Shark Bite 1" Ball Valve

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jmulla

jmulla

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I have two main shutoff valves on my house (30 years old). One appears to be a gate valve and the other looks like a normal washered valve. Neither is shutting off the water 100%.

We are away each summer for 3-4 months, and I want to be able to shut off the water completely. Right now, even after turning off both valves and draining the house, the faucet in the basement bathroom runs at a steady 1 gallon per 4-5 minutes. Not good enough.

The basement is finished and the 1" main line comes into a small closet, making it impossible to do any kind of sweating of pipes to replace the old valves. I am considering installing a 1" Shark Bite ball valve with a slip end in-line with the original valves, leaving them in place.

Anyone see a problem with doing this?

Thanks.
 
do you have a water meter? they usually have a valve at the meter.

turn that one off and see if it does it.


i gotta ask, is the water you see after you shut off the water just residual water that is in the pipe?

or is it under pressure. try this, turn off your valves, open a couple of faucets,,let the water drain
close the faucets off

with the kitchen faucet turned on....cover the outlet with the palm of your hand..'

remove your palm...is their water under pressure ?
 
I won't say that I NEVER install SharkByte fittings.

But if I do, you REALLY need a repipe, because the copper is too rotten to safely solder.

Any type of push connect fitting that seals with an Oring and is held in place with spring loaded teeth is suspect, in my experience. Just ask the landlord who (just yesterday) had such a type of fitting let go of a pipe and flood their rental house.
 
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Few senior plumbers in my company love using them (mostly for emergency/commercial, were it will take for ever to drain a like . I'm not a fan of them .
 
Thanks for all the replies, guys.

Matt: It's not a matter of cutting drywall to get at the pipe. See pics. The space is too confined to safely sweat pipes, not to mention that the entire house is going to smell of fumes for months. I usually use MAPP for sweating, but even so it will take a while to get all that copper heated up, no?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/15c1lrlbq9ahcs5/2016-05-05 11.14.47.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n8zn8xo37rhb14s/2016-05-05 11.14.20.jpg?dl=0

Frodo, The water meter has no shutoff. And the dripping is not residual water. I shut off both main valves, opened every faucet, shower, flushed toilets and drained the lowest point (basement bathtub spout), left it for several hours and the drip still continued. I am quite sure the main valves are not closing 100%.

Pfish: You convinced me about not using shark bite for a permanent fix.

So ...

What about a 1" compression ball valve? I see that Legend makes one. http://www.azpartsmaster.com/Produc...1-Compression-Full-Port-Ball-Valve__7333.aspx I should have enough play in the top of the pipe to get a comp x comp valve in there. At the top of the room, the pipe goes horizontally for at least 8' - 10'. But, would a 30 year old 1" copper pipe be strong enough to take a compression fitting?

Thanks again!
 
Frodo, The water meter has no shutoff. And the dripping is not residual water. I shut off both main valves, opened every faucet, shower, flushed toilets and drained the lowest point (basement bathtub spout), left it for several hours and the drip still continued. I am quite sure the main valves are not closing 100%.



dis what you do.

the washer on a garden hose, dig one out of a hose, cut a piece of garden hose same size as the washer you took out of the hose

turn off the valve below the meter in the closet, loosen one of the nuts on the water meter, remove the washer
replace with the plug washer you just made. tighten nut. your water is off
 
That looks like soft copper rising up from the concrete (correct me if I'm wrong) and you would need to shut the water off outside and get most of the water out that would stand in the pipe before soldering. It can be soldered, but you said you don't want the smells, etc. If that is a soft copper service, you will also have to make sure the pipe is smooth and round, no ovals, eggs or dings in it for a compression valve.
I prefer to flare connections in these situations and install Ford fittings and valves.

B21-M.jpg
 
Hi Sheplmbr: Can you elaborate why you would rank compression below shark bite? The others scared me off!!

BTW, Frodo and Phishfood: You guys must live on this forum ... :)
 
Caduceus: Yes, that is soft copper coming out of the floor, but after the meter, it is regular Type M 1" copper.

I should have been more specific, I intend to put the 1" comp x comp ball valve (already picked up a Legend 101-555NL) at the "end" of the existing line-up (i.e. after the upper valve.) So the new valve will be on smooth, round pipe, not the soft stuff.

When I leave the house for extended periods, I will shut off all three valves.

On a related subject, what do people feel about using dope on a compression fitting (threads and ferrule)?

Thanks all.
 
No need, and no benefit, on threads. The threads do not provide the seal. On the ferrule, I am not biased either way. Really isn't necessary, but I don't think it hurts, either.
 
jmulla said:
Hi Sheplmbr: Can you elaborate why you would rank compression below shark bite? The others scared me off!!

BTW, Frodo and Phishfood: You guys must live on this forum ... :)
Click to expand...

Just a preference. Just not comfortable with it is all.
 
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