First time using SharkBite style fittings and I'm really impressed.

[bbhaag]

So a little back story before the pics. We have a walk in shower in the master bath and the hardware was original to the house built circa 2010. Since it was a little dated I purchased a Moen Conway 82922 to replace it. I took the old hardware off and to my dismay the builder had soldered in the old valve using a combination of PEX to copper. If this sounds confusing let me know and I can post some more pics to illustrate.

So I'm by no means a plumber and when it comes to soldering copper that is outside of my wheelhouse. I'm a PVC/cast iron kinda guy. So I head to Menards and explain to the guy what I'm trying to do and he immediately turns me on to their brand of compression fittings made by Watts. It instantly made sense in my mind and I was able to visualize how it would work.

Once I purchased all the fittings and a 5' piece of 1/2" PEX I felt way more confident that I could to this. Unfortunately I didn't take any before pics but here are some after pics.

So since just a shower all I needed to was the hot, cold and shower lines.


Top view of the mixer/valve.


Here's another shot at a different angle.



Now onto the front side. This is what it looks like while facing the shower.



And one more with the door closed standing outside the shower.

 

[waffleironhead]

I was too cheap to buy a pex crimp tool, so I used a few of those in my pex boiler loops. The grade I bought met the usage requirements. Well, they failed one year into use. They leaked whenever the system was cold. Thankfully they were all accessible and I had the receipts to return them. Had to drain the system and replace them with crimp fittings.
good luck.

 

[bbhaag]

Thats a bummer that they failed on you. Like I said this is the first time I've used them and my use case is significantly different than yours. Boiler system vs a walk in shower are two completely different applications.

Anyway, sorry it didn't work out for you hopefully the ones I used hold up longer.

 

[Steltek]

I haven't tried the Watts compression fittings, but I've used the Sharkbite-brand brass push-on fittings frequently and have never had a problem with them. Sharkbite has started selling a shower installation kit at Lowes and HD that includes all the required fittings for most basic shower installations that is significantly cheaper than purchasing the separate fittings.

Their polybutylene to PEX transition couplings are a godsend for allowing me to keep my sister's water turned on until I can get around to a full repipe or her old house to eliminate all her existing polybutylene water lines. In fact, I just installed a Sharkbite T-fitting and three PB to PEX transitions last weekend in her basement to eliminate a 30+ year old cross-threaded Quest T-fitting (which is not uncommon with Quest PB fittings, given how apparently easy they are to cross thread).

They also make a PVC to PEX transition adapter that I've used a time or two.

 

[herm0016]

I have only ever seen fittings that were not installed correctly leak. you must deburr the pipe and you must know when the pipe is all the way into the fitting, if you don't do these things, they can leak. though, on a boiler, i can see the heat cycles being an issue with pipe movement.

 

[Greenman]

I've never been able to talk myself into using O ring supply fittings. Clearly they work, but the life of the fitting is the life of the O ring. From my prospective, that's an enormous latent defect issue just waiting to bite me on the ass.

 

[Micrornd]

I've never been able to talk myself into using O ring supply fittings. Clearly they work, but the life of the fitting is the life of the O ring. From my prospective, that's an enormous latent defect issue just waiting to bite me on the ass.

You do realize that this technology is derived from the air line fittings developed for DOT usage for air brakes, right?
(only they are generally all plastic)

 

[Greenman]

You do realize that this technology is derived from the air line fittings developed for DOT usage for air brakes, right?
(only they are generally all plastic)

And it's still an O ring. I'm a big fan of O rings, they almost always work, they're cheap as dirt, they're usually easy to replace. They're arguably one of the greatest inventions of modern times. But I don't trust them in a pressurized water system where a blowout could cost me several thousand dollars in incidental damage. I also don't see the logic in using an eight dollar fitting in place of a thirty nine cent fitting that has a positive mechanical connection.

Push connect fittings have their place, when it's me who's liable for a failure, that place is somewhere other than my project.

 

[jp7794]

You do realize that this technology is derived from the air line fittings developed for DOT usage for air brakes, right?
(only they are generally all plastic)

You do realize that this technology was also used on the Challenger right?

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

 

[Micrornd]

You do realize that this technology was also used on the Challenger right?

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

Nice try, but nope -

 

[Red Squirrel]

I always feel like those are cheating, but honestly I've never had issues with them and they are super nice to use. They work well in a pinch or to transition from copper to pex too.

 

[bbhaag]

I don't know if I would call it cheating but yeah after a couple of months they seem to be leak free. We are getting ready to do a face lift in the master bath over the next few weeks. Part of the plan is to patch the dry wall that we had to cut out in order to gain access to the shower hardware. It's game over once that happens.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'd consider adding some kind of access door so you can access the plumbing in the future. It's a piece of mind and also makes it easier if ever you want to change the fixtures. (shower head etc)

 

[Hans Gruber]

I'd consider adding some kind of access door so you can access the plumbing in the future. It's a piece of mind and also makes it easier if ever you want to change the fixtures. (shower head etc)

The best access door in a shower would be a sledge hammer. They do not leak if you push them in all the way. The one's that leak are not properly installed. People also forget to use a proper deburring tool at the ends of their connections. When installed correctly, they should never fail. The other rule is that you don't want to use push to connect fittings if you cannot see the pipe.

I bought myself a torch and solder and practiced soldering joints for a few months a few years back.