I just have a few connections to make and don't feel like buying an expensive tool that I might only use a couple times. Is it okay to use hose clamps instead of the crimp connectors?
Can Hose Clamps Be Used For PEX
- Thread starter velvetfoot
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Have you considered renting a crimp tool from a tool rental place for a few hours ?
Costs little and would ensure good connections.
Pex has a smooth exterior and has little for a hose clamp to grip on.
I've tried hose clamps on Pex in temporary situations but never found it satisfactory.
Clarkbug
Minister of Fire
For just a few connections I would use sharkbites. Or a cheapie tool off of eBay.
lazeedan
Feeling the Heat
valley ranch
Feeling the Heat
Greeting velvet, I plumbed for years, a couple years go we bought two places in which the old pre-pex , that gray junk, was installed. Doing repairs I used Pex and decided on the Shark bite type of fittings. Even with the gas line. it was scary, now I kinda like it.
With the Shark bite fittings you don't need the crimping tool. Does that help?
I think with the insert barbed fittings, hose clamps would be fine, not sure I'd use it inside a wall, maybe if I left it open for a few days to be sure.
Any place where it's exposed and you can get at it if it leaks it would be OK. Best of luck.
Richard
With the Shark bite fittings you don't need the crimping tool. Does that help?
I think with the insert barbed fittings, hose clamps would be fine, not sure I'd use it inside a wall, maybe if I left it open for a few days to be sure.
Any place where it's exposed and you can get at it if it leaks it would be OK. Best of luck.
Richard
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Also, the "barbed" fittings that insert into the pex and are meant to be used with a proper crimp ring aren't really barbs. If you look at them they are more like ridges and not a barb at all. They work great when you use them as designed.
Note the cost of the crimp tool is less than 60$ and the fittings you use with it aren't free, still a buck or so each. Then compare to the cost of sharkbites and see that at some point you will break even on the tool investment. I don't think pex will go away.
It is great for homeowners to have what it takes (skills, tools, and parts) to splice in a chunk of pipe to repair a break, or at least cap that line.
Note the cost of the crimp tool is less than 60$ and the fittings you use with it aren't free, still a buck or so each. Then compare to the cost of sharkbites and see that at some point you will break even on the tool investment. I don't think pex will go away.
It is great for homeowners to have what it takes (skills, tools, and parts) to splice in a chunk of pipe to repair a break, or at least cap that line.
Thanks. I'm thinking that the doo-dads for hooking up the $365 Nyletherm could double the price. 
ironpony
Minister of Fire
Retired Guy
Minister of Fire
Shark Bites on a gas line? I've used them with great results on hot and cold water lines but never on gas.
Yeah they are not for use on gas and no hose clamps will not work you don"t get even compression all the way around with hose clamps so it will leak.
valley ranch
Feeling the Heat
Highbeam, I was talking about copper fitting, they are barbs.
Have you ever installed a Shark bite properly that leaked? For doing small jobs the cost of SB fittings are worth it, for the average guy.
Have you ever installed a Shark bite properly that leaked? For doing small jobs the cost of SB fittings are worth it, for the average guy.
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valley ranch
Feeling the Heat
retired guy, Yep, I purchased it from a propane company, I think the name was Bi State in Nevada. It was one piece from the stub out, 3/4" pipe at the house to the tank where another stub out also 3/4" pipe, when the tank was reached the connection was a Shark Bite like fitting, I was concerned but my test cap show there was no loss of pressure. The tube between as far as I could see was Poly. That was two years ago.
http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/146764/Pex-for-natural-gas
This link takes you to a forum, the third post down is describing the line I mentioned.
Richard
http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/146764/Pex-for-natural-gas
This link takes you to a forum, the third post down is describing the line I mentioned.
Richard
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Highbeam
Minister of Fire
So was I, they are not barbs. Look again. These are the brass pex fittings and not a hose fitting. Different IDs.
http://www.supplyhouse.com/Rifeng-H005075LF-1-2-PEX-x-3-4-PEX-Brass-Elbow-Lead-Free
I love sharkbites, and have never had one leak. They have their place but I will avoid them now that I have the tool IF there is a crimped option.
I am sure they can make push on fittings that would work for gas sharkbites might even work but they are not approved for that application. And in pa all interior gas lines need to be metallic in order to give more time in case of a fire the only place i have seen plastic used for gas is on exterior grilles. But i have no idea if that code is national or not. And i agree with highbeam they are ridges not barbs.
semipro
Minister of Fire
I would definitely not use standard SS worm drive hose clamps on PEX.
Sharkbite are good, crimped are better.
Sharkbite are good, crimped are better.
Advantages and disadvantages:
1) Sharkbites use "o" rings, they get brittle and fail after30 years, that's probably why their warranty is 30 years.
2) Crimps shrink the ring's diameter by gathering a bump on each side of the crimp. This crimped area by definition is raised and therefore there is no direct pressure in the crimped area. You can see it on a failed crimp. There are little or no embossing in the PEX's inside diameter at the crimps. If the water has a stain, you can see there the water leaked by. ALSO metal under stress stretches over time. Inaddition, Copper crimps are know to corrode.
3) Crimp clamps, if they don't have a band under the crimp, can leak there too.
3) Hose (worm-screw) clamps, have been used in industry for two hundred+ years. You may have noticed that a year later you can tighten them some more. They are not used by manufactures much because they aren't as easy to quickly and automatically apply.
Tape and/or pipe-compound can be used too. The trade off is yes they fill gaps but they can make the fittings more slippery so the hose can pop off. If you can squeeze the tube enough to emboss the tube around the barbs or rings then slipping is not an issue.
1) Sharkbites use "o" rings, they get brittle and fail after30 years, that's probably why their warranty is 30 years.
2) Crimps shrink the ring's diameter by gathering a bump on each side of the crimp. This crimped area by definition is raised and therefore there is no direct pressure in the crimped area. You can see it on a failed crimp. There are little or no embossing in the PEX's inside diameter at the crimps. If the water has a stain, you can see there the water leaked by. ALSO metal under stress stretches over time. Inaddition, Copper crimps are know to corrode.
3) Crimp clamps, if they don't have a band under the crimp, can leak there too.
3) Hose (worm-screw) clamps, have been used in industry for two hundred+ years. You may have noticed that a year later you can tighten them some more. They are not used by manufactures much because they aren't as easy to quickly and automatically apply.
Tape and/or pipe-compound can be used too. The trade off is yes they fill gaps but they can make the fittings more slippery so the hose can pop off. If you can squeeze the tube enough to emboss the tube around the barbs or rings then slipping is not an issue.
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Old thread, lol. I wound up using copper crimps and a not-too-expensive crimping tool from HD. Very easy to use.
I wonder, does current plumbing practice allow crimped joints inside walls?
I wonder, does current plumbing practice allow crimped joints inside walls?
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Yes on crimped joints inside walls. No choice in lots of applications since the bending radius of most pex is 6" minimum.
Owlpic has outdated info. I suspect he is one of those diehard copper pipe fans from back when they used to use copper.
NO, Owlpic has a NEW, two year old house, with 4 crimp failures inside walls and ceiling, both in water and heating system.
We had several plumbers and the manufacture review the failures and everything is in specification. Where the crimps are made there is no crimp-band contact with the PEX, so there is a gap where water can seep through and in one case the PEX hose popped off. See attached Picture.
To understand what is being said, imagine your entire house filled with water, and everything having to be replaced. This is a serious discussion.
This is a serious problem.
GOOGLE: pex leak
and See above:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/can-hose-clamps-be-used-for-pex.127753/#post-1719941
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Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Sounds like your plumber wasn't using the go nogo gauge to check that his crimp tool was adjusted to give proper crimps. You know these are adjustable, wear out, and need to be adjusted right? That's why there is a test gauge included when you buy the tool.
Your plumber's crappy workmanship is no reason to condemn a technology that is the new standard.
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