Brass vs plastic PEX fittings

[Cam Wood]

Do plastic PEX fittings last as long as brass ones? Is there any worry they may crack?

 

[Gsmith22]

i think the opposite is true - plastic (really an engineered polymer - EP) is typically better regarded than the brass. there was an issue about a decade ago where brass fittings were stipped of their zinc by the water essentially corroding quickly and had to be replaced. I don't remember the brands that had the issue but I think most of the major ones were involved. I wonder about the newer "lead free" brass too and if there will be some issue in the future with them where the chemistry of the brass has been changed to meet new lead standards. I tried searching for how brass made to combat dezincification was again changed to meet lead free but couldn't find any discussions. Anyway, I've used the EP stuff in as many ways as possible and only used brass where I had to (MNPT and FNPT fittings for instance). I've never heard of any cracking issue with EP.

 

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[Sylvan]

I have been working in the plumbing field from 1968 (not including military time) and Other then a freeze up I never say a brass fitting fail

I have seen more Pex failures then I can count

Even now a lot of homes I work in were built in 1920's with original brass piping and cast iron waste /vent / leader lines

The only failures in "brass" piping I was aware of was the use of Yellow brass to conserve copper during W W 2 when they alloy composition was changed from red brass to yellow and there was a dezincification issue that caused the piping to become brittle

Red brass 85% copper 15% Zinc Yellow was 60% copper 40% Zinc

 

[hj]

Plastic fittings need to have thicker walls so the opening in them is much smaller than the brass/copper ones.