PEX PlumbingPEX Plumbing is growing in popularity due to ease of installation and the high quality systems that result from it. PEX Plumbing uses PEX Tubing in place of copper pipe that is commonly seen in traditional plumbing systems. PEX Plumbing can accomplish all of the things that traditional plumbing systems can accomplish and more. The main components to PEX Plumbing are PEX tubing, PEX Manifolds, and PEX Fittings & Valves.
PEX tubing that is used for PEX Plumbing systems must be rated for potable water. Three brands of this tubing are Wirsbo Aquapex, Zurn PEX, and Watts Water PEX. PEX tubing for plumbing may be color coated blue or red. Color coating the tubing is designed to aid in the installation of hot and cold water lines. This tubing comes in 3/8", ½", 5/8", ¾", and 1". There are several methods available on the market today that can be used to make PEX Plumbing connections. These include expansion, clamping, pressing, and crimping. There are four varieties of PEX Plumbing connections sold on PexSupply.com. These are the Wirsbo QS Style compression fittings, Wirsbo Expansion System, the PEX Clamping system using stainless steel clamps, and the PEX crimping system using Black copper rings. The information below discusses how each of these connection systems work. Cut the end of the tubing perpendicular to the length of the tube.
All of the material or burrs that are created from the cut should be removed.
Slide the ProPEX ring over the end of the PEX Tubing. The ring should be extended over the tube by 1/16". Clamping connections may be made on any brand of PEX Tubing.
However, it may not be used on PEX-AL-PEX Tubing. Clamps come in 3/8", ½", 5/8", ¾", and 1".
These clamps all work with the same clamping tool and may be used with the different sizes of PEX Tubing. Pex Plumbing system design can be done in a similar fashion to traditional Plumbing Systems. However, because of its flexibility PEX saves time and money as compared to installing traditional copper plumbing systems. The options for running PEX in a plumbing system are listed below, they are not listed in any preference order.
In this system central manifolds are used to distribute water to all of the fixtures in a given residence or building. Manifolds may either be valved or valveless and are generally made of copper or engineered plastic. If they are valveless, shutoff valves must be used at each fixture. These manifolds contain between 3 and 12 ports (generally ½") to connect PEX Tubing to. One of the central manifolds will receive cold water, and one manifold will receive the hot water supply. Each fixture will then have one dedicated cold PEX Tubing line and one dedicated hot PEX Tubing line which begin at the manifolds. Using this method minimizes the overall number of connections required. This method also takes advantage of the flexibility of PEX Tubing. One main benefit of this setup is the reduced time required for hot water to reach the fixture. In this PEX Plumbing installation method close-end remote manifolds are placed near groups of fixtures, i.e. a bathroom. Two manifolds, one hot and one cold are placed close to the group of fixtures. PEX Tubing is then run from the manifold to each fixture. Valveless manifolds are typically used, however valved manifolds may be used as well. Structured PEX Plumbing systems make use of the recirculation of hot water. Manifolds in this system will be located near groups of fixtures. For the hot water lines, open ended manifolds are used. By doing this, the hot water return line is created as an extension of the hot water supply line. This system's main benefit is a reduction in the usage of water and energy due to the on demand recirculation. This method is similar to home run installation, but it uses several flow-through manifolds instead of central manifolds. These open ended manifolds may be either valved or valveless. This method uses less PEX tubing than the home run method and may provide hot water faster than other installation methods. This method is also referred to as "teeing off". It is commonly used in rigid plumbing systems such as copper and CPVC. A PEX fitting such as a tee or elbow is used each time the tubing needs to be split or change direction. This method requires more connections than other methods of PEX Plumbing. This method does not take full advantage of the flexibility of PEX Tubing. For all of these installations the system should be inspected and pressure tested prior to being filled with water. The system should be pressure tested to between 40 and 60 psi. |
|
