# I did a thing



## KoleckeINC (Oct 22, 2011)

Dewalt dce200


----------



## Fatpat (Nov 1, 2015)

KoleckeINC said:


> Dewalt dce200


I’ve looked at that set up a few times.

Only reason I’m leaning towards Milwaukee is for the mega press option


----------



## PlumbdogTim (Apr 9, 2018)

Fatpat said:


> I’ve looked at that set up a few times.
> 
> Only reason I’m leaning towards Milwaukee is for the mega press option



It depends on how much you save getting Milwaukee over going with Rigid. I know that Milwaukee won't repair a gun that is out of it's 1 year warranty period. You can always get your Rigid rebuilt for a few hundred dollars, so that really pays off. I think that the Milwaukee is really made to be more disposable.


----------



## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

I have the mega press kit for Ridgid, my guys love it. The Dewalt tool looks good.


----------



## Alan (Jun 18, 2008)

Nice to see that milwaukee isn't the one holding all the cards for specialty tools anymore.


----------



## CT-18 (Jun 27, 2016)

Plus Dewalt is still made in USA. I really wish i hadn't started building my set with Milwaukee a few years back. What ever i get new from here on out is Dewalt.


----------



## Alan (Jun 18, 2008)

CT-18 said:


> Plus Dewalt is still made in USA. I really wish i hadn't started building my set with Milwaukee a few years back. What ever i get new from here on out is Dewalt.


Also owned by Black and Decker which is a negative point for me. Can only hope that they intend to keep the quality of a made in the USA product and don't go the way of Price Pfister.


----------



## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

Alan said:


> Also owned by Black and Decker which is a negative point for me. Can only hope that they intend to keep the quality of a made in the USA product and don't go the way of Price Pfister.



or porter cable...use to be made in the USA..now all chinesium crap...


----------



## PlumbdogTim (Apr 9, 2018)

dhal22 said:


> I have the mega press kit for Ridgid, my guys love it. The Dewalt tool looks good.


It certainly makes repair jobs easier. As long as you can fit the jaws in to make the press.

It would be hard to justify the price of fittings to do an entire job with though. 

All press tools are basically life changing investments in my opinion, so congratulations.


----------



## Alan (Jun 18, 2008)

PlumbdogTim said:


> It certainly makes repair jobs easier. As long as you can fit the jaws in to make the press.
> 
> It would be hard to justify the price of fittings to do an entire job with though.
> 
> All press tools are basically life changing investments in my opinion, so congratulations.


Would you trust an o-ring fitting for an entire job anyway? I don't think I would. 

Spot repairs and wet connections to copper on remodel jobs yeah. 

I doubt that tool would see much use for me, unless I got a lot bigger and started doing some commercial stuff.... even then, we haven't got a lot of big commercial stuff here. Wal Mart, a Safeway... a couple other grocery stores that are shut down.

If I ever have enough money and my wish list gets real short I might get one because it's fun to have new toys.


----------



## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

Alan said:


> Would you trust an o-ring fitting for an entire job anyway? I don't think I would.
> 
> Spot repairs and wet connections to copper on remodel jobs yeah.
> 
> ...



I can see the value of the press fittings on a commercial setting where you dont want to deal with flames and fumes from a safety point and in a large capacity the time saved will make up for the price of the tools and fittings over standard soldering..but not in my case...


----------



## PlumbdogTim (Apr 9, 2018)

I can't tell you how much time I spent standing on top of a ladder trying to beat copper pipes and fittings together with a rubber mallet. Spending months straight water piping a job. Every day you sand pipe and fittings, get your hands all cut up, get flux all over your hands. It was like a dream come true to me when I got to start pro pressing jobs.


----------



## Fatpat (Nov 1, 2015)

Alan said:


> PlumbdogTim said:
> 
> 
> > It certainly makes repair jobs easier. As long as you can fit the jaws in to make the press.
> ...


I Repiped my house with propress, I’ll let you know how long it lasts: )


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

We probably have more money in propress tools than you guys have in your whole van and we still sweat jobs that are all copper. Propress is as has been said, great for wet connections, low downtime, and not needing to deal with the fire detection system in larger settings. Propress definitely has it's benefits. But it also has it's downsides.


The number one issue is cost, the fittings aren't cheap. Yes it takes more labor time to solder but in many cases that cost equals the extra cost of propress fittings. Obviously that cost has and hopefully will continue to come down though as the fittings become more common.


Another issue which is rare but does happen is not being able to fit the jaws in all places.


Lastly, and this is only a heating issue from what I have seen, is that acidic fluids damage the orings. We almost never have acidic domestic water around here and even when we do it isn't bad. But there are many heating systems with anti-freeze which will go sour in a year. If you don't watch the ph because maybe an annual service is skipped than you will see all the propress joints get a green ring around them.


Propress is great, especially for jobs like a water heater change out where you want to get in and out and not mess with valves that won't hold. I wouldn't hesitate to swap a main shut off valve in a house using propress. But once I have that good valve the rest would be solder. I don't like the idea of burying those fittings in walls.






.


----------



## Dat dude (Oct 30, 2018)

My boss has always said he’d wanted to eventually get one. Mostly for jobs where fighting water is an issue. 

Today we had a call back. American Leak Detectipon located a leak on the 1” main going into a town home under a deck. We repaired the line and installed a shut off valve. Next day they call saying another pin hole started about 2” away from our repair. We suspect the torch heat on the pipe caused this. Anyway, boss was talking about buying a propress to fix it.


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Dat dude said:


> My boss has always said he’d wanted to eventually get one. Mostly for jobs where fighting water is an issue.
> 
> Today we had a call back. American Leak Detectipon located a leak on the 1” main going into a town home under a deck. We repaired the line and installed a shut off valve. Next day they call saying another pin hole started about 2” away from our repair. We suspect the torch heat on the pipe caused this. Anyway, boss was talking about buying a propress to fix it.





If you think the torch heat can aggravate a pinhole just wait until you crush a section of pipe with that propress  Why aren't they just replacing the whole line? They better not screw you guys into replacing it one foot at a time saying "your torch caused pinholes". It ain't your fault that their old copper line has corroded/eroded through.


Also, I am willing to bet it was disturbed when you cut the pipe, not when you heated it. I use the word "disturbed" and not "caused" because the pinholes were already there they were just plugged with a thin coating of schmutz. Copper pipes don't just suddenly develop pinholes.






.


----------



## Dat dude (Oct 30, 2018)

The good thing about our customers is they never try to screw us, they always hear our recommendations and take them. On this case, that is what we convinced the client.. we should just replace the entire line since its only about 10 feet we need to worry about and its fairly easy access. Plus now the client wants to replace his WH. We are gonna attempt to put a 3/4 pex line though the 1”, hoping there isn’t a kink or ovaling of the existing pipe. If that doesn’t work we’ll just punch through the block and run a new line.. should be a good job.


----------



## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Dat dude said:


> The good thing about our customers is they never try to screw us, they always hear our recommendations and take them. On this case, that is what we convinced the client.. we should just replace the entire line since its only about 10 feet we need to worry about and its fairly easy access. Plus now the client wants to replace his WH. We are gonna attempt to put a 3/4 pex line though the 1”, hoping there isn’t a kink or ovaling of the existing pipe. If that doesn’t work we’ll just punch through the block and run a new line.. should be a good job.






















When a pipe bursts causing a slab leak, I always tell my customer who opts for a spot repair that who is to say another hole won't appear a few inches or feet away from my repair. 
In any event, the language on my invoice states that my company isn't responsible for "existing water pipes, drain pipes, sewer pipes, faucets, fixtures....." etc. You get the idea.


People know that replacing a radiator hose on their car's engine is a better repair than putting duct tape on that leaking radiator hose.


----------



## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

My concern with ProPress is also the orings. In my area the water is disinfected with chloromine, which is notorious for attacking rubber, even chloromine resistant rubber.
I would assume under those conditions the lifetime of the joints will be shortened. The ease of installation is not worth the liability to me.


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Plumbus said:


> My concern with ProPress is also the orings. In my area the water is disinfected with chloromine, which is notorious for attacking rubber, even chloromine resistant rubber.
> I would assume under those conditions the lifetime of the joints will be shortened. The ease of installation is not worth the liability to me.



Dude that and what about harbouring bacteria?




.


----------



## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

Unfortunately, copper joints can harbor bacteria as well.


----------

