PEX time bomb? - Zurn fitting dezincification

[stangbat]

I think I have some work to do this weekend. I assume what I'm seeing in the pictures below is dezincification. Note that only the 3/4" tees have the white powdery substance on them. The 3/4" elbows and 1/2" elbows are fine.

All the 3/4" tees showing the powder are ones I installed when putting in a utility sink and expansion tank. All other brass fitting I have installed look fine. The rest of the house has copper fittings and they look fine, and all of the copper fittings I've removed have looked fine inside and out. I'm guessing that since only the 3/4" tees look like this, they are some of the Zurn fittings that have the wrong amount of zinc and are defective.

I live in the KC metro area, Kansas side, and I'm not aware of any problems that our water causes with copper or zinc. I think this is due to a defect, not the water. Any thoughts? What should I use to replace the tees? I can't seem to find copper 3/4" tees for sale.

Dezincification?

This picture shows the 3/4" elbow below the 3/4" tee shown in the above picture. It looks fine:
A 1/2" elbow that looks fine:

 

[stangbat]

No comments? Did I scare everyone away with this?

Figured I'd post an update. Something is definitely wrong with these fittings. None of the other Zurn fittings I have installed look like this, and none of the existing fittings that have been in the house since it was constructed 10 years ago look like this, they all are clean. There are other 1/2" fittings I installed at the same time as these 3/4" tee fittings that look fine. There are 3/4" elbows I installed at the same time as these tees and they look fine.

Since only the 3/4" tees look bad and nothing else, I'm guessing this is dezincification due to a bad brass alloy. If anyone needs more information, let me know. These were purchased at Lowes in Shawnee KS in late December 2006.

I'm glad I replaced these. I think I had a real potential problem here. There are probably a lot of other people in in KC with the same problem looming over them and they don't know it.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

If there are, and it is a distinct possibility, it may end up similar to the PB situation years ago. The installing contractors will be sued, along with their insurance companies and the manufacturer. The tees look just like a lot of import brass valves after a few years.

http://www.polybutylenelawsuit.com/

 

[stangbat]

I'm not familiar with the "PB situation". PB as in lead?

What was the problem with the import brass valves that looked like this?

 

[Redwood]

PB refers to a PolyButylene plastic tubing used several years back that had problems resulting in a class action...

The Zurn Dezincification Problem has been well documented in many threads here...
Like this one... https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?17164-Zurn-class-action-law-suit-My-sorry-tale

 

[Minneme]

Zurn has apparently quietly stopped selling brass fittings for pex systems.

Go to http://www.zurnpex.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=EfzxE69JmHg=&tabid=198, open the spreadsheet and scroll down. You will see "discontinued" next to the brass PEX fittings.

 

[hj]

The problem with import valves that looked like that is that they were made of inferior brass, and the encrustation was caused by water passing through the porous material.

 

[stangbat]

Interesting that Zurn doesn't sell brass fittings anymore. Vanguard is what is available locally in Lowes and is what I used to replace my Zurn tees.

My house was plumbed 10 years ago with all copper PEX fittings. Every one I have inspected when doing work has looked pristine. I would have loved to use copper tees and elbows for the work I did, but the problem is I couldn't find them. I could find some for sale over the web, but no 3/4" tees. I think the only thing I found in copper was 1/2" couplings and maybe a few 1/2" elbows. I even checked a large local plumbing supply store and they didn't have copper fittings for PEX. What has happened, why can't I find them?

I feel sorry for anyone that bought these 3/4" fittings back in late '06, early '07. If they are sitting behind dry wall they are a ticking time bomb. Luckily I installed mine in the unfinished portion of my basement and I noticed something didn't look right.

 

[JaredK]

I am looking to buy a 2008 house with Zurn pipe and fittings. It is a reverse 1.5 story, basically a ranch with a mostly finished basement - so most of the pex lines are exposed in the unfinished portion.
Would buying SharkBite push on fittings work with the Zurn lines? Or, is there a fitting that can work as an adapter?

 

[Sylvan]

Back in 2000 I was saying I like state of the art piping and fittings " as long as I don't use it

The article was about the mental midgets who were all screaming about the virtues of using plastic for heating applications

Being old school I was under the impression that any good conductor of electricity would be a great product fro heating

Copper great for electric and for heating

Steel ok for electric and good for heating

Plastic great insulator poor for heat transfer until copper prices skyrocketed and the powers that be rant to find a new cheap easy to install product

Then the sick mentality to place piping under concrete knowing it can no longer be serviced and concrete is not great for transferring heat

When I did a radiant heating system I explained to the account the following

In the basement I will use cast iron baseboard as the piping will not be buried and readily accessible in case of as problem

All the other radiant will be copper Type L to warm the floors above

The general post office on 34 street in manhattan's ceiling radiators steam supplied and hydronics for the free standing radiators

This setup has been trouble free since July 1918

I wonder what the life span is for plastic buried in cement

When the PEX lawsuit started the installers were hung out to dry as the manufacturers stated it was installed improperly

The PEX failed because it may have been exposed to sun light before being installed

There may be oxygen in the water (DUHH)

There may be chlorine that should have been addressed by the installer

Then there is dezincification and a host of other reasons for failure

As far as potable water supply I cannot imagine what plastic toxins leach into the water supply.

On the left coast if your caught smuggling a plastic straw you may get life imprisonment with no chance of parole

SEE Below

"San Francisco supervisors voted unanimously to ban restaurants, bars and retailers from selling or using on Tuesday, becoming the largest city to block establishments from giving out plastic straws among a group that includes several smaller ones in California, and at least one other major city — Seattle — in the U.S."