Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

To help avoid getting South Pen RR's thread any further off topic, I'll ask this here.
What viable readily available options are out there for flexable water line tubing? I'm thinking Polyethelene, PEX (Cross-linked Polyethelene) PVC (NSF certified and braid reinforced for pressure). Can somebody explain the pros and cons of these, or any I left out?

dh wrote:To help avoid getting South Pen RR's thread any further off topic, I'll ask this here.
What viable readily available options are out there for flexable water line tubing? I'm thinking Polyethelene, PEX (Cross-linked Polyethelene) PVC (NSF certified and braid reinforced for pressure). Can somebody explain the pros and cons of these, or any I left out?

dh,
I think it may depend on your plumbing connections. PVC tubing (NSF) is best suited for barb type fittings and clamps to secure. PEX has it's own dedicated fittings, and probably is easier to connect to house type plumbing connections.

If tight bend radius is desirable for you application, PVC tubing might be better.

You can probably make either one work.

Larry C

Good point about the PEX connections. We use a lot of Polyethelene tubing at work with push connectors because they have to be easily dissassembled and the PE tubing is available in different colors.

There are several ways to do PEX.
The first and the best requires a $250 tool and a watching a 1\2 hr video to be certified to use it. It stretches a connection, holding it open for you to insert pipe then it releases it.

the Next is the type the home depot sells using a copper ring that is crushed around the pipe and joint to make a seal. If done wrong it can work it's way loose if not done right, as a Plumber showed me. the tool is 99 + bucks.

Third is Shark Bite which is pushed into the pipe and becomes the joints. a lot more expensive. but works, I have heard some tails of leaking but not enough to scare me off. you need to make sure there are no burs. You can connect copper, PEX and cpvc.

Also do not expose it to the sun it will void the warrantee.

http://www.ppfahome.org/pex/faqpex.html
is might be a place that sells it but it has good info.

Non of this probably really matters as long as tubing is "drinking water safe"....

Dale

...the SharkBite fittings are great, if a bit pricey...if you use them, just be sure all cuts are square and burr free...I believe they can be used on both the PVC and the PEX(I could be wrong)..............
madjack
p.s. I prefer the PEX, mainly because I have used more of it and it seems to be a little easier to work...also, while flexible, it is not as flexible as the reinforced PVC..............mj

Pex is the standard for travel trailers. I've plumbed two different trailers with it using the copper crimp rings. The tool for 1/2 is 59 bucks at a big box store. Or you can spend 100 and get a tool that will do both 1/2 and 3/4. They also sell some different rings that use a different tool. I like the crimp rings cause they are copper.
I would not use sharkBite fittings to plumb the whole trailer. They are super easy but they are mainly for quick repairs. I keep a couple in my truck tool box. Mainly caps but a couple valves also. I build and lease commercial property I also have to do the maintenance. So they come in handy in a pinch. The fittings are very expensive though. As in if you have more then 10 connections to make you could probably buy a pex tool and the fittings for the cost of just the Sharkbite fittings. The crimper tool is nice solid tool that will last for years..

Copper crimp rings...

Perhaps a great solution in perfect scenarios, but in my 33 years of service experience, copper was king, then Quest/Pex showed up.
The mechanical joint Quest/Pex fittings I've dealt with have never shown a single issue.

The copper rimp rings however, have the distinct disadvantage of being installed improperly, and of becoming "loose" during periods of cold weather (freezing).

Of all the homes I've dealt with that have suffered Quest/Pex failures and flooded, the cause has been traced back to the copper crimp ring.
It either expanded slightly from the ice forming inside the line, or was never tight enough.

I still use the mechanical connection (nut-cone-ring) and have yet to have a single leak, much less a failure.

Rob

Is there a real advantage to PEX over NSF certified, reinforced PVC tubing with hose barbs and hose clamps? My pump just has hose barbs on it, how would I put PEX on that?

How much water are we talking? A shower would need significantly larger pipe than a small hand-pump sink, for example. For small applications, what about beverage tubing like used for draft beer? Its rated to 70psi, designed for no odor, easy to sanitize and the barbs use NPT threads.

Not sure about ''beer hose'' but reinforced NSF PVC tubing is available at the local Ace. Availability is a big player in the equation. (I'm not familiar with beer hose, but if its the same as on a soft drink fountain at a gas station, its all the same stuff, reinforced NSF PVC tubing is just the ''proper'' name)..

I will prolly use pex since bro-n-law has the tool and experience installing it.

This beverage tubing is what I'm talking about, you can also get it locally from home brewing or wine making stores by the foot. I've never seen any with reinforcement, its just clear tubing.

I would be careful about buying the stuff from Ace and make sure it is marked as food-grade.

The stuff frome Ace is NSF certified and labled for food/beverage despencing. Remember, Ace is not the BORG, all Aces are not created equal. My local Ace happens to be about twice the size of a Home Depot, with a plumbing section taking up its own entire addition.