# Mega Press?



## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

Anybody’s take on mega press that’s actually using it? Looking to maybe start using it on an ongoing commercial project for the next two years, natural gas. It’s approved here.


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## roving plumber (Apr 25, 2011)

*Megapress*

I have done a fair bit of it, I nearly bought the M18 propress kit over the M12 just for the option of being able to get the jaws to do it with my business. Don't expect your work to be plumb and square. whenever I pressed the stuff it looked like ass, the force of the crimp tends to tweak the pipe but the stuff holds.


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

Yea. We Go through that same embarrassment with the Veiga copper fittings. The mueller seem to not go out of whack as bad, maybe the ribbed o-ring in their fittings have a hand in the alignment staying more true. I have 7 300ft gas runs with 17 drops each , running 15 feet in the air. Will just fit it all through the hangers before pressing I guess and see how it does. I’m just tired of oil getting all over the place and this would be so much faster. But damn are the fittings pricy.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

All you have to do is press them from the opposite side after the first press and they straighten out. The rep told us we can do this. That works for propress, xlc, and megapress. As mentioned putting everything in hangers first helps.



If your time is short it then pressing is a good option. Yes the fittings are expensive but you save a ton of time. Personally I prefer solder over propress but megapress seems better than threading to me. With megapress you can make your cuts with a bandsaw so you don't have to ream but you do need to use a flapwheel on a grinder to remove the paint if you are running gas lines.


When they come out with thinwall stainless pipe for megapress then everyone will switch.




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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

Thin wall stainless. Jesus that will be some high dollar pipe. Actually ordered the rigid prep tool today for cleaning the black iron. I wouldn’t be sold on the thin wall stainless unless it could be threaded as well. Beautiful of this mega press is black iron is threaded on both ends and that will be helpful and cost efficiency to use on the opposite end of the drops off the main where valves and regulators go. Press the trunk/main tees in and finish it up with shoulder nipples. Gravy train.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> Thin wall stainless. Jesus that will be some high dollar pipe. Actually ordered the rigid prep tool today for cleaning the black iron. I wouldn’t be sold on the thin wall stainless unless it could be threaded as well. Beautiful of this mega press is black iron is threaded on both ends and that will be helpful and cost efficiency to use on the opposite end of the drops off the main where valves and regulators go. Press the trunk/main tees in and finish it up with shoulder nipples. Gravy train.





Will it be expensive? I was told by the rep they are working on getting it approved right now. It will be a third the weight of black iron. That means a third of the material will be needed. Even if the material cost twice as much it would cost less. 



Besides, if you're confident with the megapress fittings you might as well install stainless steel and tell the customer they won't have to worry about gas leaks from the pipe rusting out. Even if it costs a bit more I bet people will pay for it. 







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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

skoronesa said:


> Will it be expensive? I was told by the rep they are working on getting it approved right now. It will be a third the weight of black iron. That means a third of the material will be needed. Even if the material cost twice as much it would cost less.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





ummmm NO... have you ever priced stainless steel pipe up? a 10ft length of black pipe in 3/4 inch is under $15.00... while the ss pipe is about $140.00 , so it will always be much more in cost... https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...ilters=attrs&usg=AOvVaw36NciwMkMImU38HNteSFAA


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

ShtRnsdownhill said:


> ummmm NO... have you ever priced stainless steel pipe up? a 10ft length of black pipe in 3/4 inch is under $15.00... while the ss pipe is about $140.00 , so it will always be much more in cost... https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...ilters=attrs&usg=AOvVaw36NciwMkMImU38HNteSFAA





I see you are looking at the price for 316 stainless, not the cheaper and more common 304. Also, when you refer to 3/4" size pipe you should be looking at the 1" ss pipe as they list it by outside diameter and 3/4" sch. 40 black iron has an outside diameter of 1". Funny enough, the 1" OD pipe is cheaper than all the rest at 83$ for a 10' stick.



Maybe it will never be cheaper, but for running a main line in a crawl space where you wouldn't want to fix a leak ss might not be a bad idea if it doesn't cost much more. The ridgid rep told me that they hope mass producing it will drive down the cost. This is obviously why the 1" OD ss is cheaper than the 1/2" and 3/4". I would expect the prices for all sizes would drop if it is marketed for gas piping with megapress fittings. 40$ for a 10' stick might not be bad. You'll also get more gas flow for a given size because of the larger inside diameter.


Do you remember the ss waste pipe from the 80's? When the price of copper shot way up for a couple years and stainless was cheaper. Once they switched to silver bearing solder the ss pipe worked out pretty good but by then the cost of copper was coming down. I think it was call "tykrome"? No waste line looks nicer than ss pipe with brass fittings.







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## Spacepirate (Jan 16, 2018)

Speaking of pro presses. Do any of you guys use the copper propress fittings? I have a couple of questions.
1. Do you guys use any of the pro press fittings on soft copper not just hard? One brand says its ok i believe.
2. Can the copper be dirty or do you need to sand it as you would for soldering?
3. If the pipe is a little out of round will the o-ring seal well? What about pitted copper?
4.Have you ever had one leak? I was looking at these for repair work the copper i would be dealing with would be old.
Just some questions me and my brother were wanting answered if you guys could. We bought the milwaukee for pex and love it. So we might be looking at buying the copper crimp style if it can do what we need it to.


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## PlumbusC37 (Oct 19, 2018)

I think the mega press is awesome. Our shop has a few pro press kits but are always out on other jobs. We do mostly commercial and if we do press , its only on the overhead and everything in wall in soldered.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

PlumbusC37 said:


> I think the mega press is awesome. Our shop has a few pro press kits but are always out on other jobs. We do mostly commercial and if we do press , its only on the overhead and everything in wall in soldered.


why is that? dont trust the mega press in hidden areas?


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

ShtRnsdownhill said:


> why is that? dont trust the mega press in hidden areas?



I want to know what megapress has to do with copper pipe?


Unless he means they switch their heat lines from black iron to copper when entering a wall. Why they wouldn't use propress if they are ok with megapress is beyond me. I am left to assume they don't fully trust either type of pressed joint so prefer soldered where they can't see it but will use megapress in visible areas because running the pressed black pipe is cheaper than running copper.


All seems a bit ridiculous to me. Just run one and stick with it. Lord only knows how constantly mixing black iron and copper like that is affecting the galvanic corrosion of the pipes.




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## PlumbusC37 (Oct 19, 2018)

We dont mix black iron and copper. I guess i wasn't clear enough. But yes we do not fully trust pressed copper joints in closed spaces.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

PlumbusC37 said:


> We dont mix black iron and copper. I guess i wasn't clear enough. But yes we do not fully trust pressed copper joints in closed spaces.



i dont use any of that press stuff, just doesnt make sense for me..but why use it at all if you dont trust it? you think because its exposed someone might notice the leak before much damage occurs?


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## PlumbusC37 (Oct 19, 2018)

Correct. We believe an overhead leak would be spotted before something behind a wall. Younger guys love the pro press and mega press , older guys not so much. At least thats how it is at my shop. My foreman is older than my dad so i sweat the majority of my joints and he still has me threading on the 300 most of the time. When i go out with other crews is when i get to use the mega press.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

PlumbusC37 said:


> Correct. We believe an overhead leak would be spotted before something behind a wall. Younger guys love the pro press and mega press , older guys not so much. At least thats how it is at my shop. My foreman is older than my dad so i sweat the majority of my joints and he still has me threading on the 300 most of the time. When i go out with other crews is when i get to use the mega press.





i see benefits to new technology, but along comes problems, sweated copper and threaded gas line has been proven for 50, 60 and many years longer for holding up,,,how a rubber o ring will hold up over that time and exposed to chemicals in the water and gases and changing temps???? who knows....


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

Veiga has a 50 year warranty on their fittings if pressed to the correct depth and the pipe is reamed. I’ll take that warranty. One of the last jobs I did with my last employers was a repipe of a double tree hotel. Basement to the 16th floor. All pro press from the 4” RP In the basement all the way up to the 16th floor. That’s been 12yrs ago. My company now services that hotel since ownership changed hands.the fittings Still holding strong and they are everywhere. 

I would never press on to soft copper as mentioned in an earlier post. 

The cost on SS pipe combined with the price of the mega press fittings would almost seem like a wash to me in cost for just sticking with the og method of cutting and theading. 

Sure the ss May be lighter but your still dragging the gun and jaw set under there with you which isn’t that light depending on which jaw you’re using.


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## justme (Jul 4, 2012)

We have been using Propress since 2000 and have not had any major issues with it.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> Veiga has a 50 year warranty on their fittings if pressed to the correct depth and the pipe is reamed. I’ll take that warranty. One of the last jobs I did with my last employers was a repipe of a double tree hotel. Basement to the 16th floor. All pro press from the 4” RP In the basement all the way up to the 16th floor. That’s been 12yrs ago. My company now services that hotel since ownership changed hands.the fittings Still holding strong and they are everywhere.
> 
> I would never press on to soft copper as mentioned in an earlier post.
> 
> ...



The ss pipe is not a thing yet, it is something the rep told us would be coming in the future and would be comparatively priced with black pipe. We use megapress and the higher cost of material has been outweighed by the lower labor cost netting us more profit. It is approved and the fittings seem good. I worry about the seals but we have air tested them pretty good and they hold.

I'd still use threaded black in my house, I have seen that stuff hold for a hundred years.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

justme said:


> We have been using Propress since 2000 and have not had any major issues with it.



when pex broke into the market here it took a while before i would consider using it, first i used it for heat then domestic water, the big turning point was when copper went through the roof on price and pex looked more attractive to use, as time went on and you use it more and dont have issues it becomes more of a main stay to use..


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## roving plumber (Apr 25, 2011)

Spacepirate said:


> Speaking of pro presses. Do any of you guys use the copper propress fittings? I have a couple of questions.
> 1. Do you guys use any of the pro press fittings on soft copper not just hard? One brand says its ok i believe.
> 2. Can the copper be dirty or do you need to sand it as you would for soldering?
> 3. If the pipe is a little out of round will the o-ring seal well? What about pitted copper?
> ...






I pressed on some copper pipe that had been annealed from a brazed fitting close by. I didn't really think about it when I did it and I wouldn't make a habit of doing it, it did hold though (was on a heating system) I have also seen some fittings that guys tried to "adjust" after crimping and were really sloppy but they held also. Not to sound like I'm advocating for sloppy work, just some observations.


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## justme (Jul 4, 2012)

I have personally made a 2" propress joint on soft copper and it held but I didn't like the way it pressed the joint, just didn't feel like a good press like it does on hard copper.


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## dkonrai (Oct 19, 2019)

I'm a small company. Of not for the press tools, I could never meet deadlines. 
Mostly commercial work. Alot of RTU work. Long 2 inch runs. 300 or 400 foot runs. Condensate drains usually about the same as the gas. We share crane delivery with the units. I can pipe them faster than they get their work done. Two or three days on average.
Never get that much work done, let alone on man crew.

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