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#1
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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? |
#2
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
"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. |
#3
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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...... |
#4
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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 |
#5
Posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 25, 9:46*am, "RBM" wrote:
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 Yeah, that was back in the good old days before water supply and distribution became a chemistry experiment... ~~ Evan |
#6
Posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
RBM wrote:
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. Don't even get me started on that! My (now) standard response for the inevitable "what are you doing" question is to reply with "I'm just trying to see what you have right now." It usually gives them enough of a clue to go away. Until the next helpful little butterfly tries to land on me. Jon |
#7
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 26, 12:18*pm, "Jon Danniken"
wrote: RBM wrote: 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. *Don't even get me started on that! *My (now) standard response for the inevitable "what are you doing" question is to reply with "I'm just trying to see what you have right now." It usually gives them enough of a clue to go away. *Until the next helpful little butterfly tries to land on me. Jon Of course the flip side is when you luck upon a person who actually knows what he's talking about. When I was browsing the Home Depot plumbing department and looking into the Shark Bites for the project I mentioned earlier, an employee asked me what I was planning on using them for. Not only did he know all about the Shark Bites, he saved me some money by pointing out the "hidden" stash of shorter lengths of PEX. Prominently displayed were the 10' straight lengths and the 50' & 100' rolls. When I said that I would need three 10 footers and a couple of in-line Shark Bites to make up my 22' length, he pointed me towards the barely-labeled boxed rolls of 25' that were down on the bottom shelf. Between the cheaper PEX and the elimination of two $6 fittings, he probably saved me close to 50% on this small project. When I playing with the Shark Bite tee and thought out loud about "aiming" it so I could attached the PEX, it was he that pointed out that they swivel so no "aiming" was required. Had I gotten home and found that the fitting was "loose" on the pipe, I probably would have panicked. Sometimes you just never know who knows what. |
#8
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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#9
Posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 25, 1:25*pm, The Daring Dufas
wrote: On 11/25/2010 7:37 AM, wrote: 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...... Don't throw out the baby with the bath water - if the guy's an idjit, that doesn't mean everything they mention is crap. It wasn't clear from your post - have you ever tried a Sharkbite fitting? The city of ancient Rome? :-) Did you ever see the height of some of those aqueducts? I wonder if they were able to develop a pressurized water distribution system. 100' high aqueduct would provide over 40 psi. I wonder if the Romans had pressure washers...? R |
#10
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On 11/25/2010 1:13 PM, RicodJour wrote:
On Nov 25, 1:25 pm, The Daring wrote: On 11/25/2010 7:37 AM, wrote: 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...... Don't throw out the baby with the bath water - if the guy's an idjit, that doesn't mean everything they mention is crap. It wasn't clear from your post - have you ever tried a Sharkbite fitting? The city of ancient Rome? :-) Did you ever see the height of some of those aqueducts? I wonder if they were able to develop a pressurized water distribution system. 100' high aqueduct would provide over 40 psi. I wonder if the Romans had pressure washers...? R I could have sworn that I read or saw a documentary showing that there is an original Roman fountain that is still flowing without interruption in the same location it was built centuries ago but I couldn't find a reference with a quick search. I did find that some have been moved and or restored. I do think that their high tech lead pipes, dinnerware and lead containing food and drink may have caused their slow decline. I have to wonder what the world would be like if The Roman Empire had endured? I suppose we would be speaking Latin? Remember the Star Trek episode "Bread and Circuses" from the original series showing Romans with machine guns and televised gladiatorial fights? 8-) TDD |
#11
Posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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. Well, the "failure mechnism" of an o-ring seal is wear of the o-ring with pressure fluxuations. But in a domestic water situation, the temperatures do change much and the pressures aren't extreme. That minimizes wear and fatigue. IOW: it's a near static situation. The "record" in static situation for O-rings it quite outstanding: WWII aircraft found in deserts after 50+ years still had charged accumulators (nitrogen over hydrollic oil). Over the past decades plumbers have had to replace gross amounts of plactic plumbing from problems that showed up after 5+ years. Compared to that, I would expect the o-rings to outlast any plastic pipe. |
#12
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 26, 5:14*pm, "John Gilmer" wrote:
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. Well, the "failure mechnism" of an o-ring seal is wear of the o-ring with pressure fluxuations. * *But in a domestic water situation, the temperatures do change much and the pressures aren't extreme. * That minimizes wear and fatigue. IOW: *it's a near static situation. The "record" in static situation for O-rings it quite outstanding: * WWII aircraft found in deserts after 50+ years still had charged accumulators (nitrogen over hydrollic oil). Over the past decades plumbers have had to replace gross amounts of plactic plumbing from problems that showed up after 5+ years. * Compared to that, I would expect the o-rings to outlast any plastic pipe. Scratching the O-ring during installation is probably the biggest concern - or scratching the pipe badly enough to compromise the O-ring seal. Cash Acme wants to sell you their nifty little deburring tool. R |
#13
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
Scratching the O-ring during installation is probably the biggest
concern - or scratching the pipe badly enough to compromise the O-ring seal. Cash Acme wants to sell you their nifty little deburring tool. The really, really neat thing about O-rings is that small scratches just don't seem to make any difference. If there is an excessive gap under higher pressures the o-ring might be extruded into the gap. But, yeah, a cut (not a scratch) in the o-ring may well make it leak. R |
#15
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:04:25 GMT, Red Green
wrote: brassplyer wrote in news:cde6b25b-0278-468d-bdac- : 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 wouldn't want one in my wall, difficult to access location, location where failure could cause a lot of damage, etc. Plumbers love the stuff and they swear by it? Like they did with polybutylene pipes and fittings? Sweating works. Proven for decades. Assume what you have now is Cu. Sweat coupling/elbow .50-1.00 Sharkbite fittings http://www.plumbingsupply.com/shark-bite-fittings.html Guess I'm just old and inflexible. I remember my grandfather telling us if you put that water paint (latex) on something outside it will wash off when it rains. You're a modernist. I still prefer galvanized. It works too. --Vic |
#16
Posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
"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 had to crawl under my cabin to repair a water line that froze and burst. I went to buy the parts, compression fittings, and when I saw the sharkbites, was a little skeptical, but got them anyway. Talk about sweet. Not sure about longevity, but after three years, mine's still holding. It saved a ton of work from not having to pull a lot of line to get it to where I could sweat it safely. Steve Heart surgery pending? Read up and prepare. Learn how to care for a friend. http://cabgbypasssurgery.com |
#17
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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? I love the things for some applications. If you're doing a largish job the fitting cost will add up very quickly, but for smaller jobs, particularly repairs, they're a godsend. Snip, snip, click, done. As far as the longevity, Cash Acme has been around for a hundred years and the fittings come with a 25 year warranty. I know warranties always exclude anything but product replacement, but if the product is defective a class action suit will bring almost any company to its knees, so I doubt Cash Acme took the long warranty lightly. There's not a lot that can go wrong with the fittings. As long as care is taken to make clean cuts and debur the pipe inside and out, then it's all up to the EPDM O-ring - and there's a long positive history on those under a lot tougher conditions than residential water temps and pressures. As far as guarantees, there are none. Not too long ago I had to open up a ceiling, then a tiled tub apron, to get to a sweated copper fitting that the plumber had gotten _almost_ 100% good. It lasted for more than three years before the leak showed up. He was a good plumber, had used him on projects for 20 years and he wasn't rushing. Stuff happens. R |
#18
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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. |
#19
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 04:50:52 -0800 (PST), 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? I've used a few in places where soldering or compression fittings would have been extremely difficult if not impossible. So far no problems, but tney are not 20 years old yet, either. Personally I don't like compression fittings. My experience is they "always" leak. Very, very little, but enough that after a few years there is green-white corrosion / mineral deposit all around them. Whenever possible, on copper plumbing, I solder. As for springing a leak inside a wall, copper pipe has been known to do that too. So has galvanized iron pipe. |
#20
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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#21
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 25, 4:48*pm, Red Green wrote:
Guess I'll have to give Sharkbites a try some day. Seems the majority of experiences from this group and external are positive. Problem is I'm to frikkin cheap to try them. Besides, how can Sharkbites replace being a real man with a torch and melting metel :-) We have an Invacare whirlpool tub at work that had Sharkbite fittings on the sanitizer system and had one leak after a year and a different one fail at about 2+ years. I wasn't impressed with them being used on a commercial unit. |
#22
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 25, 6:13*pm, Bob Villa wrote:
On Nov 25, 4:48*pm, Red Green wrote: Guess I'll have to give Sharkbites a try some day. Seems the majority of experiences from this group and external are positive. Problem is I'm to frikkin cheap to try them. Besides, how can Sharkbites replace being a real man with a torch and melting metel :-) We have an Invacare whirlpool tub at work that had Sharkbite fittings on the sanitizer system and had one leak after a year and a different one fail at about 2+ years. I wasn't impressed with them being used on a commercial unit. Yeah, that's odd. It wouldn't inspire confidence to see what's really a retrofit fitting used that way. R |
#23
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 25, 7:18*pm, RicodJour wrote:
On Nov 25, 6:13*pm, Bob Villa wrote: On Nov 25, 4:48*pm, Red Green wrote: Guess I'll have to give Sharkbites a try some day. Seems the majority of experiences from this group and external are positive. Problem is I'm to frikkin cheap to try them. Besides, how can Sharkbites replace being a real man with a torch and melting metel :-) We have an Invacare whirlpool tub at work that had Sharkbite fittings on the sanitizer system and had one leak after a year and a different one fail at about 2+ years. I wasn't impressed with them being used on a commercial unit. Yeah, that's odd. *It wouldn't inspire confidence to see what's really a retrofit fitting used that way. R Why do you say that they are "retrofit fittings"? |
#24
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 25, 6:18*pm, RicodJour wrote:
On Nov 25, 6:13*pm, Bob Villa wrote: On Nov 25, 4:48*pm, Red Green wrote: Guess I'll have to give Sharkbites a try some day. Seems the majority of experiences from this group and external are positive. Problem is I'm to frikkin cheap to try them. Besides, how can Sharkbites replace being a real man with a torch and melting metel :-) We have an Invacare whirlpool tub at work that had Sharkbite fittings on the sanitizer system and had one leak after a year and a different one fail at about 2+ years. I wasn't impressed with them being used on a commercial unit. Yeah, that's odd. *It wouldn't inspire confidence to see what's really a retrofit fitting used that way. R From what I have read, it seems like any installation that has vibrations would be suspect. Also, I wonder how often they are assembled without thoroughly deburring the pipes they are joining. |
#25
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:13:58 -0800 (PST), Bob Villa
wrote: On Nov 25, 4:48*pm, Red Green wrote: Guess I'll have to give Sharkbites a try some day. Seems the majority of experiences from this group and external are positive. Problem is I'm to frikkin cheap to try them. Besides, how can Sharkbites replace being a real man with a torch and melting metel :-) We have an Invacare whirlpool tub at work that had Sharkbite fittings on the sanitizer system and had one leak after a year and a different one fail at about 2+ years. I wasn't impressed with them being used on a commercial unit. A couple questions. Were these *real* sharkbites, or 'sharkbite type'? Installed at the factory, or during the site install? Were they in a spot that might be getting some vibration from the whirlpool? I've got just one in my house- in a spot I dread having to solder- though I will if I ever get a drip, but it has been a few years now. Maybe by then they'll have waterproof duct tape.g Jim |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
Jim wanted to know...
A couple questions. Were these *real* sharkbites, or 'sharkbite type'? Installed at the factory, or during the site install? Were they in a spot that might be getting some vibration from the whirlpool? These are "actual" SharkBites installed at the factory used on 1/4" poly tubing subject to pump vibration within inches of the sanitizer. (So they probably lose their grip on the polyethylene) |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. Jeff |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 28, 10:32*am, Jeff Thies wrote:
On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. *Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. * *Jeff "I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail" I don't think it's really fair to say that the "Shark Bite failed". I know it could be considered semantics, but to say that the "Shark Bite failed" tends to point blame at the Shark Bite when, by your own implied admission, you didn't follow the installation instructions. You can't blame the Shark Bite for that. |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On 11/28/2010 11:23 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Nov 28, 10:32 am, Jeff wrote: On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. Jeff "I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail" I don't think it's really fair to say that the "Shark Bite failed". I know it could be considered semantics, but to say that the "Shark Bite failed" tends to point blame at the Shark Bite when, by your own implied admission, you didn't follow the installation instructions. You can't blame the Shark Bite for that. I don't blame them in the least, although I never saw the instructions. I just hit the limit of what was possible. It still sort of worked. Jeff |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Sun, 28 Nov 2010 08:23:28 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote: On Nov 28, 10:32Â*am, Jeff Thies wrote: On 11/25/2010 7:50 AM, brassplyer wrote: I needed to replace an outside spigot, was hoping for find one that used a compression fitting, Â*the guy at Home Depot was trying to sell me on these Shark Bite pipe fittings. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. Â*Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. Â* Â*Jeff "I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail" I don't think it's really fair to say that the "Shark Bite failed". I know it could be considered semantics, but to say that the "Shark Bite failed" tends to point blame at the Shark Bite when, by your own implied admission, you didn't follow the installation instructions. You can't blame the Shark Bite for that. It would be safe and accurate to say the "sharkbite installation failed" |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
wrote in message ... On Sun, 28 Nov 2010 08:23:28 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03 wrote: On Nov 28, 10:32 am, Jeff Thies wrote: On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. Jeff "I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail" I don't think it's really fair to say that the "Shark Bite failed". I know it could be considered semantics, but to say that the "Shark Bite failed" tends to point blame at the Shark Bite when, by your own implied admission, you didn't follow the installation instructions. You can't blame the Shark Bite for that. It would be safe and accurate to say the "sharkbite installation failed" Or, it would be safe and accurate to say that "Sharkbites may not work on applications where tubing is crushed, bent, curved, out of round, corroded, punctured, folded, mutilated, split, expanded past its original diameter, or otherwise junk." |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
I'm remembering an old jingle from years ago, "do not fold, bent,
spindle, or mutilate". My general sense with Sharkbite, is that a couple years from now the shark teeth will corrode. And a lot of fittings will be popping off. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org .. "Steve B" wrote in message ... Or, it would be safe and accurate to say that "Sharkbites may not work on applications where tubing is crushed, bent, curved, out of round, corroded, punctured, folded, mutilated, split, expanded past its original diameter, or otherwise junk." |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On 11/28/2010 4:08 PM, Steve B wrote:
wrote in message ... On Sun, 28 Nov 2010 08:23:28 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03 wrote: On Nov 28, 10:32 am, Jeff wrote: On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. Jeff "I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail" I don't think it's really fair to say that the "Shark Bite failed". I know it could be considered semantics, but to say that the "Shark Bite failed" tends to point blame at the Shark Bite when, by your own implied admission, you didn't follow the installation instructions. You can't blame the Shark Bite for that. It would be safe and accurate to say the "sharkbite installation failed" Or, it would be safe and accurate to say that "Sharkbites may not work on applications where tubing is crushed, bent, curved, out of round, corroded, punctured, folded, mutilated, split, expanded past its original diameter, or otherwise junk." I cut the line back to where it was relatively straight, perhaps a radius of 6'. Not obviously visually out of round, but I don't doubt that it was. It installed easily and is impossible to take apart, but it did leak. Remarkable devises, but not "fool" proof, but what is? Jeff |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Sun, 28 Nov 2010 08:23:28 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote: On Nov 28, 10:32*am, Jeff Thies wrote: On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. *Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. * *Jeff "I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail" I don't think it's really fair to say that the "Shark Bite failed". I know it could be considered semantics, but to say that the "Shark Bite failed" tends to point blame at the Shark Bite when, by your own implied admission, you didn't follow the installation instructions. You can't blame the Shark Bite for that. The original poster doesn't say, but perhaps the distortion of the copper pipe was only evident on minute inspection. With soldering, little deformities don't make a difference for normal home pressures and reliability needs. |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
"Jeff Thies" wrote in message ... On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. Jeff Most copper connectors would have failed on tubing with a slight curve and not quite round. Steve |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
"Steve B" wrote in message ... "Jeff Thies" wrote in message ... On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. Jeff Most copper connectors would have failed on tubing with a slight curve and not quite round. Steve 100% agreement from me. I have experienced problems with standard compression fittings in that same case. Colbyt |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Sun, 28 Nov 2010 16:50:49 -0500, "Colbyt"
wrote: "Steve B" wrote in message ... "Jeff Thies" wrote in message ... On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. Jeff Most copper connectors would have failed on tubing with a slight curve and not quite round. Steve 100% agreement from me. I have experienced problems with standard compression fittings in that same case. Colbyt I've experienced failures of standard compression joints when the tubing was round and straight. |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
wrote in message ... On Sun, 28 Nov 2010 16:50:49 -0500, "Colbyt" wrote: "Steve B" wrote in message ... "Jeff Thies" wrote in message ... On 11/25/2010 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. I may be the only one who has had a shark bite fail. It was on a copper line that had a slight curve in it and it was not quite round. Leaked immediately. Not a lot, but enough. Jeff Most copper connectors would have failed on tubing with a slight curve and not quite round. Steve 100% agreement from me. I have experienced problems with standard compression fittings in that same case. Colbyt I've experienced failures of standard compression joints when the tubing was round and straight. In those cases, you "expect" it to work. In cases of miscut or bent tubing, it's just a Hail Mary pass. I think actually that a lot of failures come from the cutting process, and that is crushing or malformation of the tube that comes from trying to cut it too fast. Steve |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
"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 |
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