Posted by John T (WI) on May 29, 2007 at 19:34:16:
Thanks for all the responses folks. I have used a rubber connector that has hose clamps on each end, but only for waste pipe, and I thought about using something like that to transist to Pex.
However, Tony has give me a good idea. I believe there is a reasonable amount of room to work in the water heater closet, and the pipes in question run under the length of the tub before running under the house.
If I can figure where those pipes go under the house (and I think its only about a foot away to the washer supply lines, can’t figure where else it would go on that side of the home), I can run Pex from the WH to the washer supply lines under the tub and partially through the wall.
Posted by John T (WI) on May 29, 2007 at 09:10:32:
For those of you experienced with PEX…
Is there a fitting or method that will allow you to attach PEX to a sawn off steel pipe?
I’ve got a situation with leaky water pipe where it may be quicker to saw off the pipe near the leak and replace it with PEX, but only if I can slip something over the sawn pipe.
This part of the line (2 lines actually, hot n cold) have a union under the tub, then proceed under the floor via a bunch of ells to maybe a foot away to the laundry connections.
Problem is, if I want to get at the unions with any leverage, I may have to take up the underlayment in the bathroom to open the side panel in the tub.
there is a product on the market these days called a shark fitting. It slips on a pieve of pex, copper or pvc and you can find these fittingt to adapt to anything such as the slip on on one end, and threaded pipe on the other…Lowes and home depot, along with most plumbing supply stores carry these. Just ask for SHARK fittings.
or other big box store and they should have a compression type fitting for connecting two old steel pipes, grab that and the smallest piece of stock (you’ll be using the threads later)
put one side of the fitting on the old pipe and the other side on the piece of stock leaving one end of the stock with male threads then grab and 3/4 " MPT x Barb and screw it into the new piece of stock, 3/4" PEX w/ crimp ring to the barb and i think that should do the trick
P.S.-ive always found at least one person in the plumbing section at Lowe’s to know how to fix about every problem you could come across just find that person and they’ll save yourself a ton of headache’s
Hello John. My rule of thumb now (which I still break!) is to replace the whole run with PEX instead of trying to piece and patch things together. I have found that by the time I figure out all the proper connections, material type, sizes AND actually put it all together leak-free, I would have been better off replacing the whole run. Replacing the whole run with PEX also gives you the benefits of free-flowing water in a material that won’t burst or leak in most situations.
This isn’t an answer to your question (Tony’s post covered that) but I think it’s decent advice.
Re: PEX plumbing question - Posted by Tony Colella
Posted by Tony Colella on May 29, 2007 at 09:24:58:
Anytime I have to transition to pex from copper, hot water inlets/outlets or galvanized I have to go through a transition of fittings to get there.
Usually I can work around the water heater and go directly to a 3/4" fitting but in the case of copper or galvanized I have to transition each to either a male or female screw in fitting (boy that sounds perverted somehow) to transition to pex. Once I have pex I am golden from there on.
If the current union is too hard to reach, I connect pex to the back of the tub faucet directly and then pex to a location where I have room to work (usually the hot water tank area, a closet or under the home) and then transition as described above.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was to always give yourself the greatest amount of room to work.