Re: Plumbing / Pex And Soldering Copper

Posted by kcm.MN on February 26, 2018 at 05:15:07 from (174.219.140.238):

In Reply to: Plumbing / Pex And Soldering Copper posted by Whizkidkyus on February 26, 2018 at 02:57:05:

First things first -- I wholeheartedly agree with the other posts. Do more research so that you can understand what's going on, whether you choose to do the job yourself or not.

Which is better , PVC or PEX ?

Looks like I'll have to use PEX as I can't get the wall open enough and will have to feed it through the wall and PEX has a little more flexability .

Well, one down. *lol* At least we can assume PEX, according to your words.

shark bite fittings or the cheaper ones ?

I've never used Shark Bite fittings, and likely never will. Am also fairly new to using PEX but it's getting pretty dang hard to find what I need in anything but PEX anymore! I have re-done some of the plumbing of the house and still have more to go so I have invested in the proper crimping tools for the jobs I have. If only a few fittings, then likely to not ever use PEX again (or not for many years), my "personal opinion" is that a person would be foolish to shell out for the tools when the Shark Bite fittings are there and will make the job go faster/easier.

Also , I have a Copper T connecter leaking after no telling how many years ! I was told that there was two types of copper lines - soft and hard and one will swell up and not fit connectors that I might buy in advance ! Is this true ?

Can't say. You probably know as much about PEX as I do about copper. *lol*

They told me to clean off line around leak and try resoldering it first using MAP gas as it is hotter and it might reseal that way before I cut lines . Small leak .

First off, who is "They"?!?!?!?!?!?????? If it's the same "they" I've listened to in the past, "they" tend to leave out juuuuuust enough information to get me into trouble! :wink: CAN it be re-soldered? Can't say. What I "DO" know is, you best be real careful if you try this. I've seen actual plumbers in real life who weren't paying close enough attention and caught stuff on fire that they didn't intend to. Heard of one guy who was real experienced and thought he'd try sweating a fitting in a tight area, difficult to see into. Flame heated up the wood (or "something"), wood? smoldered for several hours, then the building burnt down later. Personally, I think Mr. Murphy had a hand in this. (you know...Murphy's law?)

Both lines or 1/2 inch at least or next size down .

Say again?? In any case, if you're only feeding a bathroom sink, the feeder line coming from the main water line (a few feet long) can be as small as 3/8". Personally, I would go with 1/2", if possible.

Also , how hard is it to connect PVC or copper to PEX and splice in new work with PEX to old work wheather it be PVC or PEX ? What about to galvanized pipe ? It's an old farm house in the country .

Again, this is somewhat confusing....but I think I understand. Firstly, don't matter if old farmhouse or not. Matters much more what existing plumbing is. If existing plumbing is all copper, then one should "try" to stay with copper. However, as you mentioned initially, inaccessibility and having to bend the pipe probably means having to use something like PEX, since it's available. As for how difficult it is connecting between the various types of piping, it's not, really. There are ample fittings out there to go from any one to any other, SO LONG AS the person knows/understands what they're doing. There are even Shark Bite fittings that go from copper to PEX.

Now, to throw yet ANOTHER monkey wrench into the mix, you need to know that there are two different kinds of PEX tubing; Barrier and Non-Barrier. I'm not gonna even try to get into that, as 1) it's beyond my comfort zone and 2) .....see, I don't even know enough to know what #2 is. *lol* If you have an active leak, how bad is it? If bad enough that you fear water damage, turn off the water and call a Pro ASAP. If it's just leaking harmlessly into an unfinished basement or crawl space, then you might have time to study up on things. I say "might" because without actually seeing what you have, nobody on planet Earth could know if the existing plumbing is solid-but-leaking, or about to burst open and flood the house. You're there -- use your best guess.

One final word: "IF" you attempt to make the repair(s) yourself, and "IF" any of this includes sweating a fitting, then I cannot emphasize enough for you to buy some extra fittings (cheapest size and shape you can find) and practice sweating joints OUTSIDE of your home!! Otherwise, you might end up adding another 1/2-hour of charges to the Pro who does the re-work.

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