As some of you may recall I asked a while back about running an external garden hose from my trailer. Here's a link to that topic. LinkI received many great responses to my question of where to attach the hose to the trailer. out of all those answers I'm leaning toward tapping into an existing PEX water line. which brings up my questions.How effective are Sharkbite fittings? Do they work well with the PEX, or are they really more of a band-aid?Would I get a more reliable fitting if I bought the a PEX crimp tool and some PEX fittings?People have reported the tool as being expensive. I know expensive is a subjective term. can someone tell me about how much their crimper cost?Thanks I have a trip next weekend and would like to try to make this work before then.

The Sharkbite fittings are permanent and can be installed in "behind the wall" installations. I had to redo a leaking shower and the dealer used Sharkbite and told me all about them. I then had to re-plumb my water heater setup (take out 2 10 gal. water heaters and replace that with 1 20-gal) which required new copper installation. I considered soldering it all up but the Sharkbite fittings would make the job so easy. It's been over a year with lots of bumping down the road and they are just as leak free as the day they were installed. I know you asked about PEX....the shower setup was all PEX and that fix is over 2 years old.

They are what my repair guy uses and have never had a leak from one....

Yes, Sharkbite works well with PEX. If the joint is in a place where it could be hit by road debris or bouncing continually against a hard surface, I would choose to crimp. My Three-Size die style crimper cost $20 at Menards. The handled crimpers are $70 and more.

Yes Sharkbite fittings are effective, but pricey.My preference is Flair-It. Available at most Home Depot stores. Easy to use and re-use.Richard

Most of plumbers I know use them.

Are Sharkbite fittings effective? | Good Sam Community

deltamaster
Explorer
Dec 10, 2013
RJsfishin wrote:

I hate crimp, mainly because they can't be resued very simply.

Which could be an issue if the tubing is already short enough.

Damage the tubing trying to get the crimp off and you have to cut the tubing back. Enough of that and the joints will not come together.
deltamaster
Explorer
Dec 10, 2013
RJsfishin wrote:
I'll repeat,....there is NEVER a reason to use crimp. except for OEM (incl plummers that already have the tools) economy.
And I believe its the only way w/ the bigger tubes.
Flair-it is found at almost every hadware store, and the only pex fitting you'll find at every RV supply. Let that tell you something.

I do not know... could not say that... there is a major plumbing outfit in Cheyenne Wyoming that uses Shark Bite all the time.
RJsfishin
Explorer
Dec 05, 2013
azpete wrote:
rj why would you go buy fittings when you already have the crimp fittings in hand. and the vroom to use them. i carry all three in stock. crimp is the most permanent of all the repairs. i use that method whenever i have room. i think all three work just fine.
i believe personally that crimp is best. just like the manufacturer.

Me ?? I never had a crimper or crimp fittings for pex.

It is impossible to cross thread a flairit fitting. The nut is aligned by the tubing, and couldn't be cross threaded if you tried.

Mfgs don't think crimp is best. Its just faster, and the fittings cost 1/4 of flairit, and 1/8 th of sharkbite. But many MFGs do use Flairit, RV, and Homes.
I hate crimp, mainly because they can't be resued very simply.
mlts22
Explorer
Dec 03, 2013
I remember seeing a push-fit fitting similar to Sharkbite/Probite/Gatorbite, except it had two O-rings, and was better suited for tasks where vibration is an issue. Anyone know about those?
time2roll
Nomad
Dec 03, 2013
I have used the Flair-It and I consider the SharkBite/GatorBite to be far superior and easier to use. These are a trouble free permanent coupling.

And since many post about plastic fittings being the weakest link during a freeze I prefer the brass fittings.
JamesBr
Explorer
Dec 03, 2013
On my old bus I had a pex plastic fitting cross thread while updating the kitchen faucet. I went to HD and bought an equal shark bite, never had a problem with it for the 3.5 years after install.
azpete
Explorer
Dec 03, 2013
rj why would you go buy fittings when you already have the crimp fittings in hand. and the vroom to use them. i carry all three in stock. crimp is the most permanent of all the repairs. i use that method whenever i have room. i think all three work just fine.
i believe personally that crimp is best. just like the manufacturer.
Simplygib
Explorer
Dec 02, 2013
Never used Sharkbite, but I have used Flair-it. I am "plumbing challenged" but was able to put together a whole-house water filter system that required quite an array of couplers and elbows (due to space limitations), and not a single leak with the Flair-it connectors. Granted, it's a stationary installation and won't be bumped around like would happen in an RV going down the road, but I suspect they would work fine in that situation as well. Still amazes me how well they work.
RJsfishin
Explorer
Dec 02, 2013
I'll repeat,....there is NEVER a reason to use crimp. except for OEM (incl plummers that already have the tools) economy.
And I believe its the only way w/ the bigger tubes.
Flair-it is found at almost every hadware store, and the only pex fitting you'll find at every RV supply. Let that tell you something.
azpete
Explorer
Dec 02, 2013
sharkbite fittings are good. they are also pricy. a quick effective fix. that said, i prefer flair it, or crimp fittings. just a personal choice. i have one of those expensive crimpers bought at a sale a few years ago. not at the $200 original cost. they work, but you need room to operate them. flair it works in close quarters. as you can see, there are a variety of things you can use to repair a leak. to me, the situation dictates which i use for the repair. i keep the most common of all three in stock.

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