Shark bite fittings

[Billy Boy]

Whats everyones opinion on using Sharkbite plumbing fittings?

 

[maxwell]

Well i am NO plumber but ive done alot of work at my place lately and learned alot about fittings. I feel much more confident soldering connections behind walls, and then using shark bites on interior fittings for sinks/toilets etc.......that being said the sharkbite is a pretty impressive device i am surprised how well they work.

maybe an actual plumber will chime in LOL

 

[X-it]

They work awesome, homehardwares brand is cheaper and work just as good.

 

[Clode]

I only use them where you can see them, in wall is solder. Pretty handy for hotwater heater changes

 

[Trashy]

I'm not a plumber either, but becuase of my old well water. I have replaced 80% of my entire plumbing in the house.
As already said, in a pinch or out of clamps.... They are damn handy and easy to use.
I keep a 1/2" and 3/4" sharkbite in my plumbing drawer, just incase

 

[catalac]

I’ve had shark bite fittings on the odd set of taps, always worried but never leaked. Finally worried my self enough I bought a set of pex crimpers and bands was only $100 or so.

 

[Caper11]

Im not familar with the plumbing shark bite fittings, but love the ones used on air lines.

 

[hbar218]

They are good for homeowners or lazy plumbers. They do work if you have a valve that is not holding and you cant soldier it .

 

[skid]

I’m a plumber and not a “lazy plumber”, crimping pex is about the same time length and I’ve had more issues with pex fittings then I’ve had with shark bites. I’ve seen pex fitting not casted right where you get no flow and also a bad run where they would break in half. When I ran my business I had multiple repairs on poorly casted pex fittings and I have only seen 1 leak on a shark bite fitting and it was in my own home on my in floor heating system and to be fair it is because when I pressed it on I didn’t line it up quite right. The upside to them is they are reusable as well, but the major down side is the cost.

 

[S.W.A.T.]

Same as the quick connect air fittings, not in my house

 

[52weekbreak]

I am impressed by Shark Bites and they are so easy to use...so easy that it seems almost suspicious. I know an instrument tech who works at refineries where they use Shark Bites on pipe under 3000 PSI. Obviously they work very well but with pex pipe I would never put a joint where there isn't full access. I do use the compression rings and have never had an issue. Statistically not a big deal as my total would be about 100 connections.

 

[Ronaha]

the automotive industry has been using this style too for years, just hacked off the heater core ones cause they were leaking pieces of garbage,and put on trusty hose clamps

 

[Cyle]

Used them a few times on copper always worried they will leak but never have. If it was being covered i'd still probably solder. But like replacing a water heater, it's so much easier. Never bothered using on pex, too expensive and it's so easy to crimp pex.

 

[skid]

Many of you keep saying if it’s behind the wall you use solder, copper water lines are a thing of the past in housing construction, pex replaced poly b years ago which replaced copper. Poly b wasn’t great but Behind most walls in homes is pex from the early 2000’s on. I’ve also seen a few failed solder joints as well. But answering the OP, shark bites do work but are expensive and in my years of experience they have held up.

 

[Zrock]

They work great i used them allot in my old job.. only had one fail that was burred underground and the frost pushed it apart slightly.. Pulled it off cleaned it up and reused it.. They are now allowed in the building code as well.. If you have a Andrew sherret in your area they are 1/2 the price their just like any other plumbing supply

 

[rgashkei]

We have sold them for years with little issues. When they first came out I was skeptical but have sold lots of them. They are approved to use behind walls. Sharkbite (Reliance) was the first one I know of for plumbing, since then there are at least 6 other companies that now make the same thing. Most contractors still prefer sharkbite even though they are more money. Work great for temp caps on jobs, can use them quite a few times before they are no good. Some companies will do whole new houses in it.

 

[skid]

We have sold them for years with little issues. When they first came out I was skeptical but have sold lots of them. They are approved to use behind walls. Sharkbite (Reliance) was the first one I know of for plumbing, since then there are at least 6 other companies that now make the same thing. Most contractors still prefer sharkbite even though they are more money. Work great for temp caps on jobs, can use them quite a few times before they are no good. Some companies will do whole new houses in it.

thats the one thing they are nice for is temp caps for testing, I had a 5 gallon pail of pex caps I intended to take the rings off but never did.

 

[X-it]

Well i am a carpenter, i have done lots of damage from pex crimps failing and they fail a lot!!!. Never seen any failures from shark bite or home hardware quick connects. I would trust them 10 fold over those crimps.

 

[britt]

Sounds like the way to go with small plumbing jobs around the house

 

[rgashkei]

I still prefer Uponor fittings over crimp and sharkbite, tool is expensive though.