Gonna be re-plumbing a fairly simple farmhouse...one bath, kitchen, laundry, and down the road perhaps add a bath. I am planning Pex-A for this, and I am looking at expanders. Milwaukee and Dewalt seem safe bets, but I am curious if anyone is using the Vevor and liking it. I'm not a plumber, and this isn't a huge job. At the same time, I am not a fan of using garbage tools. So...just **** it up and go with the mainstream or give Vevor a shot?
Pex Expander?
- Thread starter Jbear
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Junkman
Well-known member
I bought a new Milwaukee expander since it seems like most plumbers are using it. I paid $225 on Facebook Marketplace, and the seller showed me the receipt from HD where he purchased it last year, so I know it wasn't stolen. The best part of buying a name brand is that when you need parts or service, there is a company to fix it.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
I wonder how many times he's used that receipt?
rlitman
Well-known member
The first generation of expanders (and many of the cheap ones) don't rotate the die with each expansion cycle. That is known to stress PEX and lead to failures (even on PEX A, but certainly on expansion certified PEX B). That's fine, but you just need to know to manually rotate the die so the seams land on a different part of the tube with each expansion cycle.
The current crop of name brands all do that on their own. Watch some of the videos, and you'll notice the die turn a little bit each time it expands.
I have the expander, but have found that PEX A stuff isn't all that common without mail ordering or going to the $$ plumbing supply places. Home Depot has a little bit, but just enough to not have what you need, but you go there hoping they will.
Also the Pex A stuff is more $$ in general. The couple plumbers I know don't normally use it unless it's spec'd on the job, like on a commercial project, or there's a specific reason, like PEX B won't flow enough in a size, but PEX A will, and space is limited.
Also the Pex A stuff is more $$ in general. The couple plumbers I know don't normally use it unless it's spec'd on the job, like on a commercial project, or there's a specific reason, like PEX B won't flow enough in a size, but PEX A will, and space is limited.
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dcg9381
Well-known member
Neighbor built his own house, bought a used Milwaukee and sold it when he was done for what he paid for it. Free tools!
I really like PEX, expanding PEX-A, absolutely..
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
My 2 comments about PEX after re-plumbing one house.
Always use the largest diameter PEX that will work.
Use as few elbows and splices as possible. For corners, use those external corner braces.
Always use the largest diameter PEX that will work.
Use as few elbows and splices as possible. For corners, use those external corner braces.
NWOhioChevyGuy
Well-known member
I have the Milwaukee unit bought to replumb our house. Kept it and have used it several times helping friends or family.
Bought most of my supplies for the project from supplyhouse.com. But our local Menards now has some fitting and PEX A pipe, while our Lowe’s has some fittings but no pipe.
Bought most of my supplies for the project from supplyhouse.com. But our local Menards now has some fitting and PEX A pipe, while our Lowe’s has some fittings but no pipe.
lbhsbz
Well-known member
I bought the Vevor tool for a small PEX A job....I have nothing bad to say about it. It works well and does what it's supposed to do. Seems fairly well built.
Is the Vevor a manual machine? Or a cordless power tool?
Like @Junkman I bought my Milwaukee for under $300 on eBay with 2 batteries (not that that's a big deal. They are M12).
PEX systems generally have WAY fewer joints than copper, but even with all home runs, it's kinda alotta lines. Lets add them up:
I think the thing that send pros to the cordless tools like the Milwaukee is the fact that you don't do these in your lap or on a work bench. You do them immediately adjacent to the already installed pex fitting and you may have little space, or slack, and not much time to get it seated. Personally, I'd recommend the DeWalt or Milwaukee or something like that. Treat it nice and sell it when you are done for what you paid for it. The money these things cost is NOTHING compared to hiring a plumber. Now if we were talking Milwaukee pro press force logic.....different answer.
For PEX-A I buy either legit Wirsbo/uponor or Sioux Chief. And I buy from either PEXuniverse.com or supplyhouse.com, but you can shop around. I don't see PEX-A in my local home centers and wouldn't trust it. Like all plastics, PEX is sensitive to UV.
Couple tips from me:
Like @Junkman I bought my Milwaukee for under $300 on eBay with 2 batteries (not that that's a big deal. They are M12).
PEX systems generally have WAY fewer joints than copper, but even with all home runs, it's kinda alotta lines. Lets add them up:
- supply to DHW heater
- supply to manifold
- DHW to manifold
- hot and cold in the kitchen faucet
- dishwasher
- ice maker
- bathroom sink hot and cold
- toilet
- shower hot and cold
- clothes washer hot and cold
- exterior hose front and rear
I think the thing that send pros to the cordless tools like the Milwaukee is the fact that you don't do these in your lap or on a work bench. You do them immediately adjacent to the already installed pex fitting and you may have little space, or slack, and not much time to get it seated. Personally, I'd recommend the DeWalt or Milwaukee or something like that. Treat it nice and sell it when you are done for what you paid for it. The money these things cost is NOTHING compared to hiring a plumber. Now if we were talking Milwaukee pro press force logic.....different answer.
For PEX-A I buy either legit Wirsbo/uponor or Sioux Chief. And I buy from either PEXuniverse.com or supplyhouse.com, but you can shop around. I don't see PEX-A in my local home centers and wouldn't trust it. Like all plastics, PEX is sensitive to UV.
Couple tips from me:
- PEX is a plastic like any other and is greatly effected by temperature. Running PEX lines in the winter *****. DAMHIKT When it's cold, PEX is stiff and extra unwieldy.
- PEX is pretty easy to kink. But you can repair kinks by heating it up with a heat gun until it goes clear then letting it cool. You can also gently heat it to get it into the shapes you need
- You can use PVC long elbows as corner supports in a pinch. These are usually more expensive than the black plastic ones from supplyhouse.
- Uncoilers are really must haves. I made mine from a wire spool. I just bought a bb "lazy Susan" (everybody know what that is? like 2 circular plates with bbs between them) and used one plywood shoulder of the spool under the other shoulder. Works great. The middle of the spool is a cardboard tube and I throw scraps in there or my PEX cutters. Do this!
- Know what you are doing! understand water hammers, the effects of service loops, sizing, difference between home runs, trunk and branch (no), and sub-manifolds. Know about recirculating hot water systems, instant on hot water etc. What PEX expander to buy is the wrong question.
rd65
Well-known member
I did my shop sink with one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJZ9CJCQ?tag=atomicindus08-20
Worked fine for me. Watched more than a few YT videos.
Worked fine for me. Watched more than a few YT videos.
Is this like the Vevor people were talking about? I don't have one of these, but it scares me. I do this work hanging off the side of a ladder, one handed. YMMV
rd65
Well-known member
Not sure about the Vevor one, there are bunches of these on Amazon. It was $70, two hand operation. I didn't have a ton of connections to make, just a sink w/ a small under-cabinet water heater.
I just used Apollo pex A at home, worked like any other pex I've used. Just went pro press -> Pex adapters and ran up to my new fixtures tho.
When I was doing this for work, all we used was Uponor or Sioux Chief, but Uponor is tough to get atm hence me using this Apollo.
Went and helped my buddy do a house a month back, they are up to 5 Milwaukee expanders, and all I ever used. Would recommend them.
Try running it in -30 degrees F, those are the days that I knew I was not staying in this field
Instead of 6-7 clicks of the expander you'll need to do about 13.
FWIW I never used an uncoiler and did a lot of water lines, just need to know how to spool your roll and feed it out, but its annoying at first.
Also, you shouldn't have a ton of fittings imo. Lets say you have a 3/4" to a far bathroom, just chop in Ts and send them up through the plate if in the wall, or through the floor if coming up in a cabinet, and leave them stubbed out long.
Then just like 1-2 fittings to make your final connection.
Long sweeps like this, leave it like 3-4 feet above the floor, done.
rlitman
Well-known member
PEX-A is quite a bit more flexible and less likely to kink than any other type. Also, kink repair is ONLY acceptable in PEX-A. You absolutely must not heat PEX-B or C like that.
That’s not significantly cheaper than a used Milwaukee. I’d just buy that. I looked at a similar Vevor 20v pro press. Like you, I saw good reviews for it. And it was $300 vs $1200? for the Milwaukee. But I do t have many copper joints so I may just sweat them.
So...ended up ordering a Dewalt 400B kit with the three tips for $300. Seemed like the the best balance of quality and cost. The MW's I saw anywhere near that price were fairly ragged looking. That may mean nothing, but I know the DW is a good tool and it's new, so. Anyway, if I don't care for it...simple return.
100 dollars off at Home depot? Looks great, probably very similar. Only thing noticeably different is the battery size (12v Milwaukee vs 20v)
Kind of makes me want to get one, haha.
Junkman
Well-known member
I doubt he used it more than once, since he gave it to me, even though it was past the return date.
One thing that I did when installing my PEX was to color-code the tubes with red and blue electrical tape. Makes it a lot easier to keep track of hot and cold water lines.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
I buy PEX-B that's already color-coded. Only three that I know of, red, blue and white. I'd like to have more colors.
whateg01
Well-known member
3/4" pex is right at twice the area as 1/2" pex. I wait almost a minute for hot water to get to the shower. I would hate waiting twice as long.
Honestly If I'm doing plumbing work I probably have access to all the tools via my buddys work van.Grab it Brother
That said 300 to have it on hand, man its tempting. Let me know how it works for ya!
rlitman
Well-known member
My 3/4 hePEX is orange. hePEX is fine for potable water. It just has an oxygen barrier layer on the outside.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
I use hePEX for CO2 lines in the brewery. The O2 barrier keeps oxygen from osmosing into the CO2 line--which is bad in a brewery.
Firebrick43
Well-known member
Renegade1LI
Well-known member
Stick with pex a and use lots of valves, I isolate all fixtures and devices, makes life easy.
There are different ways of doing this. Nobody really likes replacing shut off valves under sinks or behind toilets. One scenario is all of these at at a master manifold in the mechanical room. Another possibility is you have an access panel adjacent to the room with the fixtures and all the valves are there.
One difference is: you turn on hot water to wash your hands. When you start the shower it’s already hot there, or close. A branch system or sub manifold does that. With a “home run” manifold, every hot spigot you open will take time to deliver hot water.
What’s not clear about this? This is one advantage to branch circuits or sub manifolds. You can run 3/4” to the sub manifold, then 1/2” to the fixtures. I will probably do this. And it may not be obvious to everyone that bumping up 1/4” doubles the flow.
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Junkman
Well-known member
Double the diameter, and you increase the volume by 4 times!