On Nov 25, 7:50*am, brassplyer wrote:
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 opinions?

"Any experiences or opinions?"

I've used them for one project and as far as ease of installation, I
can't say enough good things about them.

I've used compressions fittings and sweated lots of connections, so I
have experience with all three technologies.

Project: Front hose spigot was at street pressure, plumbed before PRV.
Backyard spigot was after PRV, therefore had much less pressure. The
project was to tap into the street pressure pipe at the front of the
house, run a pipe across the basement ceiling - up in the joist bay,
over some duct work, over the I-Beam, over some more duct work, etc.
to the back of the house. I had avoided it for years because it was
going to be a real pain in the arse.

Then I heard about Shark Bites and decided to give them a try.

The first task was to remove the existing pipe and shut-off for the
backyard spigot from the house system. I was watching a football game
when I decided to get started. When a commercial came on, I turned off
the main water valve, cut the pipe to the hose spigot, popped on a
Shark Bite cap and turned the water back on - all before the
commercial was over.

I then sweated a bunch of short pieces of copper together on my
workbench to create a zig-zaggy run to get me from the joist bay down
to where the spigot came out of the wall.

Last Part: I cut the street pressure pipe (up in the cramped junction
of the rim joist and sub-floor) and slipped in a Shark Bite tee.
There's no need to "aim" to tee in the direction you need to go since
the Shark Bite fittings swivel after they are installed. I then ran a
single length of PEX across the basement, used one more Shark Bite
fitting to connect it to the copper set-up I had made earlier and I
was done.

Since both Shark Bite connections were made in very tight quarters but
no sweating or tools were required in those spaces, the job couldn't
have been easier. The single run of PEX, instead of multiple lengths
of copper over the duct work, etc. was a breeze.

As far as longevity, I can only trust that they will last as long as
everyone says they will. As far as installation, as I said, I think
they are perfect for quick jobs and tight spaces.

Yes, they are much more expensive than sweat fittings, but since time
is money in many cases, the time saved with Shark Bites could offset
the cost even on big jobs. I'll leave to some one else to run those
numbers.