Uponor and Manabloc manifold?

[Bpetey]

from viega's website "PureFlow MANABLOC system components are not interchangeable with components and tubing from other suppliers." I was hoping to use uponor pex tubing and fittings for my replumbing job along with a manabloc manifold. Do I need to look for a uponor manifold or is Viega just trying to sell more of there products. I don't realy need a manifold system but the convience of it would be worth the extra cost. Single family home with crawl space. 907sq ft. 1 bath, 1 laundry and obviously a kitchen.

 

[hj]

What is the "convenience of it"? Are you using a manifold with individual valves?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jadnashua]

Assuming the manifold has the fittings (barbed) attached, they are designed for crimp rings rather than the expansion system Uphonor uses, so you might not get a good seal. The Uphonor barb has a larger OD (and less restrictions). You can't install the pipe over it until it has been expanded. The other crimp-style fittings will fit into the tubing without expansion, then you crimp it to hold it there. Not sure if the ID of the various pex tubing is always identical. The fittings are designed for the specific brand's tubing.

 

[Bpetey]

Assuming the manifold has the fittings (barbed) attached, they are designed for crimp rings rather than the expansion system Uphonor uses, so you might not get a good seal. The Uphonor barb has a larger OD (and less restrictions). You can't install the pipe over it until it has been expanded. The other crimp-style fittings will fit into the tubing without expansion, then you crimp it to hold it there. Not sure if the ID of the various pex tubing is always identical. The fittings are designed for the specific brand's tubing.

The manifold has compession fittings for the oulets with individual shut off vlaves.

 

[DavidTu]

Thread resurrection! So... since it is compression fitting that rellies on the O.D. and since they are all the same for all PEX and Copper (right!?) this should work fine w/ any PEX brand including Uponor. True or False?

 

[hj]

True. But get a manifold with more openings than you need so that when the valve, (they are NOT the best made devices), fails on one port, you can shut it off and connect to an unused one.

 

[alfadoc]

Uponor Aquapex will not fit a manabloc manifold. I found out the hard way. The OD of the Aquapex is larger. When you put the sleeve on the inside of the Aquapex and the ring on the outside, the OD is then too large to fit into the recess on the Manabloc port.

 

[DynaMike]

The viega SDR-9 .500 is .625 OD and nominal .475 ID The Aquapex SDR-9 .500 is (as measured) .625 OD and .465-.480 ID. I am in the beginning process of a total retrofit of my house with the manablock with uponor tubing. I stubbed a piece of tubing off the manablock and it seems to fit fine, considering both mfgs tubing measures the same, why wouldn't it work. As far as I know tubing manufactures must comply with ASTM regulations which standardize sizes and materials. The same principals apply to all pipe and tubing , PVC, Steel, HDPE etc. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Todd Jamison]

I installed a manabloc with compression connections with aquapex tubing. The cold sides worked just fine, but the hot side connections wiggled loose three times throughout the duration of a year. I tightened the connections to spec but over time they would start leaking again. I'm not sure if the crimp connections would work any better, but the compression connections are junk as far as I'm concerned. After a year, I removed the manabloc and replaced with Uponor expansion pex multiport tees. I have had no further issues with leaks and sleep a lot better at night. No moving parts, no compression connections to loosen, etc. I won't say the manabloc itself is a terrible product, but the compression connection method is IMO.