I returned my propress for this

[lalojamesliz]

Hey guys,
So I returned my Milwaukee propress and decided to use pex-a instead. I saw too many complaints on leaks when used on thinner copper type-m and I didn't want to find out what my house has by tearing apart my ceiling looking for pipes to read.

I purchased the m12 Milwaukee pex-a tool since my house only goes up to 1" and the fittings I need along with a 100' roll of 1".

A good friend of mine had his house redone with pex-a and he's happy so I figured it should be good for my repairs.

New issue, how the heck do I straighten out the 1" roll? I put it in the sun for 5 minutes before I remembered that pex-a doesn't appreciate uv rays.

Do I just use a heat gun to straighten it or force it straight? It's definitely beefy tubing and takes a lot to bend so I held off but I can't find tips on this.
I know some will say I would have been fine with the propress but I just couldn't justify the $$$ purchase. The Milwaukee pex tool is less than a 1/4 of the propress....

Thanks again everyone

 

[mike93lx]

Wow, what do you need 1" for? Hope you aren't pulling that to all of your fixtures... Going to be a lot of extra work.

Just secure as you go. If you want straight lengths, you need to buy them that way.

Soaking it in hot water will soften it (have a hot tub?) and a little uv will be fine. It's long term exposure that is a problem

 

[lalojamesliz]

Wow, what do you need 1" for? Hope you aren't pulling that to all of your fixtures... Going to be a lot of extra work.

Just secure as you go. If you want straight lengths, you need to buy them that way.

Soaking it in hot water will soften it (have a hot tub?) and a little uv will be fine. It's long term exposure that is a problem

This is the main supply line that comes into my house. It comes it at 1.25" and goes into a tee and splits into two 1" lines. I'm going to reduce it from 1.25" to 1" and the tee will be immediately after.
It's shaped like a capital "F" I'll have to put a 90* rights after the tee if I can't bend it enough. I have the 90* fitting but I don't like the sharp bend

The other repair I need to do is my water heater supply line. It's also leaking and that's also a 1" line. My house was built in 05 but unfortunately I can see the quality my house was made with.

 

[mike93lx]

Make sure you don't take the pex too close to the water heater, if gas. IRC says 18" for a gas heater due to flue temps, but your jurisdiction might require something else. If electric, you can take it right to it, assuming no local amendment. Pex also grows and moves a lot when you run hot water through it, so make sure you account for that

If you are using the black bend supports, the 90 will be fine

 

[pl_silverado]

FYI, Viega makes bronze stiffener inserts for thinner pipes.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I use pex a and propress, but you just can't beat the look of copper. I will use pex where you don't see it and switch to copper inside an open area. You can buy straight lengths of pex a, nice for the visible work.

 

[lalojamesliz]

Make sure you don't take the pex too close to the water heater, if gas. IRC says 18" for a gas heater due to flue temps, but your jurisdiction might require something else. If electric, you can take it right to it, assuming no local amendment. Pex also grows and moves a lot when you run hot water through it, so make sure you account for that

If you are using the black bend supports, the 90 will be fine

Yeah I remember seeing that for the water heater. My water heater has a 18" copper flex line on the cold and hot side before tye lines go into the wall.

I need to replace the shut off valve on the supply line too. It doesn't close the water all the way. When I replaced my water heater a year after I moved in, I had to shut off the water at the main because of that valve. It didn't bother me but now that I'm repairing that line, I might as well replace the valve.

It goes into the wall as you see in the picture then a 90 up and another 90 away from this and that's where my leak appears to be. It messed up my ceiling corner. Someone told me it's leaking from my roof but I believe it's this.

 

[lalojamesliz]

So to shape this pex-a line, hot water is the only way? I thought of 10' straight sections but I wanted to see if I can bend this to eliminate using the 90* elbows. Since I don't like the sharp bends the copper fittings have on 1"
Would the black plastic fittings work just as good for my water supply lines?

 

[Firebrick43]

Hey guys,
So I returned my Milwaukee propress and decided to use pex-a instead. I saw too many complaints on leaks when used on thinner copper type-m and I didn't want to find out what my house has by tearing apart my ceiling looking for pipes to read.

I purchased the m12 Milwaukee pex-a tool since my house only goes up to 1" and the fittings I need along with a 100' roll of 1".

A good friend of mine had his house redone with pex-a and he's happy so I figured it should be good for my repairs.

New issue, how the heck do I straighten out the 1" roll? I put it in the sun for 5 minutes before I remembered that pex-a doesn't appreciate uv rays.

Do I just use a heat gun to straighten it or force it straight? It's definitely beefy tubing and takes a lot to bend so I held off but I can't find tips on this.
I know some will say I would have been fine with the propress but I just couldn't justify the $$$ purchase. The Milwaukee pex tool is less than a 1/4 of the propress....

Thanks again everyone

I am not questioning your choice to choose pex an over ProPress as I would as well

But to point out that M copper isn’t for domestic potable water. It’s boiler pipe. Type L is for potable water.

Many locations it against code to use M and it should be. It’s wall are thin enough it leads to not only issues like you mentioned but can’t be bent and has issues being pin holed.

As far as pex in the sunlight. It won’t hurt it at all to set a few minutes or even hours outside in the sun to relax. It exposure day after day that harms it

 

[lalojamesliz]

I am not questioning your choice to choose pex an over ProPress as I would as well

But to point out that M copper isn’t for domestic potable water. It’s boiler pipe. Type L is for potable water.

Many locations it against code to use M and it should be. It’s wall are thin enough it leads to not only issues like you mentioned but can’t be bent and has issues being pin holed.

As far as pex in the sunlight. It won’t hurt it at all to set a few minutes or even hours outside in the sun to relax. It exposure day after day that harms it

Ah, where was this answer last week hahaha. I really wanted to keep it but I couldn't justify the cost to myself since I only need it for 2 repairs fpr now at least. For everything I needed I spent about 2800.... yeah a bit much. I got it back except for return shipping to supplyhouse for the fittings.

 

[BrandonV]

Many locations it against code to use M and it should be. It’s wall are thin enough it leads to not only issues like you mentioned but can’t be bent and has issues being pin holed.

Got to love the new builds here. Type M copper all throughout if they didn't run PEX and if they find a problem they'll put a Sharkbite on it now that they're approved per UPC.

Lord save us all.

 

[DGersic]

My experience with 3/4” PEX is that you don’t straighten it. If you buy a roll, it will have some bend to it. If you want straight, buy a stick.

For 90* bends, I cannot recommend plastic supports, especially for 1” and 1 1/2” pipe. I had them on 3/4” pipe, and they died a quick death. I had to use steel 90* bend supports. Also, muscling 3/4” in to a 90* bend support wasn’t easy, so good luck bending 1” or larger. That’s going to be a workout.

 

[lalojamesliz]

My experience with 3/4” PEX is that you don’t straighten it. If you buy a roll, it will have some bend to it. If you want straight, buy a stick.

For 90* bends, I cannot recommend plastic supports, especially for 1” and 1 1/2” pipe. I had them on 3/4” pipe, and they died a quick death. I had to use steel 90* bend supports. Also, muscling 3/4” in to a 90* bend support wasn’t easy, so good luck bending 1” or larger. That’s going to be a workout.

You just talking about the supports that go on the outside to shape the tubing right?

Sounds like I'm going to return the roll and buy a couple straights and 90* copper fittings.
Man, I hate returning stuff. Just being in that line.... ugh whatever hahaha

 

[billconner]

I found a lot of YouTubes on straightening PEX - 3/4" 200° for me - and they worked ok.

I tried both plastic and metal 90's and prefer the metal.

 

[DGersic]

You just talking about the supports that go on the outside to shape the tubing right?

Sounds like I'm going to return the roll and buy a couple straights and 90* copper fittings.
Man, I hate returning stuff. Just being in that line.... ugh whatever hahaha

Yes. Anywhere I needed a 90* support, like this



I could get the plastic support in place, but the tension of the bend would crack the plastic almost immediately.

Where I needed 90* bends, I ended up with steel supports, and my welder:

Post in thread 'Plumbing Project - Re-Pipe the House'
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/plumbing-project-re-pipe-the-house.509833/post-9962656

Because for some weird reason I could by plastic supports with mounting ears, but the steel ones don’t have mounting ears as an option.

In 1/2”, plastic 90* supports worked great for me.

 

[Jackfre]

I too use the M12 expander and love the damned thing. I only ran about 50’ of 1” in the crawl space and it was mostly a straight run. 1” is tough. Definitely use the 90* support brackets regardless of size pipe. I Built a spinner for my pex so I could get it to come off the roll without kinks. You still have to deal with the twisting. My best advice on the 1” is to use it in as straight a line as you can. Lots of hangers and get down to the 3/4 and 1/2” as soon as you can. Pay attention to pipe size on the hot water or it will take light years to flush the cold water before you get hot.

 

[lalojamesliz]

So would you guys recommend the support brackets instead of the copper 1" 90* fittings?

Nevermind, homedepot doesn't carry 1" support brackets. I'll keep searching.
Even Amazon doesn't carry metal 1" brackets.... poo

 

[KenC]

So would you guys recommend the support brackets instead of the copper 1" 90* fittings?

I would, if only to minimize fittings and connections. Fewer opportunities for a mistake/leak.

 

[lalojamesliz]

I would, if only to minimize fittings and connections. Fewer opportunities for a mistake/leak.

Since I can't find them I don't have another option. Oh well.
These are the ones. I only need 1 for the main water line repair but 2 for the water heater supply and 2 more if I do the hot side as well.

 

[lalojamesliz]

I should be good with what I have. Since I can't find support brackets I'll use 90's and I'll return the roll and buy a couple straights to avoid straightening the roll. Luckily It's only like 12 cents per foot more.
I might grow a pair and tackle this today.

If this fails, I have the copper pipes/tee and fittings to fix this. I was just trying to avoid that route

 

[Renegade1LI]

The nice thing about pex a is the fittings are full size.

 

[lalojamesliz]

The nice thing about pex a is the fittings are full size.

Yes!
If they weren't I'd have to go up to 1 1/4" and that would require the bigger m18 pex tool and I'd have to buy a roll of 1 1/4" pex-a for just a couple feet from it..... so like another 16-1700 for both of those

 

[mike93lx]

Yes!
If they weren't I'd have to go up to 1 1/4" and that would require the bigger m18 pex tool and I'd have to buy a roll of 1 1/4" pex-a for just a couple feet from it..... so like another 16-1700 for both of those

A few fittings doesn't restrict the whole system

 

[gsmith22]

didn't read through the whole thread so not sure if your original question was answered: the way you straighten rolls is to pull it through a piece of PVC pipe whose inside diameter is approximately equal to the outside diameter of the pex. its something like 1" sch 40 pvc for 3/4 pex, 3/4" pvc for 0.5" pex and so on - check my math before going to buy I don't remember the exact pipe sizes I used. no reason to buy straight segments. buy the roll, keep it rolled up, but pull what you need through the pvc to straighten. it will mostly get straight - like 95% of the way there compared with coil. if you need dead straight (not sure what would need this) then buy straight segments.

Edit: don't need to heat anything although it could probably help. I straightened using pex at room temperature

 

[DGersic]

The pedantic ******* in me feels compelled to mention that PEX A and PEX B only refer to how the tubing is made. The expansion fittings (F1960) vs. crimp (F1807) not specific to the type of tubing. There are PEX B tubing made to work with expansion fittings as well as crimp fittings.

 

[lalojamesliz]

didn't read through the whole thread so not sure if your original question was answered: the way you straighten rolls is to pull it through a piece of PVC pipe whose inside diameter is approximately equal to the outside diameter of the pex. its something like 1" sch 40 pvc for 3/4 pex, 3/4" pvc for 0.5" pex and so on - check my math before going to buy I don't remember the exact pipe sizes I used. no reason to buy straight segments. buy the roll, keep it rolled up, but pull what you need through the pvc to straighten. it will mostly get straight - like 95% of the way there compared with coil. if you need dead straight (not sure what would need this) then buy straight segments.

Edit: don't need to heat anything although it could probably help. I straightened using pex at room temperature

Thanks! So if it's 1" I'd need 1.25"
I have a foot of 1.25" copper pipe.... I'll try that

 

[Firebrick43]

The pedantic ******* in me feels compelled to mention that PEX A and PEX B only refer to how the tubing is made. The expansion fittings (F1960) vs. crimp (F1807) not specific to the type of tubing. There are PEX B tubing made to work with expansion fittings as well as crimp fittings.

 

[nadogail]

I usually solder copper plumbing, except when I use a Sharkbites.

 

[dcg9381]

but you just can't beat the look of copper.

Yes, I can.. I can never look at copper and solder again. That doesn't mean that PEX has to look like ****. I'd rather stare at a well done PEX manifold that's labeled.

Hey, no objection to well done copper, but I'll never do it that way again.

IMHO, It's way easier to straighten the PEX than it is to deal with soldering of copper. And PEX will handle a lot more "environmental drama" than copper will. I can crimp PEX rather than light my house on fire to fix copper...

OP: "pro" plumber ran dual 1" PEX as mains in my home off the 2" main line that I installed (2" because I ran about 250' of utility).

 

[gsmith22]

Thanks! So if it's 1" I'd need 1.25"
I have a foot of 1.25" copper pipe.... I'll try that

that probably isn't going to work or if it does, you are going to end up with popeye arms and still curved pex.

Pex and copper pipe are both CTS (copper tube size). the inside diameter of 1.25" copper is 1.291 (M), 1.265 (L), or 1.245 (K). you probably have M or L. Outside diamter of 1" pex is 1.125" is that is only like 1/8" clearance between the inside dimater of the copper and outside diameter of the pex. you want more room because that is going to be like you are trying to pull something through a die to form it. you are just trying to get the walls of the pex to have to travel through and push against something. so more room and longer length are better for this. That is why I used sch 40 pvc. I used 1.25" sch 40 pvc pipe in an 8ft length (available everywhere) and pulled 1" pex through that. min inside dimater of 1.25" pvc is 1.34" so more room and easier pull while still acheving the same goal. regardless, of what you use, you want something longer as it takes the bends out. I don't think a 1ft length of any pipe is going to work regardless of diameter clearances.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

FYI, Viega makes bronze stiffener inserts for thinner pipes.

Yup. I prefer to use them on baseboard, even though I see many plumbers just crimp the fittings right on. One company I briefly worked for a wouldn't use the pex to press adapters on baseboard, the owner required sweat to pex adapters.