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George Bokros
11-03-2014, 4:21 PM
Anyone use these with copper pipe?

Any problems with them?

Any suggestions on using them?

Have you ever removed them and reused them?

Thanks

Robert Delhommer Sr
11-03-2014, 4:24 PM
Never tried them on copper, but they sure work great on PEX. :)

ken masoumi
11-03-2014, 4:29 PM
I used them with copper pipe when I installed a new kitchen sink/faucet,it has been a couple of years already and so far zero problem ,no leaks.

Kevin Bourque
11-03-2014, 4:30 PM
I've used Sharkbite fittings on copper and CPVC many times. I have removed the fittings several times for various reasons and there was no problem.

I was a little concerned the first coupla times I used them but so far they have never leaked.

Chris Padilla
11-03-2014, 4:46 PM
Shockingly, they work extremely well! I still wouldn't put them behind a closed-in wall (although they are rated for it) but they have all worked well for me and I will continue to use them when convenient or applicable. They are expensive! :)

Mark Bolton
11-03-2014, 4:50 PM
Yes to all. And no, no problems but I just dont trust them long haul (search the archives this topic is well covered ). I would never burry one in a wall and dont get me started about the price. No amount of convenience is worth the cost unless your in a bind.

Rich Engelhardt
11-03-2014, 5:15 PM
George,
I've used a lot of them - even on enclosed walls.
The real Sharkbites are the one to get. Lowes has some knock off called Gator Bite that I don't trust.
Check out this site. (http://allthumbsdiy.com/reviews/sharkbite-vs-gatorbite-vs-tectite)

I plumbed in some PVC in the basement of a rental a few years ago.
In 2012 I had some other plumbing work done by a licensed plumber.
I asked him to give me a price to replace the PVC and Sharkbite fittings with copper and sweated fittings.
He said he'd give me a price, but, he also told me it would be a waste of money since what was there was perfectly fine.
I figured if a licensed plumber has that much faith in them they must be ok.

I've used them on copper, both new and old and on PVC and PEX.
For copper, I clean it just like I'm going to sweat it and make sure there aren't any burrs.
I've reused old fittings also and put in and removed new fittings several times while working on something.
They make a special tool for that purpose.
I bought two. I keep one in with the plumbing tools and the other in the upstairs medicine cabinet.

I've only had one fitting that leaked and it was bad right out of the package.
I returned it to Home Depot and got another one that worked fine.

As far as cost goes, they are cheaper than calling a plumber - even the handyman plumber I use for light plumbing stuff.
Since sweating copper is one of those talents that eludes me, every time a copper connection comes around, I just use a Sharkbite.

George Bokros
11-03-2014, 5:38 PM
I am planning to use Sharkbite shutoff valves under the sink in the new vanity I am going to build. The existing fittings are compression on 1/2" copper. I was hoping the holes in the existing vanity back would allow the compression nut to pass through but no luck. I do not want to destroy the old vanity because we would like to try to sell it. I know it won't bring much but even $75 would be something.

I am going to have to cut the pipe at the compression bead and hope there is enough pipe left to let the Sharkbite work.

George Bokros
11-03-2014, 6:10 PM
They make a special tool for that purpose. I bought two. I keep one in with the plumbing tools and the other in the upstairs medicine cabinet.



Curious, why one in the upstairs medicine cabinet??

Mark Bolton
11-03-2014, 6:32 PM
There is one simple fact. O-rings degrade. They dry out and turn to mush over time. Burying one of these things in a wall is fine if your going to live in the house forever but if your going to sell or if your doing work for hire,.. well.. no comment.

A compression fitting is 1/4 the price, a sweat fitting is 1/10th or 1/20th the price and they never leak. I have rarely if ever seen a compression fitting fail.

If youve got room for a sharkbite youve got room for anything else.

Ole Anderson
11-03-2014, 6:53 PM
SharkBites work great on copper when you can't get the water out to sweat them. I have a gate valve either sides of my meter (40 years old now) and neither will shut off drop tight, so I added a Sharkbite ball valve for a quick shut off when I vacation. A lot faster than trying to sweat a ball valve with the water constantly dripping into the joint. Yes I know the bread trick. White or whole wheat?

Rich Engelhardt
11-03-2014, 7:49 PM
Curious, why one in the upstairs medicine cabinet??LOL!
For some reason it just seemed to be the logical place to keep one when I was working on the bathroom last Winter.
I just got so used to it being there I decided to make that a permanent home for it.

Mike Lassiter
11-03-2014, 8:49 PM
George,
I've used a lot of them - even on enclosed walls.
The real Sharkbites are the one to get. Lowes has some knock off called Gator Bite that I don't trust.
Check out this site. (http://allthumbsdiy.com/reviews/sharkbite-vs-gatorbite-vs-tectite)

I plumbed in some PVC in the basement of a rental a few years ago.
In 2012 I had some other plumbing work done by a licensed plumber.
I asked him to give me a price to replace the PVC and Sharkbite fittings with copper and sweated fittings.
He said he'd give me a price, but, he also told me it would be a waste of money since what was there was perfectly fine.
I figured if a licensed plumber has that much faith in them they must be ok.

I've used them on copper, both new and old and on PVC and PEX.
For copper, I clean it just like I'm going to sweat it and make sure there aren't any burrs.
I've reused old fittings also and put in and removed new fittings several times while working on something.
They make a special tool for that purpose.
I bought two. I keep one in with the plumbing tools and the other in the upstairs medicine cabinet.

I've only had one fitting that leaked and it was bad right out of the package.
I returned it to Home Depot and got another one that worked fine.

As far as cost goes, they are cheaper than calling a plumber - even the handyman plumber I use for light plumbing stuff.
Since sweating copper is one of those talents that eludes me, every time a copper connection comes around, I just use a Sharkbite.

PVC pipe is larger than copper, cpvc or pex. No Sharkbite fittings available that work on PVC. Possibly you had cpvc.

From Sharkbite website - "The SharkBite connection system is the ultimate instant push-fit connection system. SharkBite Fittings allow users to easily connect any combination of CPVC, copper, or PEX tubing."

I am reluctant to use then myself although I have just purchased some for the main water line running from the ground to under the floor for a mobile home. They will be below the belly board and if they fail they will not leak inside between the floor and belly board. I just replaced EVERY water line in this 21+ year old mobile home. Every fitting has been crimp on that I have used, and zero problems. Not idea if you may need to take line apart as you have to cut the line off which then could be too short. I have to replace the belly board in a big area under the floor and that's why I chose to use sharkbite fittings there. I can remove the line and replace the belly board and only have to cut a small hole for the water line to go into the belly area.
These style fittings are pretty much the same as most all trucks with air brakes use for the air system. I have worked on these approaching 20 years now and they are notorious for leaking were the tube is pushed in the fitting. The oring in the fitting gets hard and begins to leak. You can replace just the oring in the fitting I found out about a year ago - much cheaper than the complete fitting. On big problem with the air lines is they are bundled with plastic wire ties at the factory. Most of the plastic air lines get pulled together and this puts a side load between the plastic tubing and the fitting which eventually causes the oring to flat spot and leak. I would expect the same problem in time with the sharkbite fittings installed if they are used and the fitting is in a bit of strain from the pipe or tubing being misaligned some.
I would also offer that even if these fittings are certified for in the wall (covered up) use, if one fails in time it will be a mess to fix and likely the "warranty" will be denied due to "improper installation" regardless of that being correct or not.

Curt Harms
11-04-2014, 6:58 AM
SharkBites work great on copper when you can't get the water out to sweat them. I have a gate valve either sides of my meter (40 years old now) and neither will shut off drop tight, so I added a Sharkbite ball valve for a quick shut off when I vacation. A lot faster than trying to sweat a ball valve with the water constantly dripping into the joint. Yes I know the bread trick. White or whole wheat?

Similar situation. I replaced a water heater a few years ago. The cold side has a ball valve, no problem. The hot side has no shutoff. I opened a couple hot water taps upstairs and waited for it to drain but even after a couple hours it was still drip.............................................. ... drip.............................................. .................................................. ....................drip. Grrr. Bought and installed a shark bite and put the removal tool where I sure hope I can find it again :p. It's only been a few years but no problem so far.

Rich Engelhardt
11-04-2014, 8:07 AM
Bought and installed a shark bite and put the removal tool where I sure hope I can find it again :p.No problem - just stick it in the medicine cabinet! :D

Malcolm Schweizer
11-04-2014, 8:57 AM
Used them, love them. They are quite costly, but so much easier than sweating pipes and soldering. So far I only have 8 months on the ones I installed, but no leaks, no issues, an they are even easier than putting together PVC.

Phil Thien
11-04-2014, 10:56 AM
I haven't used them but was watching Ask This Old House last week and Tommy used them (I think) to splice some copper lines he had to cut in order to reinforce a beam.

I was sure impressed with how easy they were to use.

Chris Padilla
11-04-2014, 11:05 AM
I am going to have to cut the pipe at the compression bead and hope there is enough pipe left to let the Sharkbite work.

If you're patient, you can cut that compression ring off the pipe so you don't lose any exposed length. Take a hacksaw blade and cut it down and tape yourself a handle (or use gloves) and gently go at it. Just be sure to check your progress often so you minimize cutting into the copper pipe. Sometimes heating up the pipe with a torch can help slip that ring off but I've only gotten this to work a few times.

Sharkbite has a large orange "depth and deburr" tool you can buy. From that, you can determine how much pipe you need in order to get a good fit.

Chris Padilla
11-04-2014, 11:08 AM
I was sure impressed with how easy they were to use.

Their ease of use and the fact that you can spin them around after insertion always gives me pause. I had to put a temporary shut-off ball valve on a 3/4" copper line I was working on and I could just spin the sucker around willy-nilly but I'll be darned if it just would not leak!!!

roger wiegand
11-04-2014, 11:29 AM
I used them on copper in a situation where I had to replace an outside faucet and the joint was inaccessible with a torch without a lot of disassembly of the building (would have been relatively easy during rough-in). It's been 10 years and no problem yet. At the same time, I also wouldn't bury them in a wall because I don't trust them, and wouldn't use them anywhere I could reach with a torch because of the incredible expense.

George Bokros
11-04-2014, 6:53 PM
If you're patient, you can cut that compression ring off the pipe so you don't lose any exposed length. Take a hacksaw blade and cut it down and tape yourself a handle (or use gloves) and gently go at it. Just be sure to check your progress often so you minimize cutting into the copper pipe.

I take it you have done this successfully Chris? Did you have to make multiple cuts through the compression ring? I thought the compression ring was really fused into the copper.

If I could do this it would be great since I could us new valves with compression rings and also replace the chrome trim ring after the new vanity is installed. This would be the idea result.

Thanks

Mark Bolton
11-04-2014, 7:50 PM
You can buy a ferrule remover

George Bokros
11-04-2014, 8:03 PM
You can buy a ferrule remover

I just found those. Goin to HD tomorrow morning to get one.

Chris Padilla
11-04-2014, 8:28 PM
Compression ring puller or remover!!! Well I'll be darned. NEXT TIME. And, yes, George, I've successfully cut off compression rings but it goes a bit slow and if you don't have much room to move around, it can be painful. I'm picking up this tool NEXT TIME!! :)

George Bokros
11-06-2014, 10:59 AM
Bought one at Home Depot and it did not work. Compression bead would not budge. Returning the tool tomorrow.

Save your money.

Chris Padilla
11-07-2014, 12:10 AM
Googling it, I found several versions, George. Maybe another style might work.