Replace water line fittings?

[mickrock]

My A122 has a hard plastic water line with a curve in it that has come
loose from stress forced into the compression fittings from the curve.

Does anyone have info on replacement twist-on fittings and the 2 internal
compression rings, as well as what kind of pipe is used?

I think a 90 degree fitting should have been used instead of the curve.

[myredracer]

A photo might help. Sounds like poor workmanship?

Some people use sharkbite fittings because special tools aren't needed. I prefer copper crimp rings and brass PEX fittings but I already have a PEX crimper.

I found a leaking fitting behind our shower last year. I think whoever did it at the factory had trouble reaching in there with the crimp tool and just did a half @ss job and called it a day. I also found they used the wrong type of fitting & clamp for connecting the braided nylon hose for the toilet. Just can't trust them to do stuff right.

[mickrock]

to the camper water system, and since it was too long,
I took a small sample piece to the local hardware store
to find out what it is. It turns out to be polybutylene, and
that stuff has been out of use for a long time, and no fittings
are even sold for it. However, rubber compression cones are
available that fit it, so I cut off about 6" of excess pipe and put
it back together. Working fine, so far.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by mickrock

It turns out to be polybutylene, and
that stuff has been out of use for a long time, and no fittings
are even sold for it.

While you may find it difficult to find stuff made/approved specifically for PB, there is plenty of stuff you can buy that works just fine. Ever since we (plumbers) started using PB in the 1980s, we were working out ways to be able to use/adapt traditional copper system fittings to work with it. One thing that comes to mind which was a head scratcher from the start was how to use brass shutoffs (angle/straight stops) for situations where they would be exposed, like for a pedestal sink faucet. Those big, bulky gray valves just didn’t look good. What we did, and still do, is put a short piece (about 3/4” to 1” of 1/2”OD copper tube inside of the end of the PB as a stiffener, then use a regular, everyday compression stop — brass ferrule and all — just as we would do if we were using it on 1/2” copper tubing. There was never, ever a problem doing this. Just last week I was in a townhouse that I plumbed in the 1980s with PB that still had all of the original PB throughout the house. While this house has had many problems over the years with its original PB system, the polished brass angle stops for the pedestal sink faucet that were installed back then were still holding on.

My point is; just because you can’t find something that is “approved” for use with PB today, there are many ways you can deal with it. SharkBite/Tectite fittings aren’t approved for use with PB, but they work just fine as long as you connect them at a point where there are no scratches in the PB and you use a stiffener like I mentioned above. Don’t use the plastic stiffeners that come with the fittings. Pull them out and use copper instead.

Bruce

[mickrock]

the PB pipe fitting popped apart again.

With all your advice in mind, and some more from the hardware store,
I decided to try a standard stainless supply line with standard 1/2" fittings,
IPS I think, and it worked.

Another mod saga....