my doubts too. I'd use one if it made a job
a lot easier, but it wouldn't be my first choice. AFAIK, they are
relatively new and I haven't seen anything showing a history of
decades of reliability.

A little story here to amuse too. There's a local ACE hardware store
that's a real pain in the ass. Everytime you walk in, one of the
village idiot store employees walks up and asks if they can help
you. That's fine, to a point. But they can't just point you to the
isle and get lost. Instead, they like to start asking all kinds of
questions, try to re-engineer what you're doing, when they are totally
clueless. As an example, I went in and was looking for screws. The
guy comes over and asks if I need help. I tell him I'm looking for
round headed wood screws. He shows me flat headed ones, which I
already saw. Then, he looks at me like he never heard of or saw a
round headed one. Next, he's asking what it is I'm doing and starts
recommending sheet metal screws.

On another trip, this same idiot was recommending those Shark Bite
fittings, telling me how wonderful they are, how he uses them at the
local school. On that trip I was looking for a pressure gauge for a
residential water system and he had told me a couple minutes before
that city water pressure is about 2 PSI......

Bottom line, there is no history. I'm sure back in time someone, somewhere
said: It's galvanized, can't rust, it'll last forever