PEX WATER SUPPLY PLUMBING SYSTEM

[NELSELGNE]

Free 128 page PDF --  "PEX WATER SUPPLY PLUMBING SYSTEM"
http://www.huduser.org/publications/destech/pex_design_guide.html

[MountainDon]

Thanks for that! I love getting my hands on things like that.    Free!

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks NELSELGNE.  I'm moving this to free stuff so it's easier to find.

[Linda Vista Farm]

Thanks for the link. I needed this.

Johnny

[glenn kangiser]

Welcome to the forum, Johnny.

[glenn kangiser]

More on PEX as I did some today.

Our area is gold country and acidic water along with highly mineralized ground causes copper pipe to dissolve and disappear in a short time -- just a few years.  What I took out today was paper thin and had cracks spewing water.

I will be changing all of the lines in this house but in the meantime I wanted to stop the leak so I didn't have to crawl through mud in the crawl space.  This wall and floor had to come out anyway due to rot and pipes in the wall needing changing.

I ran a new line to the toilet but was not ready to go under the house so I used a repair coupling called a Shark Bite. 



You can see the teeth and seals that make connecting it take about 1 second. 

Here is the pipe I removed along with the manual Uponor/Wirsbo Aquapex tool.



The removal of the Shark Bite coupler only takes a couple seconds with the removal tool -- just slip it over the pipe - push on the collar and pull the fitting off.



http://www.cashacme.com/prod_sharkbite.php

Probably not for everyday use as they are expensive but a good tool to know about.  Around $6.00 each.

http://www.pexsupply.com/categories.asp?cID=596&brandid=

[billr]

Is there a possibility of the PEX pipes having some of the same problems after a few years that the polybutene pipe that was used in the mobile homes some years ago  had? has it been environment tested enough to insure against such failure?

In fact there was a class action lawsuit against the makers of the flexible pipe used in those mobile homes because of constant failure of both the pipe and the fittings.

In my projects over the past few years I have used pvc and cpvc piping with good results. In fact i have a project where pvc and cpvc were used that is now 24 years old with no problems to date.

I was just curious as it can be a problem using a failure prone system hidden within the walls or such. Gets to be a bit of a hassle to replace it.

Peace

BillR

[glenn kangiser]

No chance of that with the PEX.  The only problems with PEX would be in exposing it to UV. 

As I recall from the training session, PEX has been in use in some applications for around 30? years

Not the same animal as the polybutylene.

[MountainDon]

 Right Glenn. PEX has been used in Europe for 30 years or so. No problems there, no lawsuits. Totally different stuff compared to polybutylene.

Wirsbo has had 30 years of experience with it. That seems to be the brand the pro plumbers use around here. That's what they did our re-pipe with.

I got more info on the UV light thing... it's DIRECT sunlight on the pipe that is the problem. Indirect sunlight is apparently not the problem. Got that from Wirsbo.

[glenn kangiser]

That seems to agree with what I see here.  I have some pipes in shade that have no problem.  One in the sun was gone in six months.