WATER LINE

[lornaschinske]

PEX

 

[roach711]

PEX is my choice also. Easy to work with, freeze resistant and cheaper than copper. You can get relatively inexpensive crimp tools at Lowes and Home Depot.

 

[somewhereinusa]

I'm thinking that the vinyl will make the water taste funny. You are already going to have the tool for your hot water, and are the clamps/fittings going to be less than pex crimpons? I think that I would want all plumbing to be alike.

 

[lornaschinske]

We used a 2" section of the re-enforced vinyl hose to tie together our two water filters. I replaced the 2" section of re-enforced vinyl hose because either the crappy low water pressure blew a hole in it or age allowed it to fail. It lasted 4 years. I keep my filters in a bucket to protect from sunlight, etc. I also use a water pressure regulator on my hose.

PEX is NOT the grey water lines you find in mobile homes!!!! We have the grey crap in the RV. They make PEX fillings that do not require the tool. I would suggest you buy the tool and hang onto it for future repairs and changes. If you were only needing to make a single repair, the toolless PEX fillings would be fine. The PEX fitting are simply a brass part with a metal ring. You crimp the ring with the tool. David says you can't do it wrong, just make sure you have the right sized fittings and rings. We have the tool that you can use on two sizes of PEX (we sold the single size tool we had). I know David much prefers PEX over PVC and copper water supply lines. The PEX can handle the freeze/thaw cycles much better. I don't know about heating it to bend it. I do know that it will get more supple when hot water runs thru it. David has been using PEX for several years now. We used to remodel houses and that was his piping of choice. That's also why we had the crimping tool that would work on both sizes of piping commonly used. If buying new for personal use, we would only need a single size because we would only run a single size pipe. BTW, we have the professional crimper (the one we sold was a pro crimper). I don't know about what they sell at Home Depot/Lowes. I know David looked at one and laughed at it. Several years ago the crimpers cost $100 (single) and $200 (double).

 

[somewhereinusa]

The minimum bend radius is still an issue with PEX - can you gently heat it (such as with a hair dryer) to soften it enough to bend without buckling?

My son who is an engineer of motorhomes says that one of the nice things about pex is that it has a memory. If you put a kink in it you can heat it up and it will go back to it's original state. IE:no kink. So if you heat it it will try to straighten out.

This info from Pexsupply.com

Typically, with standard PEX tubing, you can expect it to have a bend radius of 6 times its diameter. Therefore, if you have 1/2" PEX tubing, the tubing will have a bed radius of about 3", making PEX tubing extremely flexible, compared to other types of tubing.

I think you would have more trouble with the vinyl stuff trying to bend it that tight, my experience is that it kinks quite easily.

Just out of curiosity, why do you think the bend radius is a problem with the cold and not the hot? Aren't they basically going the same places?

 

[lornaschinske]

Unless you need special length it is probably cheaper to buy a manifold pre-made... unless you would have to order one and pay outrageous shipping. Most of the PEX manifolds are made of copper with ball valves at each pipe connection. Just look at a picture of one. I know we will use at least one manifold for our water but I'm not sure if David will make our manifolds or buy them. You can make a copper manifold by combining short sections of cooper tube with "T"s and ball valves... and lots of soldering.

http://www.pexsupply.com/PEX-Manifolds-518000

http://www.pexsupply.com/Crimp-Style-Manifolds-1826000


Old 2006 article but a basic one that will answer many of the PEX questions if read... don't forget to look at the image gallery
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/2006-06-01/PEX-Plumbing.aspx

http://www.motherearthnews.com/multimedia/image-gallery.aspx?id=111580&seq=2