Copper Pex manifold - Pre-soldered Valves or Crimped Pex Valves?

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sawhillr

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Hi all,
We are planning a renovation of our upstairs wet areas and I will be installing a manifold for upper floor distribution (currently have blue poly pipes, so they all have to go).

I will be using crimped Pex for this project and am planning on using copper manifolds.

OK, now my question. I can buy manifolds with valves already soldered to the them, or I could buy manifolds with Pex stub outs that I then would crimp short lengths of Pex and then crimp on a valve. Which is the better option?

I'm a bit of fatalist when it comes to renovations, I always assume something might fail, and thus try to plan how I can mitigate damage/speed repair in the planning phase (don't put things i hard to reach places, install access panels, don't position leaky potentials over expensive built-in cabinetry, etc.). With that said, a soldered valve seems like the solid option to avoid possible leaks. However, if a valve fails or has issue, changing out the valve would be a royal pain (can't get a torch near any of the Pex). Which is the better option?

One final note, it seems a bit harder to find a valved manifold with the number of valves on it that I need (10 on both the cold and hot manifolds), so if anyone has suggestions on suppliers for this, that would also be welcome.

Appreciate any advice you folks can give me (even if it is to tell me I am way over thinking this thing).

Roger
 
I had a frozen pipe in my house a couple of years ago I had never used pex before soldered or pressed copper only,
My made my own copper manifold with sweat ball valves I only separated hot and cold on each floor, not each fixture I used copper crimp rings and it worked well for me
 
I had a frozen pipe in my house a couple of years ago I had never used pex before soldered or pressed copper only,
My made my own copper manifold with sweat ball valves I only separated hot and cold on each floor, not each fixture I used copper crimp rings and it worked well for me

hi Geoff,
I have used pex before, but was specifically wondering if buying a manifold with pre attached valves (or soldered ad you did) was better than having a pex stub manifold using pex to attach the valve on both sides of the valve? Thinking with pex on both sides of valve it would be easier to replace a faulty valve if needed compared to soldered on one side.

thx
 
I think it what your mist comfortable with I had the valves and tees I think it's more rigid but if you made a pex manifold as long as it's supported correctly it would be fine and yes if a valve failed just cut and crimp
 
I think it what your mist comfortable with I had the valves and tees I think it's more rigid but if you made a pex manifold as long as it's supported correctly it would be fine and yes if a valve failed just cut and crimp


Thanks. I was liking the idea of the rigid structure. My sweating skills are average, but sweating a whole line of valves might be giving my skills more credit than they deserve, so I was looking at Sioux Chief brand pre-valved manifolds? I guess the real question here might be, how likely is it that one of those valves would fail?
 
Thanks. I was liking the idea of the rigid structure. My sweating skills are average, but sweating a whole line of valves might be giving my skills more credit than they deserve, so I was looking at Sioux Chief brand pre-valved manifolds? I guess the real question here might be, how likely is it that one of those valves would fail?
I don't use pex enough but my guess is would be fine with pex valves
 
...it seems a bit harder to find a valved manifold with the number of valves on it that I need (10 on both the cold and hot manifolds), so if anyone has suggestions on suppliers for this, that would also be welcome.

Try and find an earlier post I made on this subject. Two suppliers to consider: Alberta custom Tee for the manifold, and Dahl valves.

With the manifold you choose all the specifications including number of stub outs and size and spacing of all piping. The valves are modular so you choose the connections on either end.

With a set up like that you get exactly what you want. The products are extremely high-quality and were not outrageous in price.
 

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