Repeat broken pipe

It’s common to have a ball valve behind each outside faucet.

The one reason I don’t like using pex adaptors to copper is the inside diameter is smaller than the normal copper 3/4 or 1/2 and it reduces water flow. I have an outdoor facet that doesn’t flow very much because I changed from copper to pex

Yes , I realize that . When I replaced our 3/4" copper water main , I went with with 1" PEX , instead of 3/4" PEX for that reason .

So , let the OP run 3/4" PEX . I did not specify size .

Wyr
God bless

How do you handle the grounding pipes that should be done using pex, or is that just on older homes.

Perry_L said:

So you think the pressure of the water moving through the pipe when we first turned it back on this spring was enough to burst that seam? Its hard to turn the valve super fast, its up in the ceiling in our laundry room, but we certainly weren't aware of that risk.

Click to expand...

Water hammer can create an enormous pressure surge, however, does not make sense in your case.
If the faucet was left open and the ball valve was slammed open there would be little to no damaging water hammer. If the faucet was closed when the ball valve was actuated, it would mean the line was full of (compressible) air and not water, which is in effect a shock absorber.

Ask the plumber how 'cold air', in the absence of water make the joint pull apart.

On the other hand, however, even with a faulty joint, the question is, what would cause it to come apart? Worse case scenario would put the max pressure a bit over 80 psi(say 100 psi), if that. (Max is typically 80 psi allowed into the house plus theoretically a small surge if faucet was closed and air acted as a shock absorber.

EDIT: BTW Pipes should never be secured to IN SUCH A WAY AS TO prevent them from expanding or contracting.

Pipes should never be secured....

Lol what are you talking about?

Sorry but I didn't think it would be taken as not being secured at all. It shouldn't be secured to prevent expansion or contraction. Except when the system of piping is so long that you are providing fixed points and guides, thereby controlling the direction of expansion.

pcride said:

How do you handle the grounding pipes that should be done using pex, or is that just on older homes.

Click to expand...

Bond metallic piping . Obviously , PEX is nor part of your grounding electrode system .

Wyr
God bless

Ah yea that makes sense! So what about a pex connection coming off of the main then back to
Copper?

So .. meter—> Copper to House —> a run of pex—> back to copper for the remainder of the House

Would that still require bonding?

I have meter -> PEX fitting -> PEX -> PEX fitting ( under house ) - Brass ball valve -> copper pipe .

Bond to the copper pipe under the house .

Wyr
God bless

IMO "WyrTwister" is on the right track.
It is amazing how water/air can be trapped in a line

In 2015 I was re-plumbing my entire house.
Had no end of trouble with failing joint, in an almost impossible location (with an under floor crawl space of 18 inches).

Good advice from this forum advised a T (with removal plug in the bottom of the T) in the line (at its lowest point) to drain excess water from the horizontal line.

@PerryL
in your case the isolation valve -IV (in your ceiling?)
the T needs to be in close approximation to the IV so when the IV is closed the T can be opened to allow air into the line. If a stop valve is incorporated into the T it MUST be a ball valve and not a jumper valve, because any negative pressure below the IV/T will suck a jumper valve back onto its seat preventing air to enter the line and empty it.

The second thing I would suggest is to use a wet-vac at the outside faucet to suck any residual water out of the line. Any horizontal lines only need to have a dip in them to hold water. Small bore pipe can also hold water just by water tension alone.

As for snap-on/push fittings I simply don't trust them (I am an old dog), admittedly I do use them to temporarily connect to a line for testing. I don't wait till the end of a project to test lines, I pressure test lines (with air and water) with the snap-on/push-on fittings are handy for that.

I am In Australia so apologies if my terminology "reads" a little strange.

The thread could go on forever theorizing how the fitting came undon. I don’t agree with air temp with air pressure breaking the fitting... I’m sure the joint wasn’t done properly. If you look at the picture the separation in the pipe obviously has a lot of play OR when they spliced in the fitting there was not enough movement in the pipe to get full setting hence the pipe simply pulled apart! Have you ever replaced a broken sprinkler line and you have to cut it just perfect to get enough bite on the coupler since there will be no slack in the pipe... All these suggestions with T fittings,
Vacuuming out your pipe? Common, just get a valve that has the air break which allows it to drain... and this and that to collect water is not needed. Just solder in a regular coupler and be done. No house that I’ve seen has any of these strange configurations , because it’s NOT needed. How many homes have you seen ?

Maybe the entire house moved and pulled the pipe apart because the pipe is fastened to the joists. Maybe because it’s the transition to spring/summer, the whole house is moving.

I’m unsubscribing on this post

The fitting may not well installed, you can try pipe fitting in stainless steel material: www.pursueplumbing.com

Maybe not Viega. or Improper press, Either not inserted fully or improper press tool use.
Contact the installer. They have the rep send it back to Viega. If it was not Viega, then that could be the issue. They use the highest standards and guarantee their products.
Properly installed by trained people, the Viega ProPress product is bomb proof.

The first picture is a sharkbite fitting. Not the best as they can fail. The second fitting is pro press fitting. It should not fail unless improperly done.
Once done correctly you only need the leave the outside faucet on for about an hour. Not all winter. If you still think you will have a problem switch to PEX in will stretch a little when frozen not break like copper. On your shut off valve, only use quarter turn ball valve. Then when you go to turn the water back on open the outside valve.

breplum said:

Maybe not Viega. or Improper press, Either not inserted fully or improper press tool use.
Contact the installer. They have the rep send it back to Viega. If it was not Viega, then that could be the issue. They use the highest standards and guarantee their products.
Properly installed by trained people, the Viega ProPress product is bomb proof.

Click to expand...

It think there are some possible problem for your reference:
1. Press fitting diamater doesn't comply with the pipe out diameter? What's the pipe out diameter of the press fitting? and what's the out diameter of the pipe?
2. Nor using proper press tool? The press tong used should be suitable for the press fitting brand and size. You can check with the tool manufacturer for this problem.
3. The press tool may broken, the machine may not able to produce enough crimping pressure for the press fitting? Not they can not bite deeply enough?
4. The pipe may not insert deep enough? The pipe should be inserted until it reach to the stop point, so that to to deep enough.
5. Actual working pressure is more than the permitted working pressure? press fitting permitted working pressure is 16bar, what's your actual working pressure?

(Written by Steven from Pursue Plumbing: http://www.pursueplumbing.com )

You can see more article written by me about valve and pipe fitting on my website here: http://www.pursueplumbing.com/valve-and-pipe-fitting.html