We all know and hate these things right? Tire spikes. They allow you to go only one direction without penalty. Sharkbite plumbing fittings use the same premise to lock in polyethylene PEX plumbing pipe in place. It makes for a very easy plumbing task. Or so I was led to believe.
Do you see all the water on the floor underneath my kitchen sink? Yes, you can still make mistakes even when the tasks are easy. But what did I do wrong? The following pictures will serve as a quick nuts-and-bolts description of how a Sharkbite PEX fitting operates.
I felt like Wiley Coyote trying to catch the roadrunner when I saw who makes the PEX pipe. ACME? Really? That's a real business?
Keep the photo below in mind as we walk through the next few.
This is a classic demonstration of how to set up a permanent leak in a PEX fitting. See how the end of the pipe is jagged and doesn't sit flush with the T-fitting inside the pipe? Good. You have an excellent eye for detail.
That little T-fitting is shown in the photo above as a separate piece, between the gold Sharkbite T-connector on the right and the white PEX pipe in the middle. This little T-fitting (hollow) fits into the T-connector and is held in place by "tire spikes', as shown below.
The PEX pipe just shoves into the hole of the T-connector pipe fitting, metal on the outside, plastic on the inside. When shoved in as far as it can go (3/4"-ish) the end of your PEX pipe should rest flush against the T-fitting that we saw earlier. When the PEX pipe is shoved into the fitting all the way, it pushes this interior T-fitting against the metal interior of the fitting and is held in place, watertight, by the "tire spikes". If this flushness is not achieved, either you have an unorthogonal cut or your have burrs from the cut still on the pipe, or you are like me and had both, then the highly pressurized water can find its way out of the pipe and create an alternate definition for flush.
The T-fitting in the above photo is flush to the PEX pipe and illustrates what would normally happen inside the Sharkbite fitting. Want a closer look?
Shove it in. With as little regard as possible. Get roughneck with the pipe.
And now you're golden and probably dry. Here's a little snapshot of what last Sunday morning looked like for me while many were nursing their hangovers.
A little visit of encouragement always goes a long way. Notice the flat light and the way she's curled up in front of the heater? That's February in Oregon. The hardcore never give up on bare feet.
And just in case I was wrong, I used electrical splicing tape/friction tape/pressure tape/rubber tape/compression tape to wrap the joints thoroughly. I was NOT doing this over a second time.
("come back 'ere again and ah wheel taunt you a second time!")
And that's pretty much how you plug and play with Sharkbite and PEX. Screw the pipe to the floor or a wall where you can to alleviate pressure on the plastic pipe.
Until next time students, please continue to leap before you look. It's the only way to remember.
