Howdy Y’all, ooh I love other people’s problems! Plumbing has been one of my problems for several months now (expired water tanks, and the new tanks leak). Anyway, new tanks, so, MIGHT AS WELL install a new plumbing system. The fifth one (sigh) as you know the only thing that works on an old boat is the owner. 😀
My old boat also had copper plumbing, and after years of trying other products I’m going back to copper tubing – its durable and doesn’t support microbial life. PEX is way cool, and by now its potential lifespan might be longer than ours :-p so that’s a consideration, but, well, I trust copper more, and have been having ongoing problems with algae, so I went back to copper.
No lingering qualms about removing the factory copper system since the new one is more, ummm, efficiently designed and located (I didn’t outright say your system looks ghastly!), but soldering the new connections wasn’t the best option in too many ways so I tried the push-to-connect fittings and WOW! Those things are da bomb!!
You don’t need “pex to copper” fittings – the same fitting does both! The fittings come with a plastic insert that you leave inside for PEX as a tubing stabilizer. You do not *have* to remove them for copper pipe, but I did since they would restrict water flow. Mcaster-Carr has very good prices for these fittings, they do not ship internationally so if you use St. Brendan’s (or ___ ) that will work. Home Depot is international and sells the (more expensive) Shark Bite brand.
I’m jealous of your stainless faucet – all the ones I can find now have a bitty stub handle too short to be operated with an elbow and using your hand causes soap / water / grease / dirt / on your hand drip onto the counter, not into the sink, then more water or paper towels are needed to clean the counter. Grrrrrr.
Howdy Y’all, ooh I love other people’s problems! Plumbing has been one of my problems for several months now (expired water tanks, and the new tanks leak). Anyway, new tanks, so, MIGHT AS WELL install a new plumbing system. The fifth one (sigh) as you know the only thing that works on an old boat is the owner. 😀
My old boat also had copper plumbing, and after years of trying other products I’m going back to copper tubing – its durable and doesn’t support microbial life. PEX is way cool, and by now its potential lifespan might be longer than ours :-p so that’s a consideration, but, well, I trust copper more, and have been having ongoing problems with algae, so I went back to copper.
No lingering qualms about removing the factory copper system since the new one is more, ummm, efficiently designed and located (I didn’t outright say your system looks ghastly!), but soldering the new connections wasn’t the best option in too many ways so I tried the push-to-connect fittings and WOW! Those things are da bomb!!
You don’t need “pex to copper” fittings – the same fitting does both! The fittings come with a plastic insert that you leave inside for PEX as a tubing stabilizer. You do not *have* to remove them for copper pipe, but I did since they would restrict water flow. Mcaster-Carr has very good prices for these fittings, they do not ship internationally so if you use St. Brendan’s (or ___ ) that will work. Home Depot is international and sells the (more expensive) Shark Bite brand.
I’m jealous of your stainless faucet – all the ones I can find now have a bitty stub handle too short to be operated with an elbow and using your hand causes soap / water / grease / dirt / on your hand drip onto the counter, not into the sink, then more water or paper towels are needed to clean the counter. Grrrrrr.