Sharkbite wont go on.... ??

Got a 1 1/4" SharkBite brand coupling that doesn't seem to like pex pipe.

I had to pound it on with a 2# dead blow hammer. Is that even close to normal? I'm using the copper inserts that were the ones recommended when I bought the fitting.

Beating the other pipe in with a hammer will be impossible as the pipe runs up out of the ground.

Any ideas what gives here?

I'm about at my wits end, cant remember the last time I had this much trouble with a project. I'm probably $600 into it and have accomplished nothing.....

Yikes! Something is definitely wrong. I'd recommend cutting off an inch and taking it to a plumbing house for verification whether there is a sharkbite available for it. I myself would be looking for some sort of mechanical compression type fitting.

I have looked for the compression (band) type, problem is, the tool to compress the band is HUGE bucks.... use on 2 bands.

Rental at a big box hardware store?

Copper inserts? I though PEX went on directly to the pipe with just what comes with the Sharkbite?

Goes on direct on copper, but calls for internal stiffeners with PEX.
CALLS FOR them, but I'm tempted to put one on without to see if it works better... but I also dont want to experiment with things that shouldn't need experimentation, especially at $26 a pop for the fittings.

The push fittings--all of them--should go on relatively easy. A dead blow hammer? Hmm...

I try not to use push fittings unless necessary, and learned early on that you really need to use the push fitting tool to prep the edge of the tube. The tool is cheap and readily available:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-Safe-Seal-Depth-and-Pipe-Deburring-Tool-U702A/100638148

The Sharkbite brand fittings come with a sleeve already installed in the fitting for use with both copper and PEX. It is easy, if you are not careful, to accidentally get the sleeve and tube misaligned, and what you experienced may happen; you'll know soon enough as the fitting will probably leak. If you are used to the other brands and think that the sleeve doesn't belong in there, and you try and yank it out, you may very well damage the fitting.

The other two commonly available push fittings--Blue Hawk and Watts, I believe, have the sleeve NOT installed and it is typically used as a stiffener in PEX; not needed for copper tube. Sharkbite also makes some push fittings (not generally available except at pro plumbing supply houses) specifically for PEX, called ProLock Push and EvoPex.

I think there are some no-name push fittings out there now from the far east...no experience with them.

Maybe the end was not cut totally straight, and a pipe that large might need a bevel edge?

Just wondering.

If you are hammering it on, you might have destroyed the o ring seal.

Maybe it would slide on better if both ends were wet?

bevel the pipe
use Vaseline

No, no, NO to Vaseline!!!

SharkBite uses EPDM O-rings. They are unsuitable for use with any petroleum based products. If they used Viton, yes— but they don’t. It’s conventional EPDM.

Do not lubricate with Vaseline—