PEX vs. CPVC

[tinmanwpk]

I just moved into a new home. The entire house has PEX plumbing piping. There is a soft water hookup available with power and a drain line, all pre-installed.

I have never worked with PEX. Is there an easy way to tie into the PEX piping with PVC/CPVC so I don't have to buy an expensive tool?

 

[SJR033]

I just moved into a new home. The entire house has PEX plumbing piping. There is a soft water hookup available with power and a drain line, all pre-installed.

I have never worked with PEX. Is there an easy way to tie into the PEX piping with PVC/CPVC so I don't have to buy an expensive tool?

I have not worked with CPVC before, but isn't that copper tube size (CTS)? If so, what about using a Sharkbite fitting? Also, check with your local hardware store, mine will rent/loan the PEX crimp tool.

 

[ratdoggy]

My softener was installed with sharkbites...
The whole house is PEX

 

[Cyberbear]

I'm not familiar with the new PEX flexible plumbing system, but I have worked with the older CPVC pipe found often in mobile homes and travel trailers. The CPVC is smaller in diameter and wall thickness and has an off-white color to it, plus uses it's own type of glue. As it ages it becomes very brittle and the thinness doesn't help. When combining two different systems be sure to have the proper adapter fittings before getting started. Good luck with your project.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I've used both cpvc and pex. I wouldn't hesitate to use either again, but if I started from scratch I would lean toward pex as I consider it a newer, more durable piping material, particularly in it's ability to handle some freeze issues without bursting (although it is NOT RATED to do so).

The crimp tools aren't all that expensive. I can't remember what I paid for mine, but it wasn't too much as I recall.

Phil

 

[jcthorne]

If you are only going to do a small number of pex connections, don't bother with the crimping tool and bands or learning to use it. Just get the much easier to use sharkbite fittings. They cost a bit more but are simple push in to connect fittings. So simple a cave man could do it.....even me.

 

[zendriver]

PEX

I only have use sharkbite on copper, but it seems like an unnecessary expense, since a PEX band crimping tool and the bands, are fairly inexpensive, IMO.

 

[pmiranda]

If the only thing you ever expect to do on this house is the softener install, go ahead and get the (correct) sharkbite fittings. Otherwise, probably worth investing in the PEX crimping tool. I think you'll see it again in future homes and you'll need it if you do any other remodels/repairs in yours. Best of both worlds: rent the thing if it's less than 1/8th the cost of buying it.

 

[kf4zht]

There are CPVC to NPT and PEX to NPT adapters that let you couple the two. I have CPVC and am ripping it out slowly to go to PEX. CPVC seems like a time bomb that has already gotten me a couple times. When something breaks it and everything down the line gets upgraded.

 

[rlitman]

Forget the PEX crimp tools and rings. Get this:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037QFNJM/?tag=atomicindus08-20
and use the stainless bands.

 

[forAK]

My softener was installed with sharkbites...
The whole house is PEX

^This
You're only talking about 2 sharkbites. Done.

 

[ItsNemo]

The tool comes in handy and isn't that expensive. Up here you can get the tool for around $60-80 which does both 1/2" and 3/4" PEX lines. A single sharkbite is usually $10-15, so a pair is already half the cost of the tool.

I would never both with CPVC given PEX is already there. The only time I've done sharkbite is when adapting from copper to PEX in existing installations.

 

[Doc]

Many times the big box stores also rent the tool. I use pex for everything and love it. easy and no leaks!

 

[theoldwizard1]

PEX is the way to go ! Biggest problem is deciding which of 3 or 4 different clamping systems you want to use. We used rings on my son's house. The tool was not cheap.

You have to be careful bending PEX. You do NOT want to kink it ! Brass fittings with with your choice of clamps is much cheaper than shark bites.

Use a much 3/4" (over 1/2") as possible.

 

[tinmanwpk]

I will go to both big boxes and ask questions. If the tool is reasonably priced I will just go that route. Otherwise it's Sharkbite and cpvc. Yes is probably my "last" house, so no need for another tool to sit around.

Wait, did I really say that?

 

[4x4_G30_Sportvan]

I have redone some of my house w/ the stainless clamps and pex-al-pex and brass fittings. Easy peezy.

 

[rburke65]

I have used the shark fittings maybe..?.. 10 times with no issues so far.

 

[fourjeepin]

I recently redid a bathroom with pex. I read MANY threads on pex vs cpvc before starting and finally went with the pex and am so glad I did. It is SO easy to work with. None of my joints leaked. Another nice thing about it is how easy it is to take apart if you mess up a joint.
+1 for pex or sharkbite

 

[m151]

the nice thing about sharkbite is that it works with copper cpvc and pex. If you remove the water softner the fittings are reusable, and you don't need unions.

 

[tinmanwpk]

Good advice, gents. I thank you. I will be strongly looking at the PEX route.

 

[nh_yota]

The ID of PEX is slightly smaller than copper even for the same nominal size (e.g. 1/2"), and the fittings go on the inside of the PEX which restricts water flow a certain amount, so it's good to go with 3/4" PEX as much as possible.

 

[z3speed4me]

I'd say 3/4 if you are going up to a 2nd floor for sure for pressure reasons... the 1/2 would likely be fine for a ranch / single story dwelling.

 

[pmiranda]

Even single-story, if you have to cross the house, go 3/4". I wish the people that built our house had done that. We have good pressure at the curb but not so great at the far end of the run. Low-flow fixtures do fine but try to run 2 showers at once or at the same time as the washer or a tub is filling and it's not great.

 

[tinmanwpk]

3/4" make perfectly good sense. When I first looked at this piping I had notice how small the actual pipe looked. Coupled with the fittings going inside the piping I knew that the flow has to be constricted.

 

[nh_yota]

The rule of thumb for residential plumbing is to use 3/4" for all of your trunk runs and 1/2" to each fixture in order to maintain adequate flow rates.

 

[finn]

PEX is the way to go ! Biggest problem is deciding which of 3 or 4 different clamping systems you want to use. We used rings on my son's house. The tool was not cheap.

You have to be careful bending PEX. You do NOT want to kink it ! Brass fittings with with your choice of clamps is much cheaper than shark bites.

Use a much 3/4" (over 1/2") as possible.

I'd vote against excessive use of 3/4" PEX unless one has really long runs that may induce excessive pressure drop to the system.

It's harder to crimp the 3/4" fittings, at least with my tools and arthritic hands.

3/4" increases the wait times for hot (and cold) water to reach the tap or shower head, as there is additional volume of room temperature water to purge from the pipes.

I used 3/4" from the inlet to the crawl space to the pressure tank and to the water heater. The rest is 1/2".

Any good rental store will have a PEX tool. Purchase prices have come down, too.

 

[reader2580]

Forget the PEX crimp tools and rings. Get this:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037QFNJM/?tag=atomicindus08-20
and use the stainless bands.

I have one of these somewhere, but it has no way to verify that the ring was compressed properly. I ended up buying a fairly inexpensive MAsterforce crimp tool at Menards that works with the stainless crimp rings.

 

[reader2580]

Many times a manifold is used with PEX so each fixture has its own 1/2" line. The disadvantage of the manifold is that you have to wait for hot water for each fixture. Copper or CPVC usually means a single line to the bathroom for all fixtures so you only wait for hot water once.

 

[fourjeepin]

The rule of thumb for residential plumbing is to use 3/4" for all of your trunk runs and 1/2" to each fixture in order to maintain adequate flow rates.

This is what I did in my basement bathroom when I replaced the poly. It seems to have worked very well in supplying washer/dryer, ice maker, bar sink, paint sink, shower, toilet, sink, and outdoor spigot.

 

[PCustoms]

Just bought my house, mix of cpvc and polybutyl. Some of it was not winterized correctly the the cpvc exploded.

$40 PEX tool from amazon (Iwis?) And some ss bands will allow me to replace it all in an afternoon. Run a manifold and 1/2 lines, or 3/4 trunk and 1/2 branches