A couple of copper pipes developed a leak under my sink this week. To be fair, it wasn’t the copper that gave way, it was the old solder, put in 30 years or so ago. And it wasn’t a fast leak. I had time to react before much damage had occurred.
The plumber, instead of putting a complete copper assembly back in, added a hybrid plumbing loop that includes flexible crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) tubing. I’ve been intrigued lately with the idea of “design for disassembly.” PEX isn’t exactly designed to come apart, but it’s easy to bend, redirect, or cut and add on a section. I’ve always struggled with solder joints, but PEX plumbing requires fewer joints, and it’s easy to create a leak-free bond.
For example, I found a several couplers that allow you just stick the PEX into the ends of to seal. Some brands such as AquaPEX from
Uponor, are suitable for fire sprinkler systems.
Image:
Monroe Plumbing (showing AquaPEX)
Posted: 5/28/2010 12:36:44 PM by
Matt Power | with 8 comments