Help with sharkbite install far enough?

[havasu]

Sounds like you had water in the line?

 

[frodo]

Sounds like you had water in the line?

The sad part, Is a ''PLUMBER" is 'sposed to be trained in how to deal with water in a copper pipe
and not take 2 hours to preform a 15 minute task.
THIS, Is what is bothering me, The Young plumbers of today I call PEX Jockies,
They are leaving behind the skills they need to work with copper,

A "PLUMBER" would have air compressed the line to purge water
or used a bicycle pump
Or simple blew the water out with his mouth
or stuffed it full o of bread
or froze the pipe
A "PLUMBER" would not fight the water for 2 hours

 

[chiraldude]

Vertical pipes drained from lower floor, no water. But, that is another problem that shark bites are ideal for.
My issue was corrosion and pitting on the surface. No matter how much sanding I did, the first pass wasn't good enough. Each tinning pass revealed spots/strips that wouldn't take solder.

 

[havasu]

No offense but it seems that many sharkbite stockholders are coming in to say how bitchen their product is. I still say they are crap, and NO, I am not a plumber.

 

[chiraldude]

A "PLUMBER" would not fight the water for 2 hours

I am not a professional plumber but, after many battles with water in pipes I learned a few tricks.
BTW, the 2hrs went to a number of fittings under the sink, through a wall, and in a tight space behind a shower valve with a vent pipe in the way.

 

[chiraldude]

No offense but it seems that many sharkbite stockholders are coming in to say how bitchen their product is. I still say they are crap, and NO, I am not a plumber.

Pretty sure nobody on this forum works for Sharkbite or holds their stock in any significant quantity.
Also sure that the engineer(s) who designed them put a lot of thought into it. They would also have done accelerated life testing to verify performance.

If they were "crap" the company would have gone out of business from lawsuits by now.

 

[WyrTwister]

I am not a professional plumper , but a DIY'er . I was tought the bread method years ago .

Wyr
God bless

 

[frodo]

I am not a professional plumper , but a DIY'er . I was tought the bread method years ago .

Wyr
God bless

i was in a ditch, at 6 oclock at night, trying to solder a leak at the meter, the valve was leaking through
i asked my new helper to go to the store and get a loaf of bread, he came back with bread, bologna, cokes, and chips
I chuckled when he said, I had a little money, we dont have to eat bread for dinner
lol...so we sat there and ate sammiches, then I said, now let me show you what the bread is for

 

[WyrTwister]

Wyr
God bless

 

[Matt30]

If they were "crap" the company would have gone out of business from lawsuits by now.

I wonder how the engineers who passed Kitec and Polybutylene are doing?

 

[chiraldude]

Kitec was only good for about 10 years, polybutylene went a bit longer (15yrs?)
Push connect fittings have been around for about 24 years. Don't remember when sharkbite went on the market though.
One thing we all have to face is that in the 21st century, nothing at the consumer level is expected to last 50 years. Sharkbites may be good for 25 years but most everyone accepts that as overkill.
In the 70's a washing machine was expected to last at least 30 years. Now the best ones are only good for 10.
Personally, I would use Pex A with expansion fittings everywhere if I could. I solder copper a lot but a sharkbite here and there in a difficult spot can really come in handy.

 

[journeyman]

I agree with frodo except the bread I have seen house with clogged water lines and fixture as a result of that but yes pex plumbers are losing the trade. New technology is great but learn the basics first. The new stuff is making plumbers lazy

 

[frodo]

I wonder how the engineers who passed Kitec and Polybutylene are doing?

I have made a WHOLE LOTTA money re piping that crap
I still have my old set of crimpers for the 70's lol

 

[frodo]

I agree with frodo except the bread I have seen house with clogged water lines and fixture as a result of that but yes pex plumbers are losing the trade. New technology is great but learn the basics first. The new stuff is making plumbers lazy

I had a 3'' butter fly valve that was leaking on a job at a football stadium.
I took off my shirt, duct taped it to a piece of all thread rod and shoved it in the pipe to hold back the water
while i soldered
my boss comes walking around the corner And i am running copper on a commercial job with out a shirt on. LOL
I thought he was going to have a stroke and die right there on the spot.
I guess looking at the magnificent buff, beautifully sculpted body was just to much for him to handle. lol lol

 

[frodo]

Kitec was only good for about 10 years, polybutylene went a bit longer (15yrs?)
Push connect fittings have been around for about 24 years. Don't remember when sharkbite went on the market though.
One thing we all have to face is that in the 21st century, nothing at the consumer level is expected to last 50 years. Sharkbites may be good for 25 years but most everyone accepts that as overkill.
In the 70's a washing machine was expected to last at least 30 years. Now the best ones are only good for 10.
Personally, I would use Pex A with expansion fittings everywhere if I could. I solder copper a lot but a sharkbite here and there in a difficult spot can really come in handy.

copper water piping has been used and is still in use from the 1930'shere in the us
it was being used to convey water in Rome over 2000 years ago, the word plumber comes from the Latin word
plum bum meaning worker of lead, so yeah, I would say that copper is time tested to outlast any bs plastic pipe

it is copper,it is a mineral it is not a manufactured product, its shelf life is not limited to just 50 years

 

[jeffnc]

it is copper,it is a mineral it is not a manufactured product, its shelf life is not limited to just 50 years

It should be noted that copper, which is not a mineral but a metal, can corrode over time, while the very problem with modern plastics vis a vis waste is that it doesn't break down. The chlorine that you mentioned in drinking water is corrosive to copper as well, not to mention any acidity (pH 6.5 or below). So while the "shelf life" of copper might be high, that doesn't apply to installed copper exposed to the environment with water running through it. It depends.

 

[anticlmatic]

The sad part, Is a ''PLUMBER" is 'sposed to be trained in how to deal with water in a copper pipe
and not take 2 hours to preform a 15 minute task.
THIS, Is what is bothering me, The Young plumbers of today I call PEX Jockies,
They are leaving behind the skills they need to work with copper,

A "PLUMBER" would have air compressed the line to purge water
or used a bicycle pump
Or simple blew the water out with his mouth
or stuffed it full o of bread
or froze the pipe
A "PLUMBER" would not fight the water for 2 hours

....do you happen to have a write up on all these various copper+water tricks in detail? I'm an apprentice plumber and I'm curious. I got this neat tool called a jet sweat, which I thought was going to be a lifesaver until I realized it doesn't fit through any of the ball valves or gate valves that my two suppliers can get. For the bread trick- is it just to get a valve on there before blowing the bread out through it? Or will it dissolve enough to make it through aerators and such just in case?

 

[frodo]

....do you happen to have a write up on all these various copper+water tricks in detail? I'm an apprentice plumber and I'm curious. I got this neat tool called a jet sweat, which I thought was going to be a lifesaver until I realized it doesn't fit through any of the ball valves or gate valves that my two suppliers can get. For the bread trick- is it just to get a valve on there before blowing the bread out through it? Or will it dissolve enough to make it through aerators and such just in case?

stuff a pipe with 2 or 3 pcs of bread and push it back in there as far as possible
then, you better hurry your ass up because it will keep the water back about as long as it takes to sweat the joint
you have to clean aerators, DO NOT flush the toilet, till you blow the stuff out the faucet.

I have used 2 hammers to crimp off a live water line. use the side of one hammer as an anvil and beat that sucker flat

get a bicycle pump, cut the end off the hose, so all you have is a pump and hose, no clipy end thing
shove that up a pipe, hold your hand over the end of pipe to seal it. place the pump on your thigh, and pump the air into the line, pushing the water out

wrap our lips around the pipe and blow the water out

lol..lift the pipe up by shoving your tape measure under it, so you sweat that joint

 

[TomFOhio]

I have the whole jet sweat set and if you can't get it through the fitting you are trying to solder it's worthless. By using the bread
method some people complain that they have to clean the aerators out on the faucets in the house. BIG DEAL.... I would rather
be able to get that valve soldered in. And yes I have done this many times. Sometimes it smells like toast in the toaster. Lol...

 

[Diehard]

Yep bad plumbers teaching bad plumbing to new plumbers yall do what ya want its dumb

Take a break!