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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
Posted to alt.home.repair,misc.consumers.house
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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 |
#6
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 |
#7
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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 |
#8
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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 |
#9
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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#10
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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. |
#11
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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 |
#12
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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 |
#13
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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. |
#14
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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 |
#15
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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#16
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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. |
#17
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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 |
#18
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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 |
#19
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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"? |
#20
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 25, 8:32*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Nov 25, 7:18*pm, RicodJour wrote: Yeah, that's odd. *It wouldn't inspire confidence to see what's really a retrofit fitting used that way. Why do you say that they are "retrofit fittings"? Because I think it is their strongest point, not that they are limited to just that. They're too expensive to plumb an entire house or addition - doesn't make sense financially - and their ability to marry PVC, PEX, and copper makes them ideal for plumbing repair work and transitions from old to new. R |
#21
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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. |
#22
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:19:48 -0600, The Daring Dufas wrote:
I have to wonder what the world would be like if The Roman Empire had endured? I suppose we would be speaking Latin? Greek, more likely. Even at the dawn of the empire, the educated class (which means the governing class) spoke Greek as often as Latin. With the transfer of the capital to Constantinople, the language of government gradually shifted to Greek, though I believe Latin survived longer in the army. -- Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai... |
#23
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On 11/25/2010 10:39 PM, Stan Brown wrote:
On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:19:48 -0600, The Daring Dufas wrote: I have to wonder what the world would be like if The Roman Empire had endured? I suppose we would be speaking Latin? Greek, more likely. Even at the dawn of the empire, the educated class (which means the governing class) spoke Greek as often as Latin. With the transfer of the capital to Constantinople, the language of government gradually shifted to Greek, though I believe Latin survived longer in the army. Well heck, the language of diplomacy was once French. The language of aviation is English except when French pilots refuse to speak it and wind up making a big smoking hole in the ground. :-) TDD |
#24
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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) |
#25
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:37:26 -0800 (PST), Bob Villa
wrote: 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) Hadn't even thought of the poly. I would say the recipe for disaster here includes somebody in a factory shoving them together all day & not paying particular attention to them- the poly instead of a more solid bite like on copper- and then the vibrations. I feel better about mine already.g Thanks. Jim |
#26
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 26, 9:02*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
On Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:37:26 -0800 (PST), Bob Villa wrote: 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) Hadn't even thought of the poly. * * I would say the recipe for disaster here includes somebody in a factory shoving them together all day & not paying particular attention to them- the poly instead of a more solid bite like on copper- and then the vibrations. I feel better about mine already.g *Thanks. The Sharkbite fittings have stainless steel teeth that grab onto the pipe. I could see in an extreme vibration situation like the whirlpool that the teeth would pretty quickly gnaw into the plastic pipe and compromises the hold on the pipe. A recipe for disaster. It makes me wonder who was asleep at the wheel when the decision was made to use that type of fitting in that application. Who was the manufacturer? R |
#27
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 26, 9:15*am, RicodJour wrote:
On Nov 26, 9:02*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote: On Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:37:26 -0800 (PST), Bob Villa wrote: 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) Hadn't even thought of the poly. * * I would say the recipe for disaster here includes somebody in a factory shoving them together all day & not paying particular attention to them- the poly instead of a more solid bite like on copper- and then the vibrations. I feel better about mine already.g *Thanks. The Sharkbite fittings have stainless steel teeth that grab onto the pipe. *I could see in an extreme vibration situation like the whirlpool that the teeth would pretty quickly gnaw into the plastic pipe and compromises the hold on the pipe. *A recipe for disaster. *It makes me wonder who was asleep at the wheel when the decision was made to use that type of fitting in that application. *Who was the manufacturer? R Silcraft/Invacare |
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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 |
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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. |
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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 Nov 25, 9:53*pm, RicodJour wrote:
On Nov 25, 8:32*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote: On Nov 25, 7:18*pm, RicodJour wrote: Yeah, that's odd. *It wouldn't inspire confidence to see what's really a retrofit fitting used that way. Why do you say that they are "retrofit fittings"? Because I think it is their strongest point, not that they are limited to just that. *They're too expensive to plumb an entire house or addition - doesn't make sense financially - and their ability to marry PVC, PEX, and copper makes them ideal for plumbing repair work and transitions from old to new. R "They're too expensive to plumb an entire house or addition...doesn't make sense financially" I'm not arguing, but I'd like to see some actual numbers on that. With long single runs of PEX from a Shark Bite manifold to each fixture, or even a manifold and some Tee's sprinkled in here and there, the *labor* savings would be huge. If the job was priced based on "labor and materials" as opposed to a "per fixture" flat rate I wonder which one would work out better for both the client and the contractor. Two "expensive" Push and Click connections at each end of a 75' twisted run vs. sweating a "cheap" CU connection at each junction. The time savings might well be worth it. I know that from my admittedly limited experience, the extra cost for the Shark Bites vs. how quickly I was done with the job was well worth it - and I was basically working for free. |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
... Of course the flip side is when you luck upon a person who actually knows what he's talking about. Good story. When I run into employees like that I try to find a manager on the way out of the store and tell them how helpful and knowledgeable [Carl, Leroy, Stella] was. It shouldn't be necessary to do that, employees should be helpful and knowledgeable, but these days you need to point out the good ones to make sure they're still there next time. |
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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. |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
On Nov 26, 7:22*pm, wrote:
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? Are you talking about those plastic fittings where the outer shell is pushed forward to install the pipe, and snaps back when the pipe is inserted? *If this is what you mean, I used several of those on a Pex job when I re did my bathroom. *I never wanted to use the PEX in the first place. *The whole house is copper, but several years ago I was out of town when the toilet pipe froze and I had to hire a plumber, and he ran some PEX up to the bathroom. *I intended to rip it out and put in all copper but the driod at the store told me that PEX is the best and did his best to sell me on that crap. *When I found out the cost of the tool to put on the rings, I bought those snap on connectors (which I believe is what you mean). * For the last year since I re-did the bathroom, everytime someone used the shower there was water dripping in basement under the tub. *I caulked and recaulked around the tub suround and bitched at everyone in the house about spraying too much water on the walls. *Last month I finally ripped out the wall behind the tub in the room behind it, and found that snap together connector leaking by the shower head. *The floor under it was getting bad and moldy. *I looks like everytime someone adjusted the shower head, that elbow fitting moved until it was halfway off the pipe. *I relaced the divereter to shower head pipe with copper and have not closed up that wall yet, because I am going to replace all the PEX with copper. *I should have listened to myself and not that droid in the first place. *I wont be using any more of those connectors or for that matter, PEX. * For the past 60 years of my life, plumbing meant solid pipe, not hoses (which is what PEX is). *I'll keep it that way from now on. *Copper costs more, but compared to the cost of those fittings, I would have spent the same amount if I had done what I wanted in the first place, and would not have had to rip open a wall and deal with bad boards and mold inside the wall. *Live and learn !!!! *Newer don't always mean better..... "Are you talking about those plastic fittings where the outer shell is pushed forward to install the pipe, and snaps back when the pipe is inserted?" I'm not sure what fittings you are describing, but these are the ones the rest of us are talking about: http://www.sharkbite.com/ |
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Experiences with, opinions on "Shark Bite" pipe fittings?
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