Anybody ever do any plumbing with these things? I was a little apprehensive when they first came out. I've done a few projects with them with no problems since. Just did a hot water heater and it made life a lot easier. To hell with soldering! Any downside to them? Seems like plumbing made really easy to me.
Cost. :D I've used them in a few repairs around the house. In one spot, I absolutely did not want to put a torch near, so it worked out wonderfully. So far so good.
I've used them a couple times. They work great. I plumbed my house with PEX, and it was extremely easy. Out several hundred joints, I only had one leak when I pressure tested and that was all my fault. I never made the crimp.
We have one cabin that's plumbed with them. I don't really like them. Some connections haven't stayed as snug as others. I love, love, love pex. We use the crimp rings seen here. They use one crimper (that's fairly cheap) for all sized rings. Easy, and bullet proof. We've had one cabin freeze solid (fully charged with water) 3 times, and not one leak. The stuff is awesome.
The guy that invented the plug in style of shark bite fittings well deserves to be a wealthy man. I can't say enough good things about them. My whole trailer up north is plumbed with Pex and Shark bite fittings. I connected my trailer to a regular dug well. Although I skirted and insulated the heck out of it, along with heat trace, my water sometimes freezes up. An hour or two of heating under the trailer with an LP torpedo heater, the water comes on. I've been doing this for 5 years and have never had Pex or a Shark bite fail. Wonderful stuff.
GREAT piece of kit, re-plumbed my parents new condo 4 years ago and used it to connect the pex to the copper. make plumbing so easy. not like when I was in the trade 25 yrs ago..
We put the shark bites in all the houses we plumb, its just so easy. Have only had to fix one fitting because of leaking, which is nice. They are hell trying to get them to release if you make a mistake though!
We use them here on the campus occasionally. I would keep more of them in stock but for the price. They are handy for quick repairs and areas that a torch can be a problem. Any time one of my crew does soldering or welding on campus we have to alert the Campus Safety Office, have them put the fire alarm system in test, and we have to set a fire watch. Shark Bites eliminate a lot of phone calls and paper work for me!
The only thing about them that I hate is their price! They make simple plumbing jobs that much easier since I don't have to get out the lead free solder and torch. Also they are bulkier then the normal pipe joint and they are heavy so sometimes they need to be supported. I have limited plumbing experience though so I guess that's why i'm so partial to them.
