Plumbing shark bite

[ndnguy822000]

I've been tempted to use the shark bite fittings for some plumbing at my rentals but I seem skeptical of their reliability especially since they slide on so easily , have you guys used these ?

 

[ERD50]

Show me a failure of a properly installed one.

I've used a few. I have to admit, they feel rather marginal, but I understand they are extremely well designed. Follow the instructions, mark the pipe so you know it is inserted fully, and they seem to work just fine.

-ERD50

 

[mountainsoft]

I used a sharkbite elbow for the first time to repair a tub spout at my mom's house. She has copper plumbing and the original elbow to the tub spout came unsoldered inside the wall. I had to remove the toilet tank in the opposing bathroom and cut an access hole to get inside the wall. The copper elbow was right up against a stud (not anchored properly to start with), and very close to the plastic tub surround. So I didn't want to risk trying to resolder the joint with a torch. Using the sharkbite fitting seemed to be the safest and easiest solution, though I did have to cut the pipe back a bit to make room for the larger fitting.

I believe sharkbite fittings are allowed by most codes inside walls. The fitting I used seemed to work well with no leaks, but I still wouldn't trust them if I had any other option. I'm sure that's just personal bias, but they seem most useful for repairs or those with little plumbing ability.

 

[Winemaker]

I have used them numerous times and I have some that have been in use for over 10 years. They sure beat draining the line, stuffing with bread, and soldering.

 

[braumeister]

I've used them for at least 15 years without a failure.

 

[Senator]

I have used them for a temporary fix, and it worked great. They are code, even for interior walls, but I prefer PEX and soldered copper.

I have also used them to attach to the building plumbing to do an air pressure test. I bought a building that had a bunch of split water pipes due to freezing. It worked great.

 

[Breedlove]

Built my retirement home in the country , did my own plumbing and used nothing but the Shark bites . I don't understand the concern , they are compression fittings and I will give you 100.00 if you can pull a properly installed one apart. I used them with Pex and it was an easy job for a true novice.

 

[ndnguy822000]

Thanks guys I truly appreciate the feedback , great community !!

 

[CaptTom]

Shartbite fittings are great, I've used them. But they're kind of expensive if you're doing more than a few fittings. Sweating pipes isn't that hard, and the tools to crimp PEX connections are a very good investment if you're going to use them more than once.

 

[Fermion]

We used them in our RV build. Two years bouncing down the road and not a leak. Pretty amazing.

I also used the PEX crimp fittings for a lot of joints but for things like the water heater I used brass shark bite fittings.

 

[Ronstar]

I've used them with no problem. I replace4 several toilet and sink valves with shark bite valves as recommended by our condo HOA.

 

[samclem]

I've been tempted to use the shark bite fittings for some plumbing at my rentals but I seem skeptical of their reliability especially since they slide on so easily , have you guys used these ?

I've used them and I like them, never had one fail. Still, they depend on an O-ring to make and keep the seal, and they depend on some spring steel to continue to grip the inserted tubing, and I just wonder if that will continue to work, knowing how seals and metals behave over time, for 4 or 5 decades. So, I don't use them in places where I can't see/easily gain access to them (e.g. inside of walls without access panels, etc).
The PEX connections (I use the crimped clamp version) seem more bulletproof to me, and I prefer then to Sharkbite fittings in areas that are hard to access.

 

[euro]

Another vote of confidence here: I have used them many times and never had a problem. Not cheap though

 

[Dalez]

I've also used them. One for an ice-maker connection. Works great.

My only concern would be if you have copper plumbing you may have some electrical grounding connected to the pipes. I would think these would break the connection so I wouldn't use one downstream of the grounding.

 

[Bamaman]

I've also used them. One for an ice-maker connection. Works great.

My only concern would be if you have copper plumbing you may have some electrical grounding connected to the pipes. I would think these would break the connection so I wouldn't use one downstream of the grounding.

You should seldom see pipe grounding the electrical system since it's been a long time since people grounded galvanized pipes running into the ground.

I have a house that's grounded this way, and I'm getting ready to ground it properly.

Compression and Sharkbite fittings both do well. But they're just so doggone EXPENSIVE to use in construction.

 

[kaneohe]

Thanks for the education! Had never heard of these. Gets 5* on Amazon and lots of reviews to look at.

 

[ERD50]

You should seldom see pipe grounding the electrical system since it's been a long time since people grounded galvanized pipes running into the ground.

I have a house that's grounded this way, and I'm getting ready to ground it properly.

Compression and Sharkbite fittings both do well. But they're just so doggone EXPENSIVE to use in construction.

Agree on grounding. Need a separate conductor, not plumbing pipe.

As far as "sharkbite" on new construction, I'm pretty sure they would mostly use the barb/clamp type fittings, which are much cheaper, but take the special clamp tool (kind of a pricey tool for a homeowner doing a couple, but not a big deal for a whole house worth).

Still more $ than the copper fittings, but you can have a single line w/o fittings go a long ways, whereas with copper, lots of joints required to get through every turn. I redid a shower, and ended up with dozens ( ~ 40 IIRC) joints to get the H/C water over and up, spaced to the valve, and 45 degree joints to improve the flow. Should have done that with a couple PEX joints.

-ERD50

 

[Fermion]

There are other uses for that clamp thing. Cracking walnuts for one.

 

[ChiliPepr]

I have used them numerous times and I have some that have been in use for over 10 years. They sure beat draining the line, stuffing with bread, and soldering.

+100, although they do cost a bit more....

 

[euro]

Agree on grounding. Need a separate conductor, not plumbing pipe.

As far as "sharkbite" on new construction, I'm pretty sure they would mostly use the barb/clamp type fittings, which are much cheaper, but take the special clamp tool (kind of a pricey tool for a homeowner doing a couple, but not a big deal for a whole house worth).

Still more $ than the copper fittings, but you can have a single line w/o fittings go a long ways, whereas with copper, lots of joints required to get through every turn. I redid a shower, and ended up with dozens ( ~ 40 IIRC) joints to get the H/C water over and up, spaced to the valve, and 45 degree joints to improve the flow. Should have done that with a couple PEX joints.

-ERD50

The tool is getting cheaper though. I'm seriously considering the switch ( from shakbite to barb/clamp). That said, perhaps the biggest advantage of shark bites in my mind is that it can connect copper and PEX flawlessly.

 

[jonat]

I too was skeptical of them at first, but I have had zero problems with them in a variety of installation types over many years. They are much more reliable than my soldering!

 

[imoldernu]

Not meant to hijack the thread, but it brings back memories of "PolyB" and the huge lawsuit that came from the failure of the fittings.
https://www.polybutylenelawsuit.com/

In our over 55 manufactured home community in Florida, almost every home that was there (260 homes at the time) had PolyB fittings. When the failures began, around 1991, many homes had damages equal to about 30% of the home value, and almost every other home was eligible for and received a complete re-plumb of the entire home. In ours, the cost was $3,000. Now, multiply that by thousands and thousands of similar homes across the nation, and that's one BIG lawsuit. There were an estimated 6 million homes affected, and the lawsuit total exceeded $950million or $1.5billion today..(Shell, Celanese and DuPont)
Not only was our Florida home re-plumbed, but our park model trailer at Woodhaven lakes also needed new piping...same reason, several years later. Much lower cost. We had the repair done locally, and didn't file for reimbursement. .

Years later, around 2005, we had a different kind of leak, with anther $3500 of (insured) damage, when the riser connecting to the toilet tank broke when were weren't there. The problem, was another, different manufacturer defect... a nylon nut that was affected by chlorine in the water, and became brittle and broke. Also involved lawsuits, but we didn't participate.

Newfangled inventions, that take time to fail.

 

[jonat]

I remember PolyB - made the mistake of using it back in the early 80s.

Wherever I can I use PEX tubing - much more reliable than copper for me (in my house, copper fittings corrode over time) and it's much easier to install. The plumbers I have used like PEX too.

 

[ERD50]

Not meant to hijack the thread, but it brings back memories of "PolyB" and the huge lawsuit that came from the failure of the fittings. ....

Well, I thinks it's more of a sideways hijack, and since I think it's interesting, I'll follow your lead!

I remember PolyB - made the mistake of using it back in the early 80s.

Wherever I can I use PEX tubing - much more reliable than copper for me (in my house, copper fittings corrode over time) and it's much easier to install. The plumbers I have used like PEX too.

I thinks it's actually fascinating and scary when we think about installing things that really need to last for decades. Unless it's a basic, proven material that we have that much history with (wood, stone, concrete, copper, lead solder), how can we know?

Today, I think the Material Scientists and Chemists have such a good and advanced understanding of material properties, that we have a better chance of predicting the lifespan properties. But then, when the outcome also relies on the manufacturing process and blends of raw materials, there is opportunity for error. OK, so batch A079AZ-349 made on the 3rd shift at the Rochester Street plant is contaminated, and will only last 10 years, not 70 years. How can we know this?

In some cases, it was just luck that the components that make up a Brady-era Civil War photo were amazingly stable, so we have those today. I doubt they put much work into, or had the capability to know if those photos would last months, years, decades, or a century - but they do.

But I suppose if some PEX does start failing, replacing it maybe won't be so bad? I would think you could pull a new run when you pull the old out, if it was a single run back to the source, as is commonly done with PEX. But with copper, you need to get to every joint and un-solder, re-solder, so you need access all the way.

-ERD50

 

[brucethebroker]

Our handyman started using them about 10 years ago. He has never complained about them.