SharkBite, Solder-less plumbing with copper

[Mr__Bill]

Woke up Sunday morning and found that rather than going kayaking I was in for a day of plumbing. Tepid water on the laundry room floor signaled the demise of out water heater. I don't know if it started leaking around the inlet/outlet pipes or if the neoprene washer in the connection failed. I suspect the washer as when I removed the connector nut the washer was brittle. However the top of the heater was all rusty and the insulation soaked. It was the original for the house making it about 19 years old and time to be replaced. That's the bad news, the good news is I discovered SharkBite fittings for copper, and apparently several other pipe possibilities. I used the torch only to remove the old fittings and then cleaned up the end of the pipe. Pushed the fittings on, one end of the water heater flex connector came equipped, and screwed the connector on to the new heater and I was done. Draining and getting the old one out took the most time, after the trip to get the new one at HD and the subsequent side stops. So far no leaks, didn't set the house afire with the torch and didn't hurt myself.



Bill
on the Sunny Oregon Coast, clear blue sky's and a high of 70 today

[Eric]

I like the sharkbite system, although the fittings are pretty spendy.

Used them to install a whole house water filter on PEX.

[herb fellows]

'didn't set the house afire with the torch and didn't hurt myself.'

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL DAY!

[Pappy]

SharkBite fittings are great. I didn't know they had flex hose equiped with them now.

[os1kne]

There appear to be more and more SharkBite options popping up regularly. The fittings are a bit pricey, so they won't replace typical copper/PVC/PEX fittings for large jobs. (I don't think that they were ever intended to.)

I'm about to install a SharkBite ball valve inside my basement to supply an exterior hose bib - the best place to "T" off of the existing water line would be pretty difficult to do safely with a sweated copper fitting. This, and other small jobs are where the SharkBite fittings really shine.

[Rand]

If you google "sharkbite problems" you will get some different opinions on how good or not good sharkbite fittings are.

Personally, I wouldn't trust them inside a wall or anyplace I couldn't get to them easily.

[Mr__Bill]

If you google "sharkbite problems" you will get some different opinions on how good or not good sharkbite fittings are.

Personally, I wouldn't trust them inside a wall or anyplace I couldn't get to them easily.

I have to admit that I did not research sharkbite products until after the water was back on and a hot shower was available. It seems from what I read on several plumbing forms that the copper has to be in perfect shape, ie. round and smooth. Unlike a soldered joint where the solder will take care of some slight imperfections the sharkbite's will not. They also seem to not like being stressed, side to side wiggling or flexed at the joint, after the install. Hot water heater replacements and T joints from copper to plastic and repairs to damaged plastic tubing seem to be the hands on favorite of the plumbers that were commenting. There was the usual discussion on the alphabet soup of various plastics that work or don't work that I won't go into here.

Bill
on the left coast where all your weather comes from, today it's sunny on top of the fog.