I am planning to replace all the 30 year old galvanized water piping in my home. I have decided to use Aquapex by Uponor, I’ll buy the expanding tool unless someone convinces me the crimp ring system is servicable. My question is, if the ambient temperature is around 50 degrees, how long do I have (from expanding the tubing) before it shrinks too much to push over the fitting? I have some areas that are going to be kinda hard to access. Just an approximation will do.
Thanks, Jim
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Replies
I'll add another question, if you don't mind. Was in Lowe's yesterday and they had blue, red, and white PEX. What's with all the colors? Red - hot water, blue - cold, white - either???? I made the mistake of sticking a tubing into a connector, then it wouldn't come out. Just left it for Lowe's to deal with.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
The plumbing inspector balked at my all red pex lines on hot and cold - "need to stick with manufacturers specs" when I pointed out Copper and CPVC don't have colors he backed off.
Crimp tool works great - and FAST - has someone had problems with them?
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
You have an indefinite time with the clamps on type, temp is the factor w/ the expansion connection, ambient temp will allow roughly 90 seconds, cold decreases that, warm will up it.
Red/blue is the same as clear in so far as workability, tuck the ends under yer armpit before expanding if it is not above about 40 degrees.
I think SplinterGroupie posted a twit about a crimper that is much less expensive than the BBox's sell...thems real hard to eat for a one off job..My Lowes lets me buy them and return it after the fact..kinda like a rental.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Shooting rubber bands at the Moon
Man... the two of you are just killing Lowe's, leaving busted product in the aisles and returning used tools. Next I'll hear you're filling paint cans with used motor oil and returning those!
What a great way to get rid of hazardous waste!!! :-)
There's a forehead slapper!Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
Yer wrong or kidding. Lowes does that as a favor to those one off customers.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Shooting rubber bands at the Moon
Kidding!!!!
You know I wouldn't jack you up... right?
Not till now, lol. My bad.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Shooting rubber bands at the Moon
Next I'll hear you're filling paint cans with used motor oil and returning those!
I knew of a business owner who filled clean looking 5-gal pails with the various hazardous wastes, neatly stacked them on a pallet, plastic wrapped it all and "carelessly" left it all back by the loading dock. The next morning it would always be gone as if by majic. :-)
Not saying it's proper, but the theives did get a surprise.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
I've heard stories like that. Seems safe to assume the thieves just dumped it.
no difference in red/white/blue ... helps to tell cold, hot etc. Most of the plumbing contractors that i have worked with no longer use the expander - too much work for the same result as crimp rings. I have been installing PEX for the last 7 years or so and have never ever had a leak from a crimp ring. Most of the crimp tools come with a go/no go gauge so you can test your crimp tool before you ever put a ring on a piece of tubing.
have fun with the PEX it is truly the only way to go. Have had the stuff freeze up without it breaking and believe it or not had 2 stories worth of chimney collapse onto a 3/4 inch PEX line filled with water and it did not even leak.
I prefer the expansion tool, but I am biased. Opinions will vary.
One of the reasons I prefer the expansion tool, if there is a fitting in a tight location you don't have to get the tool to the fitting. You can expand the pipe out in the open , then push it over the fitting in the tight location.
90 seconds like Sphere said is about right.
I prefer copper for my stub outs though. Easier to anchor in place for the angle stop to go on.
“It so happens that everything that is stupid is not unconstitutional.” —Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
I just wanted to thank all that commented on my project. Over the Thanksgiving weekend my wife and I replaced about 1/2 of the horizontal plumbing runs in the space between the ceiling, and the upstairs floor. We used the complete Wirsbo system, and it performed as anticipated. So far out of 38 Pex joints, none leaked or show any signs of impending leaking (fingers crossed). The only leak we had was in a vertical pipe in a wall (planning on doing the vertical piping replacement on an as needed basis) the vertical pipe had an elbow at the top which needed to be tightened 1/4 turn to make a better layout. This joint has been seeping and will be corrected as soon as my 64 year old body recovers from last week.
Anyway thanks for the help.
Jim
Crimp or stretch?
Joe H
Stretch, and it worked as advertised.
Jim
When its cold hang a trouble light close, a minute or two is usually enough to shrink aquapex to stand average line pressure.
Thanks for the hint about the trouble light. I have two fittings I was unable to get fully seated before they shrunk too much. One of them is about 1/8" from being all they way on, and the other is about 3/16" back. The installation manual emphasized a gap no larger than a credit card in thickness between the end of the hose and the fitting. Do you have any real world experience to guide me. I really don't want to re-do those fittings but would if necessary, just looking for an opinion.
Thanks, Jim
Some times I have to cut it off close to the fitting and redo it, if there is enough slack in the line. This sounds a little wierd, but I have used channel lock pliers to gently grab the pex ring and ridge on the fitting, squezed the pliers together working my way around the fitting. The factory rep at a pex school showed how to warm pex up with a hair dryer until it becomes clear, this is good for fixing a kink in the tubing. Tried to play around with this method on fittings did not have much luck, when pex is in the clear state, its very soft you push a fitting in, the pipe distorts, when it cools the distortion is still there. Don't heat the tube with anything other than a hair dryer or hot air heat gun. Its take about 265 degree's to reach the clear state.
So now I try to leave a little slack when running pex.
If you have spare pex and a fitting you might warming it a little and practice closing the gap. Some times space is an issue.