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

gbopp
Explorer
Dec 01, 2013
Spend the money and get SharkBite fittings.
I have several I used on our S&B heating system when it was installed seven years ago.
There has been no problems with any of them.... They are worth the money and, can be easily removed if necessary.
352
Explorer
Dec 01, 2013
Most of plumbers I know use them.
RLS7201
Explorer II
Dec 01, 2013
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
westend
Explorer
Dec 01, 2013
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.
The_Texan
Explorer
Dec 01, 2013
They are what my repair guy uses and have never had a leak from one....
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Dec 01, 2013
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.

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