I'm a professional, licensed plumber in Wisconsin. After many years working for another company, a partner and I started our own business. We decided at the outset to switch from PEX B crimp system (which we were both familiar with and used for 10+ years) to PEX A expansion. We based this decision on a seeming general perception that it's more reliable, some word of mouth, full flow fittings, etc., etc. Seemingly all the large, reputable, plumbing companies in the area seem to use it (of their work that I've seen). Basically, the impression we got was that the system is foolproof and headache-free, nearly leak-proof.
It's been nothing but problems. On our second large job, we had multiple poly fittings that were cracked and leaked after pressurization. Our wholesaler promised us they had never seen this before. Since then, we haven't had any problems with the fittings being broken, but have had regular problems with the joints leaking. Thankfully, nothing catastrophic, all leaks present themselves shortly after pressurization. I reached out to Milwaukee Tool tech support and they recommended doing a few more clicks than we had been doing - their reasoning being more expansion, more pliability, better seal. We've also made sure to leave more time for the joints to "set up" after expansion.
Our wholesaler also switched brands from Legend to Sharkbite pipe at this time, apparently we were not the only ones having issues.
Now I just got back from a Sunday night call to repair some DIY work, and one of my PEX joints failed. Again, not catastrophically, but this is becoming a real pain. So now we're invested in a system that is definitely *not* leak proof, takes longer, is more difficult to use in small spaces, and requires expensive tools. My questions are:
- Are others seeing issues like I'm having?
- If so, is it equipment, fittings, pipe, user error?
- Why is it that that seemingly the entire industry is moving towards expansion? It seems to me the only drawback of the crimp system is the reduced size at fittings, but in my experience this never caused any issues except with municipal inspectors.
It's been nothing but problems. On our second large job, we had multiple poly fittings that were cracked and leaked after pressurization. Our wholesaler promised us they had never seen this before. Since then, we haven't had any problems with the fittings being broken, but have had regular problems with the joints leaking. Thankfully, nothing catastrophic, all leaks present themselves shortly after pressurization. I reached out to Milwaukee Tool tech support and they recommended doing a few more clicks than we had been doing - their reasoning being more expansion, more pliability, better seal. We've also made sure to leave more time for the joints to "set up" after expansion.
Our wholesaler also switched brands from Legend to Sharkbite pipe at this time, apparently we were not the only ones having issues.
Now I just got back from a Sunday night call to repair some DIY work, and one of my PEX joints failed. Again, not catastrophically, but this is becoming a real pain. So now we're invested in a system that is definitely *not* leak proof, takes longer, is more difficult to use in small spaces, and requires expensive tools. My questions are:
- Are others seeing issues like I'm having?
- If so, is it equipment, fittings, pipe, user error?
- Why is it that that seemingly the entire industry is moving towards expansion? It seems to me the only drawback of the crimp system is the reduced size at fittings, but in my experience this never caused any issues except with municipal inspectors.