Pex-al-pex questions

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Themitchkowalski
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Post by Themitchkowalski » Sat. Oct. 16, 2021 8:15 pm

Hello, I’m new to the forum and tried to search for my question but didn’t find anything that gave me great confidence. I bought my house with an EFM stoker. It is setup next to the garage in its own little room. I have 2 air handlers that the pex-al-pex runs to and heats up a condenser in the ducts. This is all new to me and I know next to nothing about it but would love to utilize this setup since the heat pumps were a fortune to run last winter. My question is, how prone to leaks are the compression fittings on pex-al-pex if you don’t run it all the time? When I filled my system and tried to get it running last winter pretty much every fitting leaked (literally like 20 of them throughout the house) and made me question how compression fittings are effective fittings to use on something that will expand and contract like pex. Some of the fittings were literally hand tight and I was able to pull them apart without even loosening it. Would I be better off switching out to a standard 1” heat pex and crimp fittings since I will only really run the system when I have cold fronts come through with sustained low temps? I just don’t want to have to worry about leaks since some of the fittings are in my attic and it’s really tough to get up there. I’m a contractor so I have tools and know how to re run lines but I’m a carpenter so plumbing/ HVAC isn’t my specialty. I’ve heard there are crimp fittings for pex-al-pex but I haven’t seen any for 1”. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Oct. 16, 2021 8:38 pm

Welcome.

I have not used those fittings, but it really sounds like someone forgot to snug those up. I would get your wrenches out and snug every fitting, then see if you have any leaks.

Depending on the brand of the tubing, there may be a press type fitting you can use.

 
Themitchkowalski
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Post by Themitchkowalski » Sat. Oct. 16, 2021 8:58 pm

Rob R. wrote:
Sat. Oct. 16, 2021 8:38 pm
Welcome.

I have not used those fittings, but it really sounds like someone forgot to snug those up. I would get your wrenches out and snug every fitting, then see if you have any leaks.

Depending on the brand of the tubing, there may be a press type fitting you can use.
Thank you for the response.

I forgot to add, I did go around and snug up everything and they did stop leaking last year until I had one leak in the attic and water come through the ceiling. I wasn’t able to get that one to stop leaking and just kind of ran out of time to go through it all. I was thinking on replacing all the o rings on the fittings but didn’t want to waste time and money if I’m just going to be having leaks every time I start the system up.


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Oct. 16, 2021 9:14 pm

See what brand the tubing is and report back.

 
Themitchkowalski
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Post by Themitchkowalski » Sun. Oct. 17, 2021 8:07 am

Rob R. wrote:
Sat. Oct. 16, 2021 9:14 pm
See what brand the tubing is and report back.
Believe the brand is BHS.
D4EA5177-8466-4989-81D9-FB04A6F8B0D1.jpeg
.JPEG | 1.1MB | D4EA5177-8466-4989-81D9-FB04A6F8B0D1.jpeg

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Oct. 17, 2021 8:51 am

Themitchkowalski wrote:
Sun. Oct. 17, 2021 8:07 am
Believe the brand is BHS.

D4EA5177-8466-4989-81D9-FB04A6F8B0D1.jpeg
I have never heard of it, and did not find anything about it online. If it was Uponor or Viega I think you would be able to get some press fittings for it. Maybe try your local plumbing supply house and see if they have anything.

If you decide to replace the tubing altogether, I would get Pex-A tubing with oxygen barrier. Pex-A is compatible with expansion fittings. Watch the video to see how that connection works:

The powered expansion tools are expensive, but some places rent them - or maybe you could run the pipe and have someone else make the final connections. It will be well worthwhile to get that EFM up and running.


 
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hotblast1357
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Post by hotblast1357 » Sun. Oct. 17, 2021 9:15 am

I’m pretty sure BHS is from badger insulated pipe.

https://badger-pipe.com/collections/pex-al-pex-tu ... 8410302225

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Oct. 17, 2021 9:23 am

hotblast1357 wrote:
Sun. Oct. 17, 2021 9:15 am
I’m pretty sure BHS is from badger insulated pipe.

https://badger-pipe.com/collections/pex-al-pex-tu ... 8410302225
Nice - probably worth giving them a call to discuss the leaks and see what they think.

 
Themitchkowalski
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Post by Themitchkowalski » Sun. Oct. 17, 2021 9:58 am

Thanks for the quick responses. I’ll have to give them a call tomorrow and see if this is normal or not.

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