# Kitec-Whats it's story?



## J.J (Mar 24, 2010)

Why is Kitec pipe not used anymore and will shark bite fittings work on the pipe in a heating system?


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

*ki tech*

the ki tech story is pretty bad... lots of big companies in 
Las Vegas had to close their doors cause of it......

go over to Terry Loves site , 

 and there you will find the complete horror story ..

it has not been drug up in a few years ....


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

MM,

Could you give us the cliff notes version?


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

Somthing is wrong with tinyurl link so here is a different one,,,

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=kitec+plumbing+pipe


http://tinyurl.com/2w9cmly


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## ZL700 (Dec 8, 2009)

plbgbiz said:


> MM,
> 
> Could you give us the cliff notes version?


This link gives the story:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitec


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## J.J (Mar 24, 2010)

ok so now i am more scared then before. I knew it was "bad" pipe but not that bad. Will shark bites work as a temp. fix or is it best to not use them on heating systems at all?

homeowner has two loops in his walls going to cast rads and he wants heat this winter. I was the only one to point out the problem with the pipe and his reno is now complete. 

Personally i would do it right. But homeowner just wants it to work for now.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

J.J said:


> ok so now i am more scared then before. I knew it was "bad" pipe but not that bad. Will shark bites work as a temp. fix or is it best to not use them on heating systems at all?
> 
> homeowner has two loops in his walls going to cast rads and he wants heat this winter. I was the only one to point out the problem with the pipe and his reno is now complete.


I don't think the pipe was really the problem, according the that Wikipedia article. Anyway, I believe you can buy fittings to adapt kitec to pex, just like you can buy fittings to adapt poly-b to pex. You might need a crimper - I don't know. I've never bought them - only watched another guy buy some while I was picking up some material at my supplier - I just saw them out of the corner of my eye - wasn't paying all that much attention.

Sharkbites make me nervous, but I don't see why they wouldn't work ok.


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## ZL700 (Dec 8, 2009)

Correct on the pipe, Zurn included had the same problem and class action suit on the fittings at the connections. 

However other issues with early Pex-al-Pex included lamination of the tubing.


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## Nevada Plumber (Jan 3, 2009)

The big problem was the water from Lake Mead in Las Vegas reacting with the brass fittings. It didn't just affect Kitec out there, it affected all the different PEX makers. Bronze or plastic fittings should be used in Las Vegas.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Nevada Plumber said:


> The big problem was the water from Lake Mead in Las Vegas reacting with the brass fittings. It didn't just affect Kitec out there, it affected all the different PEX makers. Bronze or plastic fittings should be used in Las Vegas.


Yea that water has a Grand Canyon worth of hardness...:laughing:


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## markb (Jun 11, 2009)

Sharkbite fittings will work fine on 1/2" Kitec, but not 3/4". We have HAD to use it on various occasions (We used Kitec exclusively in residential from the first time it was available in Toronto up untill they discontinued it, about 9 years without ANY problems)

FYI, Toronto water is pretty soft to begin with.


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## DIZ (Nov 17, 2010)

*Hard water = ???*

This may sound weird or gross....but every time I go to Vegas, I get what I call mega boners. I thought it was because I was away from the kids and stresses of life, but now I think there's something in the water.


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## markb (Jun 11, 2009)

DIZ said:


> This may sound weird or gross....but every time I go to Vegas, I get what I call mega boners. I thought it was because I was away from the kids and stresses of life, but now I think there's something in the water.










[/URL]


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

*here is the link to the Kitech stuff*

we posted about the kitech disaster back in 2006 over on Terrys site...
here is the link to pictures and information about the whole mess....

Like i stated before ...their were a couple of big plumbing companies in Vegas ....
45 truck fleets .... that basically had to close their doors and start over due 
to the legal issues involved with this crap with thousands of homes in that area.....

http://www.terrylove.com/forums/sho...lawsuit-against-Kitec-piping&highlight=kitech




Join DateJan 2007Posts2
*







*

Are you kidding? There is a massive class action lawsuit filed against not only IPEX, manufacturers of KITEC but also agains all of the plumbers in our area (Clark County, NV) inb addition to that the plumbing wholesalers have also been named in the suit. There are aproximately 2500 homes involved just in my development alone plus another 50,000 homes with Kitec plumbing in the Las Vegas Valley alone. 

Personally I have not had any problems (knock wood) as yet. There have been only a few homes in our development that have had a problem, but some of the houses are only 2 years old. The developer switched to a different system in late 2004 so none of the additional 3,000 homes built have them same plumbing systems.

My daughter who lives in another area of this valley actually had a major break and water literally poured down 20+ feet of entry tile. The first and all subsequent plumbers they called all said the same thing: "won't touch it because it is KITEC and there are too many liabilities". 

The good news for us is that our builder (Pulte) is offering a settlement, but their are other implications in accepting the settlement. Our daughter just has to wait it out too see what happens. Her builder did fix her plumbing but did not replace anything, she and her husband are waiting to see what happens because the quote to replumb her house was $30,000.​


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## dahlman (Mar 1, 2009)

*Would NOT use Sharkbite on PEX-AL-PEX*



markb said:


> Sharkbite fittings will work fine on 1/2" Kitec, but not 3/4". We have HAD to use it on various occasions (We used Kitec exclusively in residential from the first time it was available in Toronto up untill they discontinued it, about 9 years without ANY problems)
> 
> FYI, Toronto water is pretty soft to begin with.


Hi Mark,

We don't recommend using our QUICK-GRIP connection (our push-on just like SharkBite) on Kitec because it's a female socket and puts the aluminum barrier directly in contact with the water.

Although it appears to fit just fine (1/2 Kitec is actually metric but just happens to only be 0.005" bigger on the OD than PEX, Copper & CPVC), we recommend using proper PEX-AL-PEX crimp or compression connections. These have a barb that goes INSIDE the PEX-AL-PEX and the aluminum is therefore not exposed to the water in the system.

Cheers,
Dahlman


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## markb (Jun 11, 2009)

dahlman said:


> Hi Mark,
> 
> We don't recommend using our QUICK-GRIP connection (our push-on just like SharkBite) on Kitec because it's a female socket and puts the aluminum barrier directly in contact with the water.
> 
> ...


I appreciate the response and will save it for future reference. It will be unfortunate for the customers involved, but they will have to pay for us to find and deliver the proper connections from now on. 

Thank you,
MarkB


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