Should You Use Sharkbite Fittings | DIY Plumbing

welcome you guys my name is scott with everyday home repairs and i'm here to help you save time and money by taking on projects around your house one way to do that quite possibly would be with using shark bites they're super flexible you can use them on pex see or copper so they can meet a wide variety of applications around your house and maybe make those plumbing projects a little more approachable now a lot of people within the plumbing industry keep saying shark bites are new they're not super new they have been out since 2004 but they have ramped in popularity dramatically over the years i know my area lowe's has huge sections of only shark bite and seems like they continue to expand every year now take a guess jump down in the comments and let me know in the united states per week how many connections do you think are made with shark bites give me a number i'll jump back to that here in a bit and let you know how many they are and it might surprise you but first up let me show you how to install a shark on a copper pipe and also we'll see the internals and how it's actually working so let me show you how to install a shark bite but also look at the internals through this cross section so this cross section has everything except for you'll see a little white insert that is in there you'll never remove it but it's actually only in there for pecs to give the pecs a little bit more rigidity so then the shark bite will seal properly so how the shark bite works is the the pipe comes in and those little stainless steel teeth grab on to the pipe and hold it within the fitting then the actual water tight feature is this o-ring seal that will seal around your pipe now installation is very easy and we can demonstrate that with this half-inch coupling we have some half inch copper pipe you want to make sure that the end of your pipe is very clean and free of any slivers which are called burrs now one way to deeper you could have some sandpaper you could have a deep ring tool but sharkbite also makes this versatile deburring and marking gauge so all you have to do is insert that in the corresponding pipe and you'll see what's happening that little cutting wheel there is actually hitting the outside of the pipe and taking any of those slivers off to make sure that the pipe is clean and ready to be installed you saw the o-ring as critical to shark bites and that's why you can't have any sharp edges now the deburring tool also serves as a marking tool where you can mark right at the end and then you have a depth gauge to know you have the shark bite fully seated on the pipe so let me show you how to install you'll just simply install the pipe now you will feel some resistance fairly early on what that is is you're actually hitting that first set of stainless steel teeth so you'll hit that set and then you'll push past those with a little force okay now i'm pushing past those and then once you push past those you're going to hit another stop what that is is now you're getting to the o ring but you need to push past that so the pipe is fully seated in the coupling or the cap or the t or whatever fitting you're using so you apply a little bit more force and now you are fully seated onto the pipe that's where many of the failures will come you'll end where the pipe is just pushing on the o-ring and of course that's not going to make an appropriate seal around the pipe and that will lead to a failure so that is all there is to installing a shark bite and that is why from a diy perspective these can be very handy on your plumbing projects around the house now sharkbite is really expanding to a lot of different parts you can get ball valves with shark bite fittings on them you can get your on off valves for your toilet or your vanity or your kitchen sink you can get a ton of other fittings you have the classic tee that we showed earlier and then you can get an assortment of fittings where you have a sharkbite end and then it converts to like a pex barb so you can go right into a standard crimped pex connection and just numerous other examples where you'll be able to convert from sharkbite to another type of connection so whether you like shark bites or not you have to admit that is a clever design and it's very versatile in its applications earlier i asked you to guess down in the comments let me know how many connections are made with shark bites per week in the united states from the sharkbite website they say 1.5 million connections are made every week which is a little bit mind-boggling and i do believe we give some credit that shark bytes are proven in the industry if that many connections are being made even though i know a lot of people say they quote unquote leak let me know in the comments let me know what you have seen what failures you've seen of sharkbite and let me know how that worked again a improperly installed sharkbite that leaks yes of course it does the o-ring wasn't fully seated or maybe there's another issue but sharkbite actually does back from manufacturing defects with a 25-year warranty so they're standing behind their products and just when you hold a shark bite when you look at the design they are very well made and very high quality now before sounding too much like a shark bite fanboy and thinking everything is great about them i do want to state that i highly respect professional licensed plumbers and i don't think there's any way to beat copper pipe copper fittings and a properly soldered joint by far the best thing you can do for your house and it's going to have the longest life by far but what are the main cons of shark bite i think one right off the bat is cost so if you're comparing a 90 degree shark bite half inch fitting to a half inch copper fitting you could be looking at 15 times more expensive so that is a little crazy obviously if you're doing a massive project and you want to do all shark bites you are going to have substantial material cost increases a standard copper half inch elbow might be 50 60 cents maybe a little bit higher but you could pay eight nine or even ten dollars for a half inch 90 degree elbow if it's shark bite so you can see dramatically more expensive so that is one big downfall and then i think there is a question on the o-ring so over time depending on your water what minerals you have in there will the o-ring dry out and ultimately fail what is that life span again sharkbite does give a 25-year warranty on the manufacturing defects so at least they're signing up for 25 years of life for that o-ring now what are the advantages one speed of install is fantastic you saw that super fast to install and you're up and running they can be installed on a pipe with water flowing out which i think is a huge advantage they are reusable so with those caps i like to have a half inch and three quarter inch cap with me at all times i think it's a no-brainer and that flexibility on different types of pipe i think that is a big advantage as well now before i tell you where i actually use those in my house and where i don't use those let me know in the comments what do you think are the pros and cons or just give me your stories have you seen them fail how have they failed i always value your guys's feedback whether you're a diyer or a professional either way thanks for the engagement so where do i use them around the house i just done an install on an outdoor spigot which was sharkbite and i did feel comfortable using that spigot with the sharkbite connection and also the 90 degree elbow now that had access and i could see it from my basement so it wasn't covered up it wasn't behind the wall wasn't covered up by drywall so i do want to make that clear i would be comfortable using those as on off valves for a bathroom vanity a kitchen sink at the toilet i'm totally comfortable with all of that and then in the basement if i have exposed plumbing again i would be comfortable using sharkbite and i think they would if properly installed live up to at least that 25 year life but like many people i am still a little bit cautious on installing behind a wall so that's my standpoint that's how i have been using those and no matter where you stand i've never heard anybody say anything against the sharkbite cap these sharkbite caps can save you a lot of money so if you're in a situation for whatever reason you can't shut down the water you can install this right on to the pipe and stop that water leak within seconds so having a few of these readily available is probably a great idea whether you're a diy or a pro and you can look down in the description i'll have links to the caps and a few other tools that we went over earlier let me know what you guys think shark bites definitely never have a lack of comments and lack of opinions but i welcome it i know i'm learning from that and hopefully you guys are learning from it as well now before you take off if you haven't already subscribed to the channel jump down there hit that red button and the bell notification as we have multiple videos coming out per week to help you with repairs and improvements around the house and we'll catch you on the next one take care

Channel: Everyday Home Repairs

Views: 224,725

Keywords: sharkbite, push in plumbing fittings, sharkbite leak, sharkbite water valve, sharkbite installation

Id: zMU9_7G0Y2I

Length: 9min 28sec (568 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 12 2021