Pex Plumbing For My Sunrader Remodel

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Getting ready to start putting in the new cabinets for the interior remodel of my 1980 shorty Sunrader.

That means I need to start buying some of the plumbing fittings for the pex. I am totally new to the world of pex plumbing so that means time for research and discussion too. I am not nervous about doing the plumbing, its just a few new tools to learn and differences in the fittings. Plenty of how to videos on using crimpers and specific types of pex fittings should I need to reference them. Plus I have done plumbing in houses and worked with various kinds of supply line tubing on aircraft too, water, hydraulic and oxygen.

I am going to end up using a combination of push fittings and crimp fittings. I can't use all push on Sharkbite fittings as not all the pieces I need are made in that style. That is a fact which I discovered this week while looking for a fitting to screw onto the back of the two handled water supply faucet for the hand held shower in my bathroom.

First task up is repositioning the faucet that controls the shower head. My bathroom does not have a sink but it does have a shower and a water line that connects to the toilet. I decided to reposition the shower faucet control because it was located about 1/3 of the distance up from the floor on the side of the shower wall and it was basically an obstruction to the entry and use of the space in an already tight bathroom. To connect that faucet to the pex I want to use an elbow fitting as I will have a very small depth of space to work in. So off to Home Depot I went with the faucet in hand. Naturally the guy in the plumbing department told me to purchase a fitting that was not the correct one, he tried to sell me one for tapered pipe threads. What I needed turns out to be a Sharkbite UC531LFA El Swvl Pex 3/8X1/2F L and that store does not stock them so I will have to drive an extra 10 miles to get them.

I can see the value to this forum to create a database of the Sharkbite fittings (with part numbers) that will be most useful for the tasks of replacing the plumbing in an RV. Why Sharkbite? Mostly because people like the brand and there are lots of Home Depot stores across the US and even some in Canada to get them from. A database would save a lot of trips to the store and facilitate online ordering for those who can't get to a store or for situations where the store near you does not stock the part you need. The database would include which fittings for a faucet, the fittings for the water supply line to a toilet, the fitting to help create a valve controlled drain tube at the low point in the water line for winterizing, which one to T the city water line into the plumbing line, etc. So I will start recording and photographing the packaging of the fittings I am going to end up using. It will likely be a couple of months before I get it all finished as it will take me that long to build and install the cabinets and get all the fixtures hooked up.

Unfortunately for purposes of plumbing my bathroom is on the opposite side of the rig from my kitchen and the fresh water tank. The city water supply is halfway between the two on the back wall. So many feet of tubing has to go in. The high price of the Sharkbite push on fittings means I need to minimize those as much as possible but use them in locations where I might need to do future modification to the plumbing or take lines apart for future changes. Unlike the original installation I am going to set up those many feet of supply lines so there are not as many multiple low points in the lines that need drain tubes for winterizing. I had 6 or so of those to deal with before. Then of course document it for future reference for repairs and winterizing. My brain is stuffed enough, I don't even want to try to memorize it.

[WME]

Go to E-Bay search "Flair-it" fittings

[snail powered]

Go to E-Bay search "Flair-it" fittings

Thanks, good suggestion. I can get those at my local RV store. I used some to repair a leak in my old style grey plastic lines before I took all that stuff out when clearing out all the old cabinets.

Surprisingly the price for the water supply fitting was about the same for the Sharkbite at Home Depot as for the Flair-it equivalent on Ebay. Of course I will have to crimp it. But I guess I just prefer the strength of a brass elbow over plastic so that makes up for the extra step.

But I have seen some issues with brass pex fittings failing due to poor quality metal alloys used in them.