Any plumbers want to advise a DIYer?

Presumably you *should* be able to cut and splice PEX wherever
you want, but it might take hundreds of bucks of special tools
that you don't want to buy. A sharkbite *might* make a worthwhile
patch but while I've looked at the fittings, I've never actually
tried them in practice. Supposedly they work; can't speak to
the longevity but they claim up and down it's permanent.
.
_H*

 

Use real PEX fittings to reroute the water line. As for copper, PEX is a better long term solution. While copper pipe used to be considered the best option, time has shown that it is susceptible to pin holing from hard water corrosion.

Tom

 

I am very suspicious of magic fittings for fixing plumbing, especially when the fix will be sealed away inside of a wall or ceiling. I don't have any experience with those particular fittings, so my opinion is only general.

There are some lower cost PEX crimpers that are made to be used with vise grip pliers. If it were me, I would buy or borrow a real tool, but the cheaper ones should work if you are careful.

Tom

 

Well, a bit late as you've already done the repair. I would have just rented the tool. Most big-boxes offer a good quality PEX crimper with both 1/2 and 3/4 dies.

With a bit of practise, its easy enough to crimp the ring properly. The hard part is usually getting the PEX onto the barb

 

I was under the impression it was water chemistry (Particularly pH) and disinfection method (Chlorine dioxide gas vs chloramine or other methods) that was thought to cause pinholing.

Throw into the equation, the possibilty of a galvanic effect, and there are a lot of variables involved. But I have noticed the most pinholing appears to occur with hard water, which is provided by a water treatment facility

 

The Sharkbites are actually great for when you're in a pinch or have a tricky piping situation. I would IMO used a crimp-on connector. The Sharkbites use a retainer and a O-ring for a "interference" fit which forms the seal. The "recommended" press-on fittings are kind of like hydraulic fittings: PureFlow Next Generation Fitting System

 

You did the right thing her, not a lot else you could've done in this situation.

 

FWIW, you're not "supposed" to put the sharkbite fittings behind a wall, in a ceiling, etc...etc.
However (comma!) I've used them with zero issues for exposed applications like toilet and sink installs, laundry mods, etc.
I've used them on copper and PEX and would trust them as much as the traditional fittings for either all things considered, and in my own house----plumbing code notwithstanding.

I think you'll be fine.

Again.....FWIW.

 

Back a couple years before the first post here , I replaced all the galvanized in my house with PEX and the Watts Quick-Connect fittings (very similar in principle to the Shark-Bite, less ostentatious marketing/branding; certainly Watts is a familiar name in plumbing). Pulled a permit, had the city inspectors over, everybody happy. Zero problems so far.

I have a house with very little concealed work; in case of any trouble, I could generally just reach up and fix it.

My favorite part was a few years later, when some of my runs were in the way of something else I was doing, and I just took them down and rerouted them, undoing and redoing the fittings with my bare hands.

I believe I checked at the time and found the Watts fittings were listed as ok for concealed work. You might check that yourself before taking my word for it.

I went to their web site just now and see they seem to have two lines of the fittings now, polypropylene and polysulfone. I think they were all polysulfone when I was buying them. Can't say anything about how they compare.

-Chap

I should maybe add here that a year ago I helped my sister replace a failed connection at her water heater. That had been done in the "professional" style, PEX with a crimp band around a brass fitting. She has weird water that had eaten right through the brass fitting; it was spritzing around the kitchen through a tiny crack, and easily snapped clean off when I started working on it. The PEX itself was fine. We replaced the fitting with a Shark-Bite. (Would have used the Watts but her local Lowe's didn't carry them, and I hadn't packed my spares collection for the visit.)