pex online manifold source and value? thanks for the help

[wildlife]

Hi Guys,

Another question.

I have drawn it and can get three 300' loops of 1/2" to fit on twelve inch spacing. Thanks for the advice on here to stick with 1/2 over 5/8.

Any tips on good online sources for the pex and manifolds?

several places show manifolds and not sure which are a good deal. with an afternoon and some copper I can make the same thing, it will just be a little bigger. I would rather save the time and buy one if they are of good quality.

Which of the manifolds available online are worth the cost?

Have you used one brand that I should stay away from?

Thanks,
Wildlife

 

[darkk]

The manifolds are really nice. When I plumbed my addition, there were a couple places I used, pexsupply.com and pexuniverse.com Between them they had everything I needed.

 

[rburke65]

I used BlueRidge Co. I don't have the system fired up yet, but the initial install went well.

 

[Scott r c]

X2 on pexsupply.com

 

[Jackfre]

No doubt you can make the manifold yourself. One of the things I like about the manufactured units is they have the small flow meters built into them. When I installed radiant in my last house it had been some years since I had done a lot of system work. The flow meters are good for your self confidence when you are doing the start-up. You can see what is going on and balance the flow off the meters. Without them you are holding a pipe thinking, "well, I think I've got flow...?" You can also balance flow, or performance anyway, with equal loops by temperature. The best is to have the flow meters and thermometers in each loop. I think I'd buy the manifolds.

 

[wedge40]

I'm probably gonna stir up a hornets nest, but does it really matter where you get your manifolds from?

Wedge

 

[wildlife]

Thank you for the replies.

I ended up ordering the pex and manifold from pexuniverse. I think the source makes a difference if one has more defective products (leaks) or if they have different flow rates.I didn't get any replies about that so i went with cost and availability. If they are all made in the same factory in China then probably no difference. I don't have experience so I asked.

Hope to get the pex run in the next week and pour the slab soon. Trying to play the weather and prep slab when it looks like a dry spell coming. I have poured the footers up to grade and now it is a swimming pool after all the rain on Friday. I don't want to line with plastic and foam if it will fill up again. I will retamp the gravel and start once it drains.

My initial look at the balancing valves makes me skeptical that they will close all the way to isolate any leaks during the pressure test. It looks like a small plastic plunger with a rubber o ring. I was thinking of crimping in a ball valve on each line before it enters the manifold in case I need to isolate them during pressure test or repair. Will the manifold balancing valves on the blue side and the ones on the red flow meters hold 60 psi?

thanks,
Wildlife