PEX truths and untruths.

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Curt Pasawicz

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I hate when wannabe "plumbers" offer info on this site just to hear themselves talk. The people who ask questions on this site are people who legitimately need correct info or they wouldn't be on the site and when someone tells somebody something that is so far off base I get mad. Just because Pex looks like it is plastic doesn't mean that it is. PEX is an engineered product that chemically is not even close to plastic. Also nothing accumulates inside of PEX unlike copper. Calcium, lime, hard water, rust, nothing. 20 years from now it will be as clean as it was when it was installed. Did you ever look at the copper water pipes after a few years. I just read a thread from a guy that told a homeowner that he can't run hot water thru PEX. I was always old school and did not want to switch from copper when plumbing water pipes. I did plenty of research on the subject so I know a little bit about it. Pex is used for hot water. That is why PEX comes in colors. Blue for cold water and red for hot. Dah! I don't know what the melting point is but it definitely more than 250 degrees. I just watched a video that showed a way to make a 90 degree bend without using expensive fittings. PEX can be bent. For a severe bend you can heat it with a torch or heat gun. When it gets real hot it turns clear and returns to the original color as it cools down. I just tried it to see for myself. I took a 5 foot piece and stood one end on the floor so that I had a free hand. I used my heat gun(which is a lot hotter than 25o degrees) and pointed it where I wanted the bend to be. I put a tight 90 degree bend on it and held it till it cooled. It works. When all was done I had the PEX bent to fit the section I needed. I hope the others that post here only offer info if they can put there money where their mouth is.
 
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Tom Sawyer

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PEX is cross linked polyethylene. It's plastic. The cross linking process can either be done chemically or electronically but it's still plastic. There are literally hundreds of different types of plastic and PEX is most certainly one of them. "Stuff" like rust most certainly does accumulate inside it. Heating PEX to make it bend is contrary to what the plumbing code says. There is a specific radius that pex can be bent too and it doesn't require heat. They make bend supports to keep the bend in the pipe. Although you can buy PEX in colors there is no difference between red, blue, opaque or any other color of the rainbow and there is no code that says the red has to be hot and the blue cold. Most of us installing PEX don't bother with the color anymore than we did with copper.
You should do some more reading about PEX.
 
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hj

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The color of PEX has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether it is for hot or cold water. The color is so the high school kids, or other unskilled persons, the contractor is using to install it can remember which pipes they are working on. I have looked on the inside of MANY copper lines which are a lot more than a "few years old" and all I have ever seen was the thin patina that isolated the copper AND solder from the water.
 

Jadnashua

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The only company that I'm aware of that advocates a heat gun on their PEX is Uphonor, and that is to help relieve the stress from a kink, not for help in making bends. Once the cross-linking is complete (essentially during the manufacturing process), the stuff is incredibly stable and heat can soften it, but not destroy the cross-linking until you get it so hot you've essentially destroyed it. The softening of the material helps the memory effect let it return to it's original shape. While this may work for any type-A PEX, they are the only one I'm aware of that list it as a supported action. Type-A PEX tends to have the most complete cross-linking which is one reason that it also supports the tightest turn radius.
 
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WJcandee

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I'm intrigued by how this "Don't Be Hatin' The PEX" thread is now juxtaposed with the "I Had Two PEX Failures In One Year" thread. Just sayin'.

(Still happy with our 65-year-old oversized copper...)
 

Jadnashua

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I'm intrigued by how this "Don't Be Hatin' The PEX" thread is now juxtaposed with the "I Had Two PEX Failures In One Year" thread. Just sayin'.

(Still happy with our 65-year-old oversized copper...)
Have you never seen copper get pinholes in it? I have, in my mother's house in the middle of a run, quite a ways from any fittings, and with nothing touching it. Bad batches can happen, but hopefully, they get caught before they get out the door. Some places, copper doesn't last very long, either, depending on the water and soil types. There's a place for both, but both must be quality in the first place. Workmanship is also important - good and bad can happen with either.
 

WJcandee

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I'm thinking that if the original, PEX-defending poster follows his own suggestion and heats and bends that stuff as he mentions, he'll be one of the folks wondering why his living room is flooded in a couple of years.

And whether or not PEX when properly done with well-made joints is a good choice, I think it's pretty clear that there was for a time a lot of poorly-made PEX and connectors floating around. Judging at least from the lawsuits and bankruptcies.

We haven't had any leaks in our copper, knock on wood. But probably the quality of the pipe and the installation were excellent by the well-regarded contractor who did the renovation work back in the '50s for the previous homeowner.
 

Jadnashua

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The only type of PEX that allows it to be heated by a heat gun that I'm aware of is made by Uphonor, AND is only used to help straighten out a kink. All of the other manufacturers that I know of require you to cut out a kink and replace it with a fitting. But, probably, any pex made using method A (which Uphonor uses) would probably operate the same way. Most companies have evolved to using -B or -C because they are cheaper to produce. Method -A typically produces the longest, strongest, most flexible cross-links in the material with the strongest memory (the reason why you can heat it to restore the diameter if it got kinked and why they use the expansion method verses clamping rings to make the seal).
 

Tom Sawyer

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Ya get the feeling that a decade or so from now the crap is going to hit the fan? Lol
 

Jadnashua

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Ya get the feeling that a decade or so from now the crap is going to hit the fan? Lol
There's something to be said about a company with long-term history verses someone trying to make a commodity for the first time. This is not an ad for Uponor, I get nothing from them or any others, but they are one of the original companies, control their whole supply chain from raw materials to finished product, so they have oversight and ultimate control over all of the steps in producing their product. Pretty much all of the others that I'm aware of buy their raw materials and some of them also rebrand stuff made by someone else.
 

Tom Sawyer

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Upon or isn't immune. Look into some of their European disasters with PEX.
 
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Plumber69

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I have some PEX crimps that are 6 years old and I just noticed today there are signs of leakage. Its just a small build up of brown stuff. Ive seen people bend a PEX line for hot water 90 degrees that will kink over time. I love PEX, but i love copper too.
 
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Plumber69

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I hate when wannabe "plumbers" offer info on this site just to hear themselves talk. The people who ask questions on this site are people who legitimately need correct info or they wouldn't be on the site and when someone tells somebody something that is so far off base I get mad. Just because Pex looks like it is plastic doesn't mean that it is. Pex is an engineered product that chemically is not even close to plastic. Also nothing accumulates inside of Pex unlike copper. Calcium, lime, hard water, rust, nothing. 20 years from now it will be as clean as it was when it was installed. Did you ever look at the copper water pipes after a few years. I just read a thread from a guy that told a homeowner that he can't run hot water thru Pex. I was always old school and did not want to switch from copper when plumbing water pipes. I did plenty of research on the subject so I know a little bit about it. Pex is used for hot water. That is why Pex comes in colors. Blue for cold water and red for hot. Dah! I don't know what the melting point is but it definitely more than 250 degrees. I just watched a video that showed a way to make a 90 degree bend without using expensive fittings. Pex can be bent. For a severe bend you can heat it with a torch or heat gun. When it gets real hot it turns clear and returns to the original color as it cools down. I just tried it to see for myself. I took a 5 foot piece and stood one end on the floor so that I had a free hand. I used my heat gun(which is a lot hotter than 25o degrees) and pointed it where I wanted the bend to be. I put a tight 90 degree bend on it and held it till it cooled. It works. When all was done I had the Pex bent to fit the section I needed. I hope the others that post here only offer info if they can put there money where their mouth is.
PEX is great, shark bites not so much. Ive been using them less and less lately. To many have been failing on me recently
 
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Master Plumber Mark

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its probably not a good idea to bend pex with a heat gun and make elbows with it...
you are certainly stressing the pipe at that juncture and problems that happens in 5 years
will probably occur at that spot.....

I would rather just put an elbow in the line rather than about burn up the pipe and force it into a bend
just to save a few cents..
 
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