Plumbing Question - Copper to CPVC |
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td_in_nc
Senior Member Joined: March-30-2012 Location: Clayton NC Status: Offline Points: 381 |
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Posted: March-26-2017 at 11:26am |
Remodeling my bathroom shower and the brass shower diverter I bought requires a soldered joint so I was going to go with copper into the diverter then switch to cpvc (which is in the rest of my house). It has been a long time since I have soldered a pipe and was considering using the sharkbites for the connection from copper to cpvc. Reading up on sharkbites some people do not recommend them for long term use. Was wondering if anyone has any positive or negative thoughts on properly installed sharkbites for long term use.
Thanks Tom |
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8122pbrainard
Grand Poobah Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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TOM,
Toss the Sharkbites in the trash unless you want to joint the rest of the back yard hacks! Seriously, they rely on a rubber O ring for sealing the joint. You do not want to bury it in a wall where if and when it fails you can't get to it easily. Use a copper threaded adaptor to a threaded CPVC adaptor. |
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63 Skier
Grand Poobah Joined: October-06-2006 Location: Concord, NH Status: Offline Points: 4269 |
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I've used some sharkbites over the past couple of years, but they are in exposed basement areas so very easy to see if they begin to leak, very easy to replace if so. I have some of the same doubts as Pete has, though a plumber friend of mine says they have a very long life. I can't imagine an o-ring lasting indefinitely, and a soldered joint lasts indefinitely. I didn't even trust PEX connectors for a long time, though have come around.
Grab a few copper couplings or elbows, grab a spare stub of pipe, and practice soldering, it's only a couple of bucks in parts. It will come back to you and you'll have a permanent fix. |
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'63 American Skier - '98 Sport Nautique
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8122pbrainard
Grand Poobah Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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David, I thought the exact same way!! My plumber used the expander on his pex and when I roughed in my Infloor, I used the barb fittings and crimp clamps on the pex. Both sure work but I feel more confident with the crimp clamps. I had my HVAC guy finish off the boiler, valving, primary loop and indirect DHW and he pretty much used Pro Press fittings. Still an O ring but accessible. I'm impressed with them! |
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peter1234
Grand Poobah Joined: February-03-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2756 |
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there are only two shark bites in my kit.They are both temp caps. throw all others in the trash. I use my Propress for everything now sometimes a little bit of pex and wirsbo other than that i just solder and propress. CPVC is a rarity here. The copper male to female ips cpvc fittings are sometimes an issue with the expansion rates differing. if you want to do a shower valve most require either female adapters or the top 3 as in symmonds tub shower valves the top 3 are copper female fittings and the tub is 1/2" ips. if you want to try it clean everything well . flux lightly both surfaces. use silver brite or another 95/5 solder. use only l rated copper. heat slowly the opposite side of where you hold the solder when it reaches the melting point push it a little bit remove the heat and it will flow right around the joint.
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former skylark owner now a formula but I cant let this place go
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