The beauty of Sharkbite

A few weeks ago I was kind of hard on some of the help at Home Depot. In particular, the one plumbing associate that tried to convince me that 1 inch CPVC pipe does not, in his words - "not exist in this world" (I found it at Lowes about 20 minutes later)... However, all their associates don't all fall into this category. There is this one guy - Tom - who has pointed me in the right direction on a few occasions. Plus, he introduced me to the Sharkbite system.

If you have an older house like we do, we have lots and lots of copper pipes running through the walls. Unfortunately, whenever we want to do any kind of plumbing work, it means we have to cut the existing copper pipe. Even if you transition to CPVC, it generally means welding at some point. Now, I have done plenty of welding before, but it can be dangerous, it's difficult when operating in cramped spaces, and you don't have much room for error.

Enter the Sharkbite.

Officially, it is known as the Sharkbite push-fit connection system. They are fittings that you literally push onto the end of the pipe. Basically, it uses two stages of fittings - the first being a series of "teeth" that grab the pipe, and the second that uses an o-ring to create a seal around the end. The really cool thing is you can use them to transition between pipe diameters, between different types materials (eg CPVC to Copper or vice versa). They are rated to 200 PSI AND are approved for in wall and underground use. But the best part is you can dissemble the connection in about 2 seconds using the disconnect clip. And then you can put it right back together. Oh, did I mention you can rotate the pipes as well?
The most common applications are standard couplings - you have 1/2 inch pipe coming in, 1/2 in pipe coming out - but they have all kinds of other designs, including straight connectors (threaded on one end), elbows, reducers, check valves, ball valves, T-connectors, and even pressure/temperature gauges. Something I have found particularly useful are the Sharkbite end stops. Whenever I am doing pipe work, and there is residual water pressure in the pipe, I like to slap the stopper on the supply side to prevent water from getting everywhere. It's basically a one way fitting like I described above, and like I mentioned before, it's very easy to disassemble.
Now, there aren't perfect. First, they are kind of pricey - around $5-6 for a regular 1/2-1/2 fitting. Some of the bigger sizes run upwards of $10-12, compared to 25 to 50 cents for the comparable CPVC fittings. Second, as much as I praise the rapid disconnect capability, you need to be careful each time you connect and disconnect. I have noticed that it is easy to damage the interior "teeth," and this can lead to leaks. Third, while the rotating feature is handing in many applications, it can make it tricky for others. Using 1 in connector to threaded nipples, I placed a new whole house water filter coming off our well pump. Unfortunately, since both the Sharkbites rotate, it makes getting enough torque on the housing difficult when changing filters. You also need to make sure you allocate the proper 1 inch on the end of the pipe, and that it is free of all nicks and burrs.

Over the last year, I have literally used these all over the house. I will be posting some pictures over the next few days. Anyway - if you are looking to do a quick and dirty plumbing project... this may be the way to go.