Aquapex

Ron The Plumber

Pex cost me .34 per foot, at 7.00 per 20' of pex you can bet a tee will be less then 2.00, I don't see how doing a manifold system will be cheaper, sizeing the system in no different when using this, there is no noticable difference in the water flow when using it the way we do, remember, that when the water makes it the to valve/s, it passes throught the ports of the valves at smaller 3/8" of less.

All Clear Sewer

I dont install PEX but I`m with Ron on this one!

a1plumbingyakim

i'm with ron...your job looks cool....but time and $$ is best spent getting that job done and on to the next one. think of the extra cost and time with talons and just supporting the pipe, you can zip tie your like runs together but with rti i run a cold feed and a hot feed, easier to recirc, and really quick to run, if my shower valves are already built i can pex an entire 2 bath house in about 3 hours, after bullets and valves are in of course.

Ron The Plumber

Hay A1plumbingyakim?

Don't know if you use them or not, but we use the wirsbo turn-out's, they make installing pex even faster, no bullets needed, turn them out and cap, secure with screws, that simple.

a1plumbingyakim

I think i've seen them in the wirsbo catalog....haven't checked prices on comparison of holdrites and bullets, vs...turnouts, is there an extra price when your setting trim?? sleeves or ?? anything extra to make it look nice??

i've been taking the street sweat x pex adapters and putting them in 5/8 x 3/8 straight stops on repipes ....works pretty good, little cheaper than buying the pex stops.

Ron The Plumber

Just escutions then the pex stop off the wall. Only downside is the ring is visible.

On custom homes we will use pex ppe inserts for use with compression stops which makes it look good.


So you use sweat on stops?

a1plumbingyakim

no...the street sweat x pex adapters has a 5/8 od so i just slide it into the angle or straight compression stop and tighten the nut, i don't like the stops that come with pex adapters on them already.

PP Plumber

I agree to both ways of the install, since we are starting to use the on-demand water heaters we are installing the hot side with the maniflods so that the customer gets hot water to the fixture much quicker since all the piping doesn't have to get hot water, just the brach that is calling for hot water.

protechplumbing

Manabloc systems are designed to be "passive" hot water savers. The savings are accomplished by properly sizing each line for the flow and pressure requirements of each fixture.

Example: A bar sink 60 feet away from WH.

On trunk and branch you have to purge about 55' of 3/4" or 1" trunk line. Not only is there more volume to purge, but the water speed will be slower. This gives the water more time and surface area to loss heat.

On manabloc you have 60' of 3/8" line to purge. Less volume to purge, Less surface area. Less sharp turns and irregular surfaces to loose flow pressure. Bare plastic looses less heat than bare copper. Less pressure fluctuations. Less noise due to pipe being an elastomer as well as the lack of turbulence from fittings. Long runs of pex with no concealed fittings are virtually freeze proof(but not the manabloc itself), superior serviceability and highly modular.

A 60ft run of 3/8 pex contains 79.49 cubic inches of water that must be purged. The same developed length of 3/4 pex would contain 317.93 cubic inches of water to be purged(even more for copper). That 4 times as much water to purge. This does not take surface area and water speed into account either.

Manabloc is not faster than a recirc, but it is more energy efficient and reliable.

invictus

With homerun feeds to the manifold there is no chance of a crimp on a fitting failing in a finished ceiling, not to mention there is no water constriction which often occurs with fittings. You also tend to get hot water faster (no need for a recirculating pump) with manifold homeruns.

invictus

Also it can be a pain in the arse when attempting to get a solid crimp when in the floor trusses. How do you crimp when you have HVAC and other trusses reducing your leverage or even ability to get your crimper on the ring...

Looping homeruns to the manifold is much easier, to me at least, than fighting floor trusses. I could care less about spending 7$ more in pex and 25-100$ for a manifold when I can complete a job in a third less time.

invictus

How do you like turn-outs? I tried the plastic zurn ones, which the pex would curl or revert back to the spiral form and i hated how it looked. The metal ones were slightly better but not much imo. Now I just get straight pex for the stubouts and crimp a 90 on it (I hundreds of them prefabed for quick use). Then I just crimp and sioux strap for stubouts when in the field. I find this makes the finished stubouts look much better after the place is rocked and painted.

protechplumbing

Why not just crimp the stop right up against the escution so the curve of the rolled pipe isn't visible?

If you are not doing a manifold system and you don't care about having a fitting in the wall, just crimp a 90 in the wall and use a straight piece of pipe for your stub out.

__________________
Plumber, Repiping, Replumbing, Leak Detection, Solar Water Heater, Polk County Plumber, Lakeland Plumber, Winter Haven Plumber

vinpadalino

Real nice job. Are you using a water heater for the job if so what size and kind?

William James

jrr02005

Push Fittings. Not saying they are cost effective but some times it's worth it.