Whale and a few other manufactures make push on fittings for PEX type plumbing. Home depot sells Whale fittings for far less than marine stores. I was thinking of using Red and Blue PEX and Whale fittings to replace my old clear reinforced plumbing. We are headed South to Florida in a year or two. Has anyone had experience with this?
Use of PEX fittings
- Thread starter Steve Ord
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the only way to go...it is far better than the gray RV crap, and is very easy to work with...I used a couple of home made manifolds and actually reduced the amount of hose. On my boat it was quite a bit of work, as nothing was in the open and you had all the mouse holes and grids to deal with....
but well worth it, and should last a couple of decades.
go for it, definitely a DIY with a bit of planning and work..
but well worth it, and should last a couple of decades.
go for it, definitely a DIY with a bit of planning and work..
Steve:
I am just wondering what is wrong with the PEX stuff? It has lasted for 30+ years and is usually available in RV & mobile home repair places. Our local Ace Hardware also handles this stuff.
I am just wondering what is wrong with the PEX stuff? It has lasted for 30+ years and is usually available in RV & mobile home repair places. Our local Ace Hardware also handles this stuff.
Ditto!
Watts owns SeaTech and the fittings, in a Watts package, can often be had for less through a P&H wholesaler or on-line.. I would avoid the brass quick connects, Cash Acme/Shark Bite, as they look pretty bad pretty quickly on a boat and make for a less than "professional" looking installation...
3/8" PEX is easier to work with on a boat and buying it in straight 10' lengths makes it far easier to work with than "spools" whether you go with 1/2" or 3/8".. Blue & red for hot cold is an excellent practice..
Great Thanks. I kind of figured it would work but hearing it from someone who has tried it gives me the confidence to try it
1. yes, it has been used in high end homes for some years now...
2. yes, depending on the size and maker, you can get adapters to almost any fitting, I believe you can get valves with pex fittings, I know if you use sharkbites they have valves with pex fitting built in, and if you use the compression ring style you can get valves.
FYI, I have done manifolds that would eliminate some of the valving one sees on the boat, and gives you better options for blowing out the water lines and control of what is working..ie out boat had two heads, one of which we never used, so I just turned off the water to that head at the manifold... and left it "winterized" or blown out.
2. yes, depending on the size and maker, you can get adapters to almost any fitting, I believe you can get valves with pex fittings, I know if you use sharkbites they have valves with pex fitting built in, and if you use the compression ring style you can get valves.
FYI, I have done manifolds that would eliminate some of the valving one sees on the boat, and gives you better options for blowing out the water lines and control of what is working..ie out boat had two heads, one of which we never used, so I just turned off the water to that head at the manifold... and left it "winterized" or blown out.
The problem with PEX was in homes. The material has an issue if it was used in a home that had higher pressures like the city water systems. We have an employee that had her home flooded twice by PEX leaks in a mobile home.
Our boats have had this stuff in them for years without incident (for most of us). The new products are great if you don't have a list 2 yards long of boat projects to do already. Otherwise the PEX may just last for another 30 years
Our boats have had this stuff in them for years without incident (for most of us). The new products are great if you don't have a list 2 yards long of boat projects to do already. Otherwise the PEX may just last for another 30 years
I have a some rental homes, in the midwest, and every winter, if a house was empty, and the heat was off, the plastic pipes would freeze and bust. Sometimes even if the house had renters in it, the pipes would freeze and bust, i started fitting Pex a couple of wintes ago, have not had one problem, the pipes still freeze, they just dont break. I have the crimping tools, using crimp fittings are a lot cheaper than push fittings, but, in awkward spaces, its almost impossible to get the space needed to put on crimps, so that is where you have to use push fittings. To give an example of price difference, a crimp T for half inch pipe, is about a dollar, a push fit T for the same pipe, is about 12 dollars. The pipe is colour coded, with some of it (the white usually) being designated as for potable water.
I have done plumbing, with copper pipe, steel pipe, plastic pipe of various types, but i have never found anything that can be put together as quickly as pex pipe, and that stands up to the extremes of tempratures as well as pex pipe. I have only had one leakage since using it, and that was where a brass fitting joining the pex to the steel pipe, froze and bust.
I have done plumbing, with copper pipe, steel pipe, plastic pipe of various types, but i have never found anything that can be put together as quickly as pex pipe, and that stands up to the extremes of tempratures as well as pex pipe. I have only had one leakage since using it, and that was where a brass fitting joining the pex to the steel pipe, froze and bust.
100psi at 180F
160psi at 74F
and city water systems are higher than this...??
EVERY home should have a pressure reducing valve no matter what the piping used is.
Unless it was poorly installed (most are pressure tested at time of install) or a defective fitting or ring..what was the failure..?? Back in the early 2000, there was some fall out with incorrect size piping and poorly formed and crimped brass rings...again installation issues..
not the pex
160psi at 74F
and city water systems are higher than this...??
EVERY home should have a pressure reducing valve no matter what the piping used is.
Unless it was poorly installed (most are pressure tested at time of install) or a defective fitting or ring..what was the failure..?? Back in the early 2000, there was some fall out with incorrect size piping and poorly formed and crimped brass rings...again installation issues..
not the pex
Are you using Polyalloy
Just to clarify - What are you using if not brass fittings? Polyalloy fittings? with Stainless steel bands? I personnal haven't worked with PEX yet but need to create some manifolds for draining and allowing a bypass of the water heater but is one of the next projects on my list(s).
The problems most speak of were polybutylene pipe and fittings made by companies like Vanguard and Quest, not PEX as we know it today. They were installed in TONS of mobile homes. There was a huge class action against polybutylene.
This is polybutylene, not PEX:
This is PEX and Watts/SeaTech Fittings: (took all of three minutes to make that manifold)
This is a quick connect 1/2" valve:
PEX quick connect
Lots of problem with my friend's 2005 Hunter 33 with the quick connects. Basically if the "outside" of the pipe has even a small nick on it, it will leak. The water tight is held by a small "o" ring.
Last year I help him replaced all the PEX pipes and use brass fittings and compression band collar. Using SS band with clamping pliers sold at HD. The water tightless is ensured by the 3 ridges "inside" of the pipe thus not easy to nick.
And he forgot to completely drain the system and fill with antifreeze. No leak ever.
Lots of problem with my friend's 2005 Hunter 33 with the quick connects. Basically if the "outside" of the pipe has even a small nick on it, it will leak. The water tight is held by a small "o" ring.
Last year I help him replaced all the PEX pipes and use brass fittings and compression band collar. Using SS band with clamping pliers sold at HD. The water tightless is ensured by the 3 ridges "inside" of the pipe thus not easy to nick.
And he forgot to completely drain the system and fill with antifreeze. No leak ever.
MS: Actually I was referring to Quest and not PEX (my mistake). I do not know of any real issues with it in travel trailers/RV & boats. There were plenty of issues in homes.
Probably cheaped out on the proper cutting tool and failed to inspect the pipe before assembly. I have installed tons of quick connects and never once had a single leak. I have even disconnected/reconnected many and still never had a single leak. They are rated for over twice the pressure a boat pump can do and approved for land based plumbing something which takes many years to get approvals on.
One possible cause is metric fittings used on 1/2 PEX...
MS;That might well be the case-our 2002 356 has metric pex and fittings, I'm sure you'd get leaks if you mixed the two
We are currently replacing the 30 year old copper tubing that is our fresh water system with Pex and using the push connections. It's a breeze to install and no leaks so far. I am very glad we decide to go this route. I'm not using red and blue but that is just my choice. The hot water side is done and has been working for a few weeks now. The cold water side will get done in another week or so. I highly recommend this system. Chuck
A few companies brought metric PEX to the "marine" industry to try and lock us in to being slaves to their system. Most P&H wholesalers and home centers do not sell "metric" PEX. This is what many chandleries started out selling "metric". Many now have a mix and some have moved entirely to standard US pipe sizes.
The problem is that many don't know their pipes are metric and when they try to add on leaks happen or failures occur and the "PEX" gets a bad rap.
Watts is a very, very reputable plumbing company and they don't put their name on junk. I've beat on some of these fittings with a hammer to satisfy my curiosity and they are quite rugged..
If anyone wants a FREE spool, approx 30+ feet, of 1/2" blue PEX let me know. I've stopped using "spool" PEX...
One (slightly) desenting viewpoint
My boat came factory with PEX fittings. Mostly very nice and I expect it to last for a very long time.
However the PO though the releasing feature made for easy winterizing, and he took certain fittings apart repeatedly. While you can dissasymble the fittings for repairs, that doesn't mean it should be a regular practice.
The result was intermittent leaks; only while pressurized and sailing HARD, which tends to scatter the evidense of the exact leak location all over. Others would only leak when I wasn't there, or rather the water wouldn't become visible until I returned. It took several seasons to chase them all down. As my boat would other wise have dusty bilge, it was annoying.
Once located, repairs are simple. Where a fitting or valve was needed for winterizing (a suction before the pressure pump, for example) I added what was needed. Why in the world would winterization fittings not be STOCK in a boat built in Canada?
So long as you don't treat them as quick-disconnects, you should be happy.
My boat came factory with PEX fittings. Mostly very nice and I expect it to last for a very long time.
However the PO though the releasing feature made for easy winterizing, and he took certain fittings apart repeatedly. While you can dissasymble the fittings for repairs, that doesn't mean it should be a regular practice.
The result was intermittent leaks; only while pressurized and sailing HARD, which tends to scatter the evidense of the exact leak location all over. Others would only leak when I wasn't there, or rather the water wouldn't become visible until I returned. It took several seasons to chase them all down. As my boat would other wise have dusty bilge, it was annoying.
Once located, repairs are simple. Where a fitting or valve was needed for winterizing (a suction before the pressure pump, for example) I added what was needed. Why in the world would winterization fittings not be STOCK in a boat built in Canada?
So long as you don't treat them as quick-disconnects, you should be happy.
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