Oetiker PEX Clamps & PEX repairs

[WFD]

Originally Posted by esmoglo

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful insight. I purchased 10ft of red PEX and 10ft of blue PEX from Home Depot for $6 bucks this stuff is dirt dirt cheap.

Will order the crimping tool from Amazon all I need are a few fittings and I have an RV emergency plumbing kit that will stay on the RV. Will make the appropriate repairs within the next few weeks and post my progress.

Keep in mind that there are many spots in your trailer will you will be hard pressed to get your crimping tool in place in order to open it up enough to perform the crimp on the ring. That was my case, therefore the Shark Bite made total sense. So even if you have the crimping tool, there may be times where you can't use it. You can buy several Shark Bites for the price of a crimping tool.

[Homebrew]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

I have an OPINION on shark bite type fittings(as most plumbers would) it is only a matter of time before they leak. Yes I have replaced leaking Parker and Parker equal leaking push to connect fittings. If it is temporary...go for it, but I would replace. JMO


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I've used Shark-bite fitting on pex pipe and never had a leak.

I've also used other brand push on fittings and had leaks with in a year.

[SailorSam20500]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

I've used Shark-bite fitting on pex pipe and never had a leak.

I've also used other brand push on fittings and had leaks with in a year.

Wandering around plumbing departments, I've found both brass and plastic push on fittings. Brass by SharkBite and Watts. Not sure on the manufacturer of the plastic ones. I've also noticed that some of the fittings come with an insert that goes into the pipe before being inserted into the fitting.
Were the leakers the brass version from Watts or one of the plastic/polymer fittings? Did the leakers have the insert?

And just a FWIW, I took a look at the SharkBite site. They are coming out with a new version of their fittings. Specs say it has polymer and EPDM parts and is stated to be non-removable. Has a visual indicator that the pipe has been fully inserted. Still requires a good square cut on the pipe.

[Homebrew]

The all plastic push on fittings have the insert now but fail if the pipes aren't aligned perfectly. Any pressure right,left, up, down will make the plastic fitting leak. Pex is not flexible in tight areas.
Cutting the pex with a cutting tool help keep the edges clean and square.
Having the removable Shark Bite helps when using in a emergency and plan on going back and piping differently.
I have not seen the watts push on fittings yet unless it the Lowes version.

[SailorSam20500]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

I have not seen the watts push on fittings yet unless it the Lowes version.

I saw the Watts brass fittings at my local Menards.

[rsscully]

For tight spots?

Pex Pocket Crimper https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G1Q7XAC..._AeaFyb4BH2WH9

[grumpyoldman]

After reading numerous posts about having PEX repair parts in a plumbing tool kit I went to HD to stock up. Picked up 1/2 inch PEX in 3' lengths in red and blue. Picked up a couple of brass elbows and brass couplers. When it came to the crimp rings they had 2 different kinds. One kind was SS with ears and the other kind was a copper ring type. Each one needs a different tool for crimping. My question is what type is the better one to use? The sales person at HD said the SS ear type is for irrigation systems and the copper ring type is for home and RV plumbing. Is that correct? What type do you guys use?

FYI: SharkBite is the brand of fitting not the style. I see many posts that talk about push on fittings and refer to them as SharkBite

[KenHwy61]

Most RVs use the stainless cinch clamps with the ear and that is what I would go with.

[GreenImp]

Originally Posted by grumpyoldman

Picked up a couple of brass elbows and brass couplers. When it came to the crimp rings they had 2 different kinds. One kind was SS with ears and the other kind was a copper ring type. Each one needs a different tool for crimping. My question is what type is the better one to use? The sales person at HD said the SS ear type is for irrigation systems and the copper ring type is for home and RV plumbing. Is that correct? What type do you guys use?

There is very little difference between them and they are both fine. A better explanation is found here...PEX Crimp vs. PEX Clamp |
I went with the copper crimp rings (purchased from the above link) for use when dabbling in home remodeling/repair.

[Homebrew]

[QUOTE=grumpyoldman;1403674]After reading numerous posts about having PEX repair parts in a plumbing tool kit I went to HD to stock up. Picked up 1/2 inch PEX in 3' lengths in red and blue. Picked up a couple of brass elbows and brass couplers. When it came to the crimp rings they had 2 different kinds. One kind was SS with ears and the other kind was a copper ring type. Each one needs a different tool for crimping. My question is what type is the better one to use? The sales person at HD said the SS ear type is for irrigation systems and the copper ring type is for home and RV plumbing. Is that correct? What type do you guys use?



FYI: SharkBite is the brand of fitting not the style. I see many posts that talk about push on fittings and refer to them as SharkBite[/


SharkBite only makes push on fittings , they just came out with a commercial line of push on fittings.
So if you say SharkBite you are referring to a push on fitting.

[rat4spd]

Originally Posted by WFD

Keep in mind that there are many spots in your trailer will you will be hard pressed to get your crimping tool in place in order to open it up enough to perform the crimp on the ring.

There are several tricks around this. One is to open the crimper enough to run the pex through the jaws, then make the connection. Most of the crimper travel is getting around the tube. In more extreme cases, I've just cut the offending run in a convenient location where a crimper will fit, put the fitting in, and reinstall the run, with splices if needed.

I'd also save money by not buying short lengths. You can get a roll of pex pretty cheaply.

[grumpyoldman]

[QUOTE=Homebrew;1403780]

Originally Posted by grumpyoldman

After reading numerous posts about having PEX repair parts in a plumbing tool kit I went to HD to stock up. Picked up 1/2 inch PEX in 3' lengths in red and blue. Picked up a couple of brass elbows and brass couplers. When it came to the crimp rings they had 2 different kinds. One kind was SS with ears and the other kind was a copper ring type. Each one needs a different tool for crimping. My question is what type is the better one to use? The sales person at HD said the SS ear type is for irrigation systems and the copper ring type is for home and RV plumbing. Is that correct? What type do you guys use?



FYI: SharkBite is the brand of fitting not the style. I see many posts that talk about push on fittings and refer to them as SharkBite[/


SharkBite only makes push on fittings, they just came out with a commercial line of push on fittings.
So if you say SharkBite you are referring to a push on fitting.

If what you mean by push on is fittings that don't need clamps, I disagree. I just purchased SharkBite brand couplings and elbows from HD that require the clamps.

[grumpyoldman]

Originally Posted by rat4spd

There are several tricks around this. One is to open the crimper enough to run the pex through the jaws, then make the connection. Most of the crimper travel is getting around the tube. In more extreme cases, I've just cut the offending run in a convenient location where a crimper will fit, put the fitting in, and reinstall the run, with splices if needed.

I'd also save money by not buying short lengths. You can get a roll of pex pretty cheaply.

It depends on which type of clamp you are using. The one with the ears don't require the tool to go over the tubing. The ring type would require the tool to go over the tubing. Thanks for pointing this out (red highlight above). This fact has made up my mind to go with the ear type clamps instead of the ring type.
3 feet of Pex is $1.86, 25 feet is $29. I don't expect to make a lot of repairs on the road so (2)3 foot pieces should be plenty plus it is easier to store in the RV. If I was doing major replacement I would buy the 25 foot roll.

[5picker]

[QUOTE=grumpyoldman;1403832]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

If what you mean by push on is fittings that don't need clamps, I disagree. I just purchased SharkBite brand couplings and elbows from HD that require the clamps.

That's correct. While SharkBite is best known for their push to connect fittings they do make PEX barb couplings that require either a stainless crimp clamp or a copper band clamp.

[Homebrew]

After digging into the SharkBite web site I did find the barb fittings that your talking about.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

After digging into the SharkBite web site I did find the barb fittings that your talking about.

Yep, they are *HERE* on their web site.
(notice the SharkBite logo stamped into them)

[Narboza]

I went with copper crimp rings since I felt they were less likely to leak. Once I got my tool set to pass the go-no go test, it gave me solid leak-free crimps.

[rat4spd]

Originally Posted by Narboza

I went with copper crimp rings since I felt they were less likely to leak. Once I got my tool set to pass the go-no go test, it gave me solid leak-free crimps.

In ten years with tens of thousands of feet of pex and many many hundreds of copper crimp rings, I've never had one leak even running 160 degrees. I've put them on in almost impossible to crimp spaces with the hose and ring not perfectly straight and still no leaks....although I highly recommend putting it on straight right shipmate?

[onetonford]

Had one leak on my new fiver just a drip but I couldn't get the tool in to fix it. so I got a two piece 1/2" lock collar and it fixed it so far so good.

[esmoglo]

Just wanted to report from my initial post, fixed my water leaks and that’s a good thing. It was a super simple fix however it’s hard to crimp down the Oetiker clamps in such tight spaces, clamps spin a bit until you have pressure on the clamp makes it a bit difficult. Used Apollo copper pex fittings they look just like shark bite. Pex crimp tool purchased IWISS PEX CINCH Crimping Tool, came with 20 ½ claps and 10 ¾ stainless steel clamps along with a gauge to ensure the tool is calibrated. Tool was only $28.86 on eBay so it didn’t break the bank.

Looking at the factory fitting what I can surmise is the leak came from the plastic fitting not the clamps, seems like the fitting used could not take the pressure of the clamp.

Also, I cut the panel under my forward compartment. I did this because it is hard to get to all the water lines & removing the large panel is a pain. I put gray felt over the panel I cut & used stainless steel screws to fasten looks factory. Now if I have a water leak I can remove a single panel & assess easily.

Disappointingly (as is often the case with RV “quality”) I found a piece of cut luan panel chafing against the water heater electrical lines. I was able to forcibly pulled out the luan piece with quite a bit of effort removing the potential hazard. How lazy can one be at the factory level not caring? This is just unacceptable by any standard (thanks Prime Time).