Help removing polypipe from brass barbed fittings...

[cab]

Hello-

I would appreciate it if someone/anyone! could give me some advice on how to best remove polypipe from brass barbed fittings. I need to tighten some of the connections on my pressure tank manifold and must remove the polypipe supply connections to do so....Thanks....

Chris

 

[Rancher]

Use a heat gun, or hair dryer. Or a propane torch very carefully.

Rancher

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Raucina]

I have found a hacksaw to be faster and more reliable.... then surgery with a knife, then add a union so you dont have to do it again.

Just a bit too much heat weakens the pipe dramatically and can cause a failure in the future. A heat gun works good on poly barbs, but if its a turned brass barb, and its 200psi pipe, most bets are off.

 

[Gary Slusser]

As I said in your duplicate post: If you want to tighten a threaded fitting. Loosen the hose clamps and tighten the fitting and reinstall the clamp after rotating it say a 1/4 to 1/2 turn on the pipe.

If there is any water in the pipe, heating isn't going to work. I cut the pipe by slitting it and cutting it off. Then I move the tank that same distance to put things back together or add more pipe with a coupler.

Rancher, PE pipe manufacturers suggest heating the pipe. Nowhere as much as some folks do, but yes, heating works on all fitting materials including brass, SS, galvanized, Nylon, plastic of all kinds etc.. You are supposed to heat all around equally and the inside as well as the outside, and overheating causes the pipe to fail if you get it hot enough to go limp or not but kink when putting it on a fitting. If so stop, cut off the kink where the pipe is cold to the touch and start over with less heat.

 

[cab]

It is indeed 200psi poly and turned brass barbs...If I heat it with a heat gun can I get it off the barbs or am I going to have to cut it /chisel it/torch it off???

I can't just loosen the pipe clamps and tighten because the section I need to tighten is at 90 degrees to the poly. ....

 

[Raucina]

that was a good point, with a straight fitting you can just let it spin on the barbs.

If you can get the water out, try the heat or even boiling water application, then grunt and pull with some rocking motion. If you can get some slack cut it and slide stuff around. Otherwise cut it and add a union for 5 bucks that will make up for the lost length.

 

[Gary Slusser]

Since it is an el, drain the water out of the line (if you can, you have to cut the PE and replumb) and then heat evenly on the outside over the fitting barbs and pull the pipe off the el. Tighten the el or whatever you need to do to stop the leak and put things back together.

Brass is a bad choice for insert fittings, sch 80 PVC (above ground or SS if underground) are much better choices if for only the differences in cost; they all work equally well.

Hint, if you had sch 80 PVC, you can quickly and easily use a hacksaw and cut the fitting off with the PE on it so you can still unthread the threaded part and then heat and slit the PE off the insert part so you don't need a coupler and more pipe.

A union is a very bad choice. You end up with 5 potential joints to leak instead of only two with a barbed coupler. And if you can't move things, cutting PE and properly fitting a union into the line using two barbed fittings is next to impossible.

 

[Rancher]

A union is a very bad choice. You end up with 5 potential joints to leak instead of only two with a barbed coupler.

Only 3 joints with a union, but who's counting. You got the incoming threaded joint, properly tightened won't leak, you've got the joint between the two halves of the union, the nut that holds the two halves don't count as a joint, and you've got the outgoing threaded joint. All of them properly tightened with teflon tape on the threaded joints will be just as leak proof as a barbed connector with a threaded joint.

Rancher

 

[cab]

I was able to unscrew a fitting downstream of the poly, tighten all the fittings, then put a union in for any future monkey business....Was much easier than messing with the poly and the barbed fittings....

I am getting a lot of sweating due to the high dew point and very cold water...Any ideas on what to do about that????

As a side note, my submersible well pump system install seems to be working great! As a first time install, it was a challenge, but thanks to all the tips picked up from reading here, it went rather smoothly. Now I am looking forward to some delicious, cold, well water....

Thanks for all the help....

 

[Gary Slusser]

Only 3 joints with a union, but who's counting. You got the incoming threaded joint, properly tightened won't leak, you've got the joint between the two halves of the union, the nut that holds the two halves don't count as a joint, and you've got the outgoing threaded joint. All of them properly tightened with teflon tape on the threaded joints will be just as leak proof as a barbed connector with a threaded joint.

Rancher

Three plus the two insert/barbed joints is 5. Yes they do leak and the primary cause is over tightening the hose clamps.

"... threaded joint properly tightened won't leak"!! LOL The threaded elbow he has already properly tightened as far as he could tell, needs to be tightened because it is leaking .... Or maybe you think he just wanted to practice taking things apart and putting them back together. And you really think the two halves of a union aren't a joint.... maybe you just haven't seen any leak; I have.