Hose bib stubbed to PEX question...

[TGreenway]

First, I consider myself a decent "DIY", but not really crazy about plumbing.

My hose bib broke where you screw the hose on, (to tight maybe?), and I need to replace it. Very easy access under my house, and what I found was that the hose bib is stubbed with about 8" copper, and then connected to PEX with a sweated on connector that is crimped to the PEX. I've never done anything with PEX, and was wondering if it was safe to sweat the old copper bib assembly from the copper connector that is crimped to the PEX. I assume that originally you would sweat the connector to the copper and then connect to the PEX....in short, is it safe to sweat a copper/PEX joing?

Maybe a better option would be to build a new hose bib assembly, maybe
12", buy a crimper, cut the PEX and reconnect....always looking for a reason to buy a new tool.

 

[hj]

Pex

That length of copper should be adequate to protect the PEX, especially if you wrap the PEX connection with a wet rag. Not a good enough reason to buy a single purpose tool like a crimper.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[TGreenway]

I'm assuming that you're suggesting to sweat the hose bib off from the outside, and I don't think there is enough "slack" for me to pull the bib out from the bricks to get to the joint. The way the PEX comes in I don't have a way to undo a clip, etc., to create any slack....although that's probably worth another look/shot anyway.
What I was asking was can I build a new assembly (bib and stub), less the copper to PEX connector, and sweat the new assembly into the old connector...so the PEX is only an inch or so away. Looks to me like that would be way to close to the PEX, but again, I've never used this stuff before.

I originally thought about cutting the copper, sweating in a copper/copper joint....but there's only about 2 inches of the copper stub available, and that would still be close to the PEX.

I'm probably making a big deal out of this, but the only way to learn is to ask.

Thanks again.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

Cut off

Cut the hose bib off flush to the wall (outside) with a saw. Then you can pull the remaining copper into the house. There should be enough there to safely sweat on an additional length of copper that will extend back out the wall for the new hose bib to be attached to. Reposition the PEX as needed to prevent kinking.

 

[Jadnashua]

You're making it too complicated...

Wrap a damp rag around the pex/copper junction, then treat the copper like any other copper connection to install a new hose bib. With 8" of copper between the pex and the hose bib and a damp rag, the pex connection shouldn't get hot enough to compromise it. If you want, instead of soldering the new hose bib on, you could buy a threaded one...the threaded adapter, being less massive than a valve would mean less heat needed to make that connection. You may need to have someone hold the pipe on the inside to keep from just twisting the copper stub in the pex connection, though.