# I feel so dirty



## 1703 (Jul 21, 2009)

I bought and used a shark bite for the first (and hopefully last) time today.

3/4 pex to copper. No fittings or crimp rings for this pex in sight.

May the Plumbing Gods have mercy on my soul.


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## stillaround (Mar 11, 2009)

Well, there is no known cure...


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

I guess you know sharkbite headquarters is in Alabama dont you? i hope that makes you feel betta!!!! thanks for supporting our state!!!!!


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## stillaround (Mar 11, 2009)

Hopefully you wont get the customary letters on your chest S B


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

I used a sharkbite today too. The plumbing gods are forgiving. 3/4 hot line coming down from ceiling in garage. Shut off the main, opened every fixture in the house. Line would not quit dripping. Mind you I waited while i changed out the Ng waterheater, and everything else. 3/4 sharkbite, on copper to copper connection. Im such a whore.

On a side note Colgar, (you liked how easy that was to install didn't you?)


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## user823 (Feb 3, 2009)

Put one on a 3/4" CPVC to 3/4" copper, leaked on the CPVC side. Said the hell with it, cut it out and glued it. Sharkbites suck, won't buy another one. Cheap ass DIY garbage.:furious:
I did without them for 20 years, I can do without them now.


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## leak1 (Mar 25, 2009)

colgar-you have had a life changing experience, may the plumbing gods bless you my son!


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## 1703 (Jul 21, 2009)

I just made an appointment with my therapist. I let you all know what he says.....


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## para1 (Jun 17, 2008)

Colgar said:


> I bought and used a shark bite for the first (and hopefully last) time today.
> 
> 3/4 pex to copper. No fittings or crimp rings for this pex in sight.
> 
> May the Plumbing Gods have mercy on my soul.


 
It's gets easier everytime you use one, then you start planning your day around them. Your wife or girlfriend will start finding the wrappers they come in, in your pockets.:laughing::whistling2:


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## goob (Dec 29, 2008)

i would worry about lynn coming back to haunt you,he would not be happy


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## Song Dog (Jun 12, 2008)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> I used a sharkbite today too. The plumbing gods are forgiving. 3/4 hot line coming down from ceiling in garage. Shut off the main, opened every fixture in the house. Line would not quit dripping. Mind you I waited while i changed out the Ng waterheater, and everything else. 3/4 sharkbite, on copper to copper connection. Im such a whore.
> 
> On a side note Colgar, (you liked how easy that was to install didn't you?)


Been there:laughing: Do I like using them, no but it has bailed me out a few times in a very shallow crawl:thumbsup:

In Christ,

Song Dog


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

goob said:


> i would worry about lynn coming back to haunt you,he would not be happy


How bought an intro?:blink:


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

Ye Ole' sharkbite is an easy fitting to install for a leak free connection. I think they should only be sold to profesionals. H.O. nd hacks will have too many problems with them.....but hey whats new? They have trouble with everything,they haven't done enough plumbing or spent the time to test their materials and know how and when to use a particluar material.


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## 1703 (Jul 21, 2009)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> On a side note Colgar, (you liked how easy that was to install didn't you?)


I felt like I cheated 




para1 said:


> Your wife or girlfriend will start finding the wrappers they come in, in your pockets.:laughing::whistling2:


Neither one will find the wrappers. They're in the garbage. :whistling2:



goob said:


> i would worry about lynn coming back to haunt you,he would not be happy


Hmmmmm- someone know a little too much about me. Throw me a bone, goob?


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## Regulator (Aug 20, 2009)

What ever happened to using bread to soak up the water while you sweat fit the joint?


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Regulator said:


> What ever happened to using bread to soak up the water while you sweat fit the joint?


Never done it...
Can you tell me how anyone would waste a lunch on a pipe?:whistling2:

Hey how about and intro?:blink:


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## ESPinc (Jul 18, 2009)

Redwood said:


> Never done it...
> Can you tell me how anyone would waste a lunch on a pipe?:whistling2:
> 
> Hey how about and intro?:blink:


If ya use the cinnamon favor it will give you that potpourri scent thru out:laughing:


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## user4 (Jun 12, 2008)

50/50 solder is still something I use on occasion.....


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## 1703 (Jul 21, 2009)

Regulator said:


> What ever happened to using bread to soak up the water while you sweat fit the joint?


 
I have a hard time getting the pex to take solder. :yes:


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## brass plumbing (Jul 30, 2008)

i've been known to disconnect the water meter & put a pail under the drain while changing out the water heater.


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

I should point out that Sharkbites work better if you have the Sharkbite tool that chamfers the end of the pipe to keep it from tearing the seals. I carry them and have only used them twice - once when the pipe I was working on was too thin to trust. (I couldn't convince the guy to replace all his piping, even though I have no idea what kind of pipe it was. Something for refrigeration, I think.)

The other time was when I was working in an attic area with the pipes overhead and the pipe had frozen. I needed to be able to repair it without soldering. (Best repair, again, would have been to replumb the house but it wasn't an option.)


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## IPLUMB (Jul 15, 2009)

YE BEEN WARNED,
they are addicting , the more you use them the more hooked you get your cheating ways sustaines me


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## Double-A (Aug 17, 2008)

You are forgiven, however you must do a penance. 

You must pour a vertical 4" lead joint and caulk it if course, and you must silphos 3 3" couplings in M copper.

You are forgiven. Plumb well.


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

IPLUMB said:


> they are addicting , the more you use them the more hooked you get your cheating ways sustaines me


I don't think so. I haven't used one for a long time even though I have them available. There are places where I wouldn't mind using them, but if I can I always use something else - mostly because sharkbites are expensive compared to other fittings.

I'm cheap.


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## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

Only used them one time. Did not get it fully seated and when I turned the water on, pow! Never again. Yeh, they are quicker and I still carry a few, but only for those tight, hard to get to spots.


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## Proud Plumber (Sep 15, 2008)

All of these confessions... I often wonder how many other plumbers are having a secret...yet dirty... love affair with sharkbites. I admit it... I use them on occaision, and..... I like it!!! Oh the shame I feel!!!! In fact, (since we are being honest here) I have a neatly organized little kit of them of the truck. 

I FEEL LIBERATED AND FREE NOW!!!!


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## leak1 (Mar 25, 2009)

prould plumber has finelly come out of the closet!


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## Miguel (Aug 10, 2009)

I've seen more than one occassion where a sharkbite came to the rescue in a pinch.
But I dunno... I'd prolly wake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat if I were to leave one permanently. :whistling2:


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## Christina (Jul 14, 2009)

Proud Plumber said:


> All of these confessions... I often wonder how many other plumbers are having a secret...yet dirty... love affair with sharkbites. I admit it... I use them on occaision, and..... I like it!!! Oh the shame I feel!!!! In fact, (since we are being honest here) I have a neatly organized little kit of them of the truck.
> 
> I FEEL LIBERATED AND FREE NOW!!!!


(whispering) Does it look like this one?


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Christina said:


> (whispering) Does it look like this one?


Nah... Mine doesn't have any of those John Guest push in fittings...
Only real SharkBites.

I'll freely admit it...
I was grabbing them up when they first came out and I still am! :thumbup:

You have to keep in mind they are nothing new to me.
As a staff plumber on an industrial maint. department i didn't just plumb in the manner to which you are accustomed. 
One of the things I spend a lot of time working on was pneumatic systems.
We had quite a few CNC Machining Centers, Lathes, and turret punches just loaded with pneumatics. 

So here I am working on nylon plastic lines going into push in connectors, air pressures as high as 250 psi cycling from 0 - 250 psi many times per minute 3 shifts 6 days per week and even sometimes 7 days a week with the operator only coming in to feed the machine and leaving again.
The environment was soaked with hot oil based coolants, metal chips, metal slugs, and the tubing was moving rapidly back and forth as the machined parts and cutters moved. Vibration was another heavy factor and the flying chips often sounded like a hailstorm as they hit the Lexan windows and metal doors surrounding the work area.

These push in connectors proved to be highly reliable in that application and it just makes me chuckle when I hear people with concerns about them working in a home. :laughing:

Give me a break! :laughing:

After seeing the amount of push in connectors used in that environment and their highly successful use I might add...

I have no problem with them being in my bag of tricks... :thumbup:

The only failures i had witnessed in that environment was when a machine crashed either from over travel or from a slug getting caught in a position where the moving machine parts and the slug met with destructive force.
When that happened a few broken pneumatic fittings and torn lines was the least of our worries in getting the machine fixed and operating again.

Thes are the type of connectors we used on the pneumatic lines.


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## pauliplumber (Feb 9, 2009)

Is it true that once you go bite, you don't go back??


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

Any chlorine, chloramines, hard water deposites in those pneumatic lines? :whistling2:



Redwood said:


> Nah... Mine doesn't have any of those John Guest push in fittings...
> Only real SharkBites.
> 
> I'll freely admit it...
> ...


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## 1703 (Jul 21, 2009)

pauliplumber said:


> Is it true that once you go bite, you don't go back??


 
No, it's "once you go bite, your a hack too."






I'm kidding folks.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Protech said:


> Any chlorine, chloramines, hard water deposites in those pneumatic lines? :whistling2:


No but that is why they did not have the EPDM O-Rings like SharkBites do.
EPDM stands up to those chemicals...:thumbup:

The O-Rings in those had to stand up to the oils used in the compressor coolants, mist lubricators and the machine coolants so viton was the choice there.

http://www.macombgroup.com/files/documents/Chemical%20Resistance%20Chart.pdf

Is hard water anything like aluminum, steel, brass, bronze, and cast iron chips?:laughing:


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## Flyin Brian (Aug 22, 2009)

i to used a 3/4" reg. sharkbite coupling on the hot line today on water heater,"piss poor" water pressure on hot,removed diletric union
that was clogged as usual replaced with a 3/4" m.i.p. back to f.i.p. comps.
s.s. adapt. short piece of m then ba boom sharkbite.


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

Bill said:


> Only used them one time. Did not get it fully seated and when I turned the water on, pow! Never again.


Ah, I forgot to mention - the chamfering tool is also used to mark the pipe so that you know that it's in all the way. Just use a Sharpie to mark the pipe at the bottom of the collar. This is something you should ALWAYS do with Sharkbites.

I just remembered one more time I used a Sharkbite: I was in a crawler on four townhouse apartments. I was trying to resolder pipes that had been pulled loose with a snowplow or something on a hydrant. I kept getting leaks because I couldn't get all the water out of the two-storey buildings. So I cut the 3/4" copper main and when I got the soldering done, I stuck a Sharkbite on it. 

Once in a while, I get back under there and check it - no problems.

The advantage is that you can use the _other_ special tool (or a pair of channellocks) and pop the Sharkbite back off if you need to drain the lines again.


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