Another Compressed Air Option

[elsensei]

I've been researching my options for a compressed air system for my shop, and I've read just about everything on this board. After much time and effort, I decided to go with copper instead of any of the"blue pipe" aluminum systems. First, they are too expensive. Second, and no offense to those of you who have them, I think the bulky black plastic fittings they use frankly look dorky- just my opinion. Black or galvanized pipe, on the other hand, is very heavy and tough to work with if you can't thread your own pipes. So copper it is.

Some of the bluepipe fittings, such as the quick-connects, would have been nice but of course they don't work with anything but their pipe so that would put you back to square one.

But then I noticed that my local Home Desperate was discounting and discontinuing the Easy-Sweat copper fittings that I love, so I stocked up in anticipation of plumbing my garage. Sorry for the big lead-in, but what they're replacing the Easy-Sweats with is the new SharkBite fittings.

These things are great. They're expensive, but not too much more than copper fittings and definitely less than the blue-pipe fittings. They can also work with PEX, regular copper pipe, or PVC---all with the same fitting. I mean, you can take a sharkbite 3/4 tee and stick copepr in one leg, pex in another, and PVC in the third and it'll seal perfectly. They're leakproof to 200 psi and they just push-fit and lock in without solder or heat. The biggest benefit is they are easy to disconnect if you ever need to service or add or remove pipes or components.

Because of the cost, I'm using them here and there in my system, but still overwhelmingly using regular sweat fittings. A few SharkBites in the right places in the system I think will be invaluable. I'll post pics in a second.

 

[PAToyota]

Hmm... Haven't seen those yet, but turned them up in a Google search: http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Brands/SharkBite/237/List

So, what is the fitting made out of? I'm guessing it is plastic of some sort, but don't want to jump to conclusions.

 

[shocksystems]

Eager to see some pics, sounds interesting.

I've been researching my options for a compressed air system for my shop, and I've read just about everything on this board. After much time and effort, I decided to go with copper instead of any of the"blue pipe" aluminum systems. First, they are too expensive. Second, and no offense to those of you who have them, I think the bulky black plastic fittings they use frankly look dorky- just my opinion. Black or galvanized pipe, on the other hand, is very heavy and tough to work with if you can't thread your own pipes. So copper it is.

Some of the bluepipe fittings, such as the quick-connects, would have been nice but of course they don't work with anything but their pipe so that would put you back to square one.

But then I noticed that my local Home Desperate was discounting and discontinuing the Easy-Sweat copper fittings that I love, so I stocked up in anticipation of plumbing my garage. Sorry for the big lead-in, but what they're replacing the Easy-Sweats with is the new SharkBite fittings.

These things are great. They're expensive, but not too much more than copper fittings and definitely less than the blue-pipe fittings. They can also work with PEX, regular copper pipe, or PVC---all with the same fitting. I mean, you can take a sharkbite 3/4 tee and stick copepr in one leg, pex in another, and PVC in the third and it'll seal perfectly. They're leakproof to 200 psi and they just push-fit and lock in without solder or heat. The biggest benefit is they are easy to disconnect if you ever need to service or add or remove pipes or components.

Because of the cost, I'm using them here and there in my system, but still overwhelmingly using regular sweat fittings. A few SharkBites in the right places in the system I think will be invaluable. I'll post pics in a second.

 

[elsensei]

Believe it or not, they're either brass or cast copper. Really well-built. They have an o-ring seal inside the sleeve, and there is a ring of teeth inside the collar that grip the pipe. When you insert a length of tube, you can feel it bottom out in the fitting and then you know it's locked in and sealed. The only plastic to it is a thin plastic ring that you can depress to retract the internal teeth so you can remove the tube from the fitting. Oh, and I forgot to mention, you can rotate the tube while it's in the fitting!

 

[elsensei]

Here are a couple pics. the first is a 3/4" coupling that I used once I found that Teflon tape won't make a good seal at 175 PSI...i had to cut the pipe to apply pipe-dope to a fitting below, and I figured I'd try the sharkbite to connect them again. The second pic is a 3/4 to MPT fitting to go into my pressure regulator/filter...the teflon tape held just fine on that one...maybe the threads on the sharkbite are of better quality, maybe I just got lucky. Either way, if it ever starts leaking, it'll be a cinch to disconnect and apply pipe dope as mention earlier.

 

[PAToyota]

Believe it or not, they're either brass or cast copper. Really well-built. ..... Oh, and I forgot to mention, you can rotate the tube while it's in the fitting!

Hmmm... From the page I found I was thinking plastic. Good to hear that they are quality items. Makes the price a bit more bearable. And I can think of some places where the ability to rotate the tube even when it is locked in place would be a definite advantage even if the rest of the work was soldered. Many thanks for bringing them to attention!

 

[Steve in Mi]

Although most all of my copper air system is enclosed (see my system here;
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=95471#post95471) there is one modification I wish to make on an exposed drop where I can easily give these sharkbite fittings a try. Thanks for the info.

 

[BowtieNut]

Yeah, thanks for the info. I plan on plumbing my shop for air some time this summer too, and those would definitely come in handy in certain places.

Kinda funny but I just saw those last week at Home Depot and thought "hmmm, interesting" but I didn't have time to stop and really check them out. I didn't realize they worked with copper/pex/pvc. So I could use copper for some of my system, and pex for parts of it to try and keep costs down. I would use pex for the whole thing, but I'm not sure if it has the same heat transfer properties. Anyone know if I would have moisture problems with all pex-al-pex?

 

[toms73novass]

awsome info. I might give them a try in the new garage this summer!

 

[PAToyota]

Finally had a chance to stop at the display in HD and take a look at these things. Afterwards, I browsed through their website to pick up any more information that I could.

One thing I stumbled across in the warranty was the following statement (highlight mine):

The product must be installed by a licensed professional contractor, only in potable water distribution systems and/or hydronic heating systems, and in strict compliance with all applicable plumbing and/or building codes and the installation instructions, which are provided with the product and also available at www.cashacme.com.

The "licensed contractor" bit really doesn't phase me - although sort of funny that their warranty only applies if the work was done by one when they are selling a product in HD that obviously is intended to appeal to the DIY crowd...

But nowhere does it say anything about use for pressurized gases. Granted, the 200psi is more than adequate. But we're sort of back to the PVC situation - what happens if it fails? For the most part, I could see a joint between two pipes coming apart and scaring the heck out of someone. The pipes connected at the other end and the pipe mounting would keep things in place. However, I could also see that if it were the connection at the end of a pipe - like to the valve at a drop perhaps - that if the connection came apart it would send said valve flying like a rocket...

Not trying to start another PVC-type debate, but just something to consider if you're going to use them...

 

[Gummi Bear]

I'm not familiar with the 'sharkbite' fittings, I'll have to look into those.

The 'EZ Sweat' fittings are about the single worst thing I've encountered. Whatever goofball came up with them deserves a flaming sack of poo on his step.

Proper soldering technique isn't hard at all, it's all in the prep. Once someone shows you how, it's easy for the rest of your life. Fittings, MAPP gas, solder, C-flux and emery cloth is all pretty cheap stuff to keep around the house.

When I was first starting out in the trade, I worked for a company that did all MEP systems, and when it was slow on the electrical side, I would ride with the plumber or one of the A/C guys. I learned a lot during those couple of years.

 

[bluesman2a]

Somebody here on the board put a whole system together with the shark bite fittings... Who was it? As I remember it was a very sharp system.

 

[PAToyota]

Just ran across COPRO fittings today at an industrial supply place while I was getting some other things: COPRO

The counterperson said that they were about the same price as SharkBite, but the two things are that they have a much greater selection of fittings (including valves) and also are not as restrictive as the SharkBite fittings - I was looking at their website for a comparison photo and could not find one, but at the supplier the bore was about twice that of the SharkBite.

 

[e-tek]

Here are a couple pics. the first is a 3/4" coupling that I used once I found that Teflon tape won't make a good seal at 175 PSI...QUOTE]

I've never had a problem with teflon tape on black pipe fittings - anyone else? I have however, just had problems with pipe dope in a lift hydraulic system...maybe it's just me.

 

[russlaferrera]

I'm not familiar with the 'sharkbite' fittings, I'll have to look into those.

The 'EZ Sweat' fittings are about the single worst thing I've encountered. Whatever goofball came up with them deserves a flaming sack of poo on his step.

Proper soldering technique isn't hard at all, it's all in the prep. Once someone shows you how, it's easy for the rest of your life. Fittings, MAPP gas, solder, C-flux and emery cloth is all pretty cheap stuff to keep around the house.

When I was first starting out in the trade, I worked for a company that did all MEP systems, and when it was slow on the electrical side, I would ride with the plumber or one of the A/C guys. I learned a lot during those couple of years.

I have used 3-4 of the EZ sweat fittings with no problem. However I agree with you on the subject of learning the proper way to sweat copper fittings as it will benefit most DIY people for a lifetime. As you mentioned proper prep is the key for $10 and a 1/2 hour, most people can master this.

 

[mrgm]

really old thread....but how are those shark fitting still doing?