Thought I would share a unique repair that I haven't seen discussed on the FWC forum. During a trip to DVNP I had a right angle PEX fitting shear. I had driven Harry Wade Road and had not taken any severe jolts.
I called a local FWC dealer and the cost to to "look" at the repair was significant so I figured I would figure this one out. Repairing the PEX with crimp fittings was not an option since it would require me to tear down the cabinet to get the crimping tool inside the small space next to the water heater. Home Depot and Lowes carry Sharkbite fittings which I used along with some washing machine meshed reinforced hoses to reconstruct the piping coming off the water heater. This left the brass fitting off the water heater to fix. So far, I had done everything to PEX specifications. My choice was to replace the water heater brass discharge fitting or put the PEX on the existing fitting without it being crimped. I experimented with a few options and my solution was to use a propane torch to heat up the PEX piping and use a traditional clamp to seal the piping. It worked.
Final result
I have 6 days camping with this repair and a wife who likes to take daily showers. So far...so good.
FWC service mentioned they were changing their fittings on the PEX piping.
Repair was a royal pain due to the small space. Has anyone else had problems with the PEX piping shearing?
I called a local FWC dealer and the cost to to "look" at the repair was significant so I figured I would figure this one out. Repairing the PEX with crimp fittings was not an option since it would require me to tear down the cabinet to get the crimping tool inside the small space next to the water heater. Home Depot and Lowes carry Sharkbite fittings which I used along with some washing machine meshed reinforced hoses to reconstruct the piping coming off the water heater. This left the brass fitting off the water heater to fix. So far, I had done everything to PEX specifications. My choice was to replace the water heater brass discharge fitting or put the PEX on the existing fitting without it being crimped. I experimented with a few options and my solution was to use a propane torch to heat up the PEX piping and use a traditional clamp to seal the piping. It worked.
Final result
I have 6 days camping with this repair and a wife who likes to take daily showers. So far...so good.
FWC service mentioned they were changing their fittings on the PEX piping.
Repair was a royal pain due to the small space. Has anyone else had problems with the PEX piping shearing?