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Steve, I just had two homes plumbed with wirsbo aquapex. The plumber sold me on it after taking a piece of it and bending it repeatedly until there was no way water could flow thru it. He then used his torch to reheat it and it regained it’s original shape. He gave me a piece of it filled with water and capped off. It is still in my freezer and hasn’t split or blow off the caps. Try that with copper.It costs more for the product but the plumber can plumb a home faster with it to justify the price.Try www.wirsboaquapex.com
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Steve, I just had two homes plumbed with wirsbo aquapex. The plumber sold me on it after taking a piece of it and bending it repeatedly until there was no way water could flow thru it. He then used his torch to reheat it and it regained it's original shape. He gave me a piece of it filled with water and capped off. It is still in my freezer and hasn't split or blow off the caps. Try that with copper.It costs more for the product but the plumber can plumb a home faster with it to justify the price.Try http://www.wirsboaquapex.com
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Steve - use this link to get information on Wirsbo PEX .
*Just be sure your local code permits its use - mine doesn't but then it was only a few years ago that one could use other than lead for the line from the street to the meter.
*One of the local plumbing supply houses is selling a manifold system for plumbing. It looks a lot like a an electrical distribution panel. One side is cold water and the other side is hot. There is a set of valves on each side. A separate line is run for each fixture and water temperature using the PEX or Wirsbo tubing. The panel is around a $100 for one suitable for an average size home. Running the tubing looks to be like running electrial lines. I am seriously considering it for my home. I wish I could remember the mfgs name for this system, as you might find it interesting.
*Gordon - is the theory that you wouldn't have to have local supply stops with this? It would be interesting to see a cost breakdown - a lot more materials but no joints! And so easy to isolate a system.I've also seen a similar system that on the manifold uses an electric valve - and each fixture has two switches - way to high teck for me but it was interesting.The one downside is the basis of the warranty and the materials susceptibility to ultraviolet - like how do you know it hasn't been under a skylight in the plumbing suppliers warehouse?
*Vanguard makes a system like that. They call the distribution block a Manabloc. Comes complete with valves to shut off each line separately. I personnally like the Wirsbo system because the connections to fittings are based strictly on the memory of the PEX to return to its normal size. You expand it with a special tool, slip the fitting into the end of the tubing and let it return to its original size. It shrinks down tight and doesn't leak. Other manufacturers depend on a crimp ring on the outside of the tubing to keep it tight on the fitting.As for warrantee, Wirsbo warrantees their product for 25 years if installed by a certified installer. It's not too difficult for a plumber to get certified - a couple hour seminar and test at the conclusion. As for UV - manufacturers say do not use or store where it will be exposed to direct sunlight for more than 30 days - most window/skylight materials don't pass UV radiation.For small repairs, if you don't have the correct tool to attach the fittings, you can use the same compression fittings you use with copper tube. This works with various PEX brands. The key to no-leak connections is to use a stainless steel insert in the end of the tube, tighten the nut down on the compression ring normally, then come back 30 minutes later to take up any slack by tightening the nut a little more.
*allaround - Thanks. But as to windows and skylights passing uv - I have to take exception. While some uv is filtered out, a lot passes which is why things fade and why art galleries can't have direct light and so on. It was actually Vic at the Plumbingsupply.com board that brought this to may attention - and he's a supplier and it worries him.
*As another poster stated the system is made by Vanguard. It does eliminate separate shutoffs at each fixture. The supplier said that even with the extral footage of the individual lines it was competitive when you figured in the labor to install. However, he said the plumbers using it tended not to buy the manifold system but rather, just used the PEX tubing to replace the copper pipe.I like the Wirsbo system for connections better than the copper ring or mechanical threading compression style used with most PEX tubing. I would like to use the Vanguard manifold with Wirsbo tubing, though more research is in order. I don't know about the long term effect of UV exposure in a warehouse. I think you would notice if its yellowed a bit or the strapping or paper labels look like they had been on Noah's ark. Apparently Wirsbo has been making the cross linked tubing for 25 plus years. When the polybutylene fiasco errupted, the tubing vendors took a hike so the vendors selling the polybutylene systems looked for another tubing source and latched on to the cross linked stuff. The kink-the-crap-out-of-it demo with the Wirsbo stuff was most impressive. Heat from a torch turned it clear and the kink disappeared.
*Kewl! And thanks. I might move - you can't even use pex for radiant heating in this jurisdiction.
*Bill - you're right - I'd forgotten about things fading. Was just thinking why I can't get a good tan lying on my living room floor. I guess it's just been so long since I've seen the sun........
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Bill - I saw this topic, and just had to jump in. You and I have discussed PEX before. I had big worries about buying "fresh" PEX from my supplier, stuff that hadn't been exposed to UV. They don't sell much where I buy it from, and I was worried that I might get some that had been laying around in the sunlight a while. So I made sure to buy a whole box at a time. Wirsbo coils (300') come sealed up in a nice cardboard box. When I got it, I checked to make sure the box hadn't been opened. I don't think you can depend on the suppliers to be careful with UV exposure of PEX products, unless you can find a distributor that sells a lot of it, and is aware of the need to protect it. Good Luck!
Scott.
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With the cold weather upon us I am seeing more and more references to Pex. I know what the stuff is in a general sort of way but no where well enough to make a decision on using the stuff in my next project. Anyone know about a good reference on the net that I can research or a source I can write?
Particularly interested in how the stuff is used under slab.