1-1/4" PEX expander needed

[Jim K in PA]

Does anyone have one to rent?

I am just about at wits end. I have been waiting for weeks for a local supply shop that I use to loan me the electric expander and 1-1/4" mandrel that they have available for tradesmen to use. The thing is, I am not a tradesman, so I am last in the pecking order to get access to it. Installing the adapters and ells in my PEX line to my house is the last major step to getting my GARN up and running.

To buy one from Pexsupply is over $1000. That is insane just to install less than a couple dozen fittings. But if I do buy one, I'll be setting up a PEX installation business for myself . . .

I did try the local tool rental companies - nothing available other than the standard hand expander.

Sorry. Just had to vent while I am still burning oil.

 

[TCaldwell]

jim, i went through the same situation, if this is for the pex supply from the garn to the hx and the return back to the garn, you will likely be below 15 psi system pressure, my wood loop runs at 6.5 psi at 14.5 gpm. i tried this and went with it, cut a short excess length of pex , clamp the brass pex fitting in a vise , with a propane torch heat the end of the pex, inside and out carefully not to overheat and insert over brass ftg. as it cools it will contract around the ftg, ,two hose clamps and a dab of silicone , let set overnight and try to pull apart or twist, for me this has not leaked ,3 years at temps over 200 deg f . again this is low pressure.

 

[Rick Stanley]

That's pretty handy news. What's the pressure likely to get up to on the pressurized side? I just went down cellar and checked the gauge on top of my oil boiler and it says 190 and 16.

 

[DaveBP]

with a propane torch heat the end of the pex, inside and out carefully not to overheat

I've never worked with PEX tubing but with several other species of plastic tubing it's safer to hold the end in question in a kettle of just boiled water a while to let it really heat through with out the risk of blistering the tube. If you blister the inside of the tube it can be hard to tighten the hose clamp tight enough to stop the drip. Ask me how I know.

I've used the kettle trick hanging upside down in a well. Don't use your wife's favorite tea kettle.

 

[Jim K in PA]

jim, i went through the same situation, if this is for the pex supply from the garn to the hx and the return back to the garn, you will likely be below 15 psi system pressure, my wood loop runs at 6.5 psi at 14.5 gpm. i tried this and went with it, cut a short excess length of pex , clamp the brass pex fitting in a vise , with a propane torch heat the end of the pex, inside and out carefully not to overheat and insert over brass ftg. as it cools it will contract around the ftg, ,two hose clamps and a dab of silicone , let set overnight and try to pull apart or twist, for me this has not leaked ,3 years at temps over 200 deg f . again this is low pressure.

TC- thanks for the tip. I tried something similar, albeit in a very conservative manner. I heated the PEX with an old hair dryer, then tried to expand it with my old copper swage. It started to work. MY challenge will be doing this on the ends of the pipe in the trench. I do have an infrared paint remover that I was going to try next. If the tool does not come into my hands by the end of the week, next weekend will be spent heating pex and fittings.

I think heating the fitting as well as the end of the tubing will help too. I'll put a pot of water on my Coleman stove with the fittings in the heated water. Maybe I'll put a pot of coffee on next to it . . . ;-)

 

[Jim K in PA]

if this is for the pex supply from the garn to the hx and the return back to the garn, you will likely be below 15 psi system pressure, my wood loop runs at 6.5 psi at 14.5 gpm.

I forgot to answer this part. Yes, this is the GARN side, low pressure S/R through the HX in the basement. Probably less than 4 PSI and about 8 GPM.

 

[pybyr]

Jim- here's what I aim to try (see other thread), for the exact same reasons that you mention:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/28337/

 

[Jim K in PA]

Thanks Trevor. I had been following that thread, but I wanted to use the "correct" Pex fittings I now have, which require a lot more expansion than the PE barbed fittings. I'll post results of my experiment with my IR heater.

BTW - I have used my wife's non-stick cooking spray for lubricating barbed fittings for 1" PE pipe. It is Canola oil based, and worked great.