Kitec fittings?

[m II]

Anyone have experience with the fittings for the pex-al-pex plumbing pipe? Are
the compression type fittings worth the money or should I rent a crimper? This
will be for a floor heating setup in the garage.

I'd like to eventually connect it to a few solar heating panels. I have room for
three or four hundred gallons worth of storage.




mike

 

[Cosmopolite]

Anyone have experience with the fittings for the pex-al-pex plumbing
pipe? Are the compression type fittings worth the money or should I rent
a crimper? This will be for a floor heating setup in the garage.

I'd like to eventually connect it to a few solar heating panels. I have
room for three or four hundred gallons worth of storage.




mike

The fittings are good, but pricy. They are also reusable.
I am using Kitec for house hydronic system and will try
automotive heater hose and hose clamps for connections.

 

[m II]

We install PEX radiant floor heating and use crimp fittings. We have
encountered problems with leaks using compression fittings if the pipe
gets moved around much after assembly. If the PEX is going under a slab
I would definately use crimps under the slab. Anything you can access
you could use either type fitting.

Thanks to all for the replies. The pipe was installed in one piece loops before
the cement was poured, so I'm hoping things are still intact down there. I
wasn't here when the cement guys did their job, so I don't know gentle they were.

It was pointed out to me afterwards that I should have pressurized the piping
BEFORE they poured, for an added bit of insurance. Live and learn. I will be
getting the fittings this coming week end and will decide then...based on cost.
Any fittings I get will be above grade, so it will be accessible later.
The pressure test will have to wait until it's all bolted together.

I'm tempted to use the compression fittings so I can make future alterations a
bit easier.





mike

 

[Bughunter]

....

I wasn't here when the cement guys did their job, so I don't know gentle
they were.

The words gentle and "cement guys" just don't go together. If there is a way
to bash, splash, bump, or trash something, a "cement guy" will find a way to
do it. Concrete is not a "gentle art". It's seriously hard work, and the
guys who practice it are rarely the gentle type.

On the other hand, pex is a very rugged material. As long as it wasn't
kinked, you will probably will have no problems at all. If you have
continuous loops with no fittings, chances are that a pressure test would
not have found any leaks anyway.

If you leave a little extra slack in you pex lines, you can reconfigure
crimped fittings by simply cutting them off. It's pretty easy to leave
enough slack to replace the fitting once or twice before you need to make a
splice.

my $.02