# take a little pride in your work and material used



## czplumbing (Nov 24, 2014)

I just want to put this out their SHARK BITE fittings suck. I would never ever use one. Went to a job last week and another company witch happens to be a big company came and fixed a leak at this house a few weeks back. customer got tired of the company and got my number from his buddy to fix a leak that was supposed to be fixed a few weeks but started leaking. I get their check it out and their it is a shark bite fitting. why in the hell would you use a fitting like that. do any of you guys use them?


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## Flyout95 (Apr 13, 2012)

I use them on my air test setup. That's it.


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## Hoosier Plumber (Nov 28, 2013)

I have sharkbites on my van for emergencies and capping lines for test. 

When I buy a pro-press I might not bother restocking them, but I doubt it. Carrying multiple options is a must in service.


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## Ncplumber84 (Dec 30, 2014)

Pro press is the same as a shark bite isn't it


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

Ncplumber84 said:


> Pro press is the same as a shark bite isn't it



Not hardly.


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## Flyout95 (Apr 13, 2012)

Ncplumber84 said:


> Pro press is the same as a shark bite isn't it


Say what?


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Ncplumber84 said:


> Pro press is the same as a shark bite isn't it



Not much difference in the two,both use a o-ring to make the water tite seal


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

sparky said:


> Not much difference in the two,both use a o-ring to make the water tite seal



There is really no difference...


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## wharfrat (Nov 1, 2014)

Pro press fittings will not twist and spin after installation like a shark bite. For me it is a mechanical fitting that I trust just like a compression angle stop.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

I use a crapload of SharkBites fixing leaks from frozen pipes in the winter...:thumbup:


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## tailpiece (Jan 3, 2015)

Back when i was b**ch boy fresh on the job playing gofer i absolutely loved sharkbite fittings but only for the sole reason that they meant i didnt have to bring in the torch and fitting tray haha


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## czplumbing (Nov 24, 2014)

even the crimp fitting with the O-rings Good luck with that when the dame O-rings dry rots. Stick with the copper sweat fittings. I see it as the easy way out. and for the pex don't get me started


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## Shoot'N'Plumber (Apr 27, 2013)

Snakebites suck...I'm more of a tec-tite kinda guy!


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## Texas plumbr (Jan 18, 2015)

I have to say I agree that shark bite suck somthin fierce. I will admit I have used shark bite on repair jobs when I couldn't get the water off all the way and when I turned on the water them b**ches leaked! I hate them, nothing but trouble. I don't own a pro press gun and no intention on owning one. As for pex, in my market if you want to be competitive you better use pex or you won't get any work (residential of course ). Even commercial work is starting to go to pex on 1" and below to keep the budget low. It chaps my khaki's that the trade has been dumbed down.


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## PlumberDave (Jan 4, 2009)

CPVC repairs and caps. I repair too much rubber to want to bury it in the wall.


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## saysflushable (Jun 15, 2009)

I'm not the biggest fan of sharkbites, I have seen a few leaking because of a little stress on the pipe, for copper I like compression fittings. I have seen 1000's trouble free, so if I need a mechanical joint on copper for any reason I try to use compression. at least up to 3/4 but I rarely deal with bigger pipe.


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## KoleckeINC (Oct 22, 2011)

No way, unless it's work for a GC, real estate agent or management company then I hope it fails you cheap &$-/;!!!!!!


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## Green Country (Mar 6, 2009)

I've used them occasionally over the years and will continue to in certain situations. I've never had a call back on one. 

In my experience if they are going to leak they do it as soon as the water is turned back on. I know they, like all fittings, will leak one day but after 6 years of using them I've never had to repair one I've put in.


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## Blackhawk (Jul 23, 2014)

Green Country said:


> I've used them occasionally over the years and will continue to in certain situations. I've never had a call back on one.
> 
> In my experience if they are going to leak they do it as soon as the water is turned back on. I know they, like all fittings, will leak one day but after 6 years of using them I've never had to repair one I've put in.


Or maybe those homeowners decided to not call the plumber back who would install a sharkbite fitting in the first place...


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## Jon59901 (Dec 8, 2013)

I do use them on poly pipe in trailer houses. So I can transition to anything other than poly.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Jon59901 said:


> I do use them on poly pipe in trailer houses. So I can transition to anything other than poly.


Yea they claim they will work on the gray polybutylene pipe but the diameter of poly is just a few thousands of an inch smaller than copper tube size pipe and fittings,and I believe they can and will blow off the poly pipe over time,in fact sharkbite will not warranty their fittings on gray poly pipe.i use the poly to pex transition fittings to go from poly to pex,no worrys:thumbup:


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

sparky said:


> Yea they claim they will work on the gray polybutylene pipe but the diameter of poly is just a few thousands of an inch smaller than copper tube size pipe and fittings,and I believe they can and will blow off the poly pipe over time,in fact sharkbite will not warranty their fittings on gray poly pipe.i use the poly to pex transition fittings to go from poly to pex,no worrys:thumbup:


Both PEX and Polybutylene are CTS so they have the same outside diameter, however PEX is SDR-9 and Polybutylene is SDR-11, so the ID is different. With the Standard Dimension Ratio (SDR) the higher numbers have a thinner wall thickness. The stiffener insert on the brown/beige SharkBites is sized for PEX, and the stiffener on the grey SharkBites is sized for Polybutylene. Only the grey Sharkbites should be used on polybutylene.


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## czplumbing (Nov 24, 2014)

believe me I think its a great Idea for a quick fix until you can get the right parts if you were out. Or just capping a line for a rough I can see that but I have seen them used on jobs I came across As a finish product. Some plumber came in and ran lines and used them instead of copper fittings. 90s/ tees etc, and yes that was the excuse for why the plumber put a shark bite coupling in line because he couldn't get the water to stop so Use a union or a drain tee theirs always a way . figure it out


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## brad7596 (Nov 1, 2008)

They are here to stay

Checkout their Facebook page for Australia
they are using it on high rise buildings here.
If it didn't work they wouldn't be able to sell it!


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## Pacificpipes (Oct 1, 2013)

I saw a guy at Home Depot the other day asking if he could glue pex into cpvc. I didn't even attempt to interrupt that convo


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## Jon59901 (Dec 8, 2013)

sparky said:


> Yea they claim they will work on the gray polybutylene pipe but the diameter of poly is just a few thousands of an inch smaller than copper tube size pipe and fittings,and I believe they can and will blow off the poly pipe over time,in fact sharkbite will not warranty their fittings on gray poly pipe.i use the poly to pex transition fittings to go from poly to pex,no worrys:thumbup:



The ones I use are regular on one side and grey for poly on the other.


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

when it's a quarter to midnight and you still have a couple of frozen pipe calls, shark bites will get you back in bed faster


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

nhmaster3015 said:


> when it's a quarter to midnight and you still have a couple of frozen pipe calls, shark bites will get you back in bed faster


An intro is requested from new members.

Who are you and what have you done with our friend NH?


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## ASUPERTECH (Jun 22, 2008)

Just my $.02 here guys, but how many still carry the lead pot on the truck? There's a time & a place for CI, there's a time and a place for SB's. Evolve or go extinct. When you have to charge $400 for a leak repair, while your competitors are charging $250 word will spread. I haven't done a repipe in copper in yrs because of the added labor and material costs even though it's my #1 recommendation & I HATE plastic pipe. Point is, SB's are here, and they're not going away, so it's futile to resist.
I use a couple dozen SB fittings per yr. & love the caps for stub outs!
Again just my humble opinion. Carry on!


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

When I encounter Polybutylene, which is once in a while, I use a crimp fitting made especially to transition from PB to Pex.

The brass crimp ring and the black crimp ring are not interchangeable.


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## Fast fry (May 19, 2012)

What are you *****in for ? ? Those things are keeping you employed aren't they. Keep letting the jack of hacks puke them in like candy canes


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## bobtheplummer (Sep 29, 2012)

*reply*

They have a variety called quick tite that I found works a little better. Same ease of installation in an emergency, half the cost and are copper.Resemble the pro-press but without the need of the tool. You cannot remove once installed.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

bobtheplummer said:


> They have a variety called quick tite that I found works a little better. Same ease of installation in an emergency, half the cost and are copper.Resemble the pro-press but without the need of the tool. *You cannot remove once installed.*


That would remove any advantage a push in fitting has IMHO...:laughing:


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