Plumbing Question - Uponor PEX

[7th Kahuna]

My dad and I started working on a new shop at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately following a serious injury everything has come to a stand still and left me trying to pick up some of the pieces. One of those pieces is the plumbing. We had talked about PEX. I am experienced with copper but PEX is entirely new. I talked to the building inspector to be sure that they wouldn't require a license. I can do it. Now I need tools and materials.

Today I was at the local Restore and they had rolls of 3/4" and 1/2" Uponor PEX. I was all set to walk out with it but decided to verify it was good stuff. It appears to be (PEX-a), but it also seems to use a proprietary connection system. As I don't have a single PEX tool, a proprietary system isn't as bad as if I was all set up, but proprietary systems also make me nervous. No where could I find any indication that ordinary fittings would or would not work with this system. The only thing they did say was that they would 'work against it's nature'.

Can anyone shed any light on this product. I left the rolls behind, but could always go back. They wanted $40 for each 300 ft roll of 1/2".

 

[Jackfre]

Uponor is an excellent pex line. You can buy the manual expander tool or you can buy the Milwaukee cordless expander. You want pex-A. The manual hand cranked tool is ok on 1/2" but if you get into the 3/4 and above you have to be Godzilla in heat to expand the pipe. If you are in any kind of awkward position it gets really tough on the 3/4 or 1". The cordless tool makes it all so simple. If this is for open slab work the manual system is ok, where you can get over it and crank the arms. If you are reaching our ahead or overhead, get the Milwaukee and sell it when you are done.

 

[7th Kahuna]

Thanks for the input. I think everything I will be doing for now is 1/2". Once I got home, I was able to spend a bit more time on their website. It looks like they may be discontinuing the manual expanders but I'm sure one would work for me for the time being. I haven't priced the Milwaukee expander yet. I'm one of those guys who generally keeps a tool once I learn to use it, so reselling when I'm done is out of the question. There's always another project. I have been considering switching from Dewalt cordless to either Bosch or Milwaukee but it isn't time yet. This might very well factor into that decision.

Still I don't know if I want to go down the proprietary road unless the system is so good as to be worth it. There are always parts availability issues to be considered. At least the company is well established. (Seems I'm slowly talking myself into it. )

 

[Jess]

I use Wirsbo/Uponor pex for pretty much all my water supply work. Since I have a crimper, I just use the brass fittings and crimp rings. The expander tools can be had on Craigs List and others and not always expensive. For my uses, I went to pretty much all 3/4 since it provides flow that is closer to copper, given the crimp fittings. The 1/2 and crimp is getting small but works fine. My in floor heat in the shop is all Uponor HPex and I did use the expander type fittings on that. It helps having a plumber as a friend.

 

[7th Kahuna]

Jess, thanks for that. I feel better knowing that I could make the system work with parts that are readily available.

 

[mires]

How much plumbing is going to be in this shop? Uponor is great but it's more expensive to purchase the tools and fittings. One of the biggest pros to the system is the ability to use less fittings because it's so flexible unlike Pex-B. The pipe and the fittings both have a larger inner diameter than other types of pex as well.

 

[7th Kahuna]

The shop actually has very little plumbing in it, shower, toilet, sink, small water heater, but I also have some work to do on a historic property and the flexibility of PEX would make that easier (perhaps even more so, given your comments about Pex-A). I remain concerned about the cost and availability however, as I noted, there is a potentially good deal to be had on the tube itself.