"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 opinions?

I came home from installing 5 of them for the first time ever the day this
thread started. Due to the fact they were in the middle of CPVC project
they were not ready for a pressure test until Saturday. I was too lazy to
work over the weekend. Today, Monday, 11-29, I pressurized the system no
leaks in any of my glue joints or the sharkbites.

I used them to connect to the short runs of iron pipe inside the walls to
the CPVC and to connect a frost free wall spigot so all of mine are IPS
threads on one side and sharkbites on the other. They are also in the crawl
space so minor leak will create minimal problems. No matter how bad they
may turn out to be over time, I am utterly convinced they are a better
choice then a cpvc/ips adaptor. Time will determine that.

I must admit that I have some minor concerns about the length of time they
will last, but after extensive reading both here and via Google links I am
not overly concerned. We have one failure mentioned in this thread. That
was installed on a slightly curved pipe. Most of the problems mentioned
other places involved PVC, poly, or another pipe. Sharkbites are not
certified for use on any of those, so if you use them there you might
expect a failure. They are certified for CPVC, copper and PEX only.

One last point. They are somewhat new in the US but I read somewhere that
the actual system has close to 15 years of service behind it before its US
introduction.


--
Colbyt
Please come visit http://www.househomerepair.com