AQUATHERM

smklin

ANY ONE USING THIS PIPE PP-R

SWEI

Aquatherm / Climatherm

Fantastic stuff in the right application.  Our go-to choice for anything requiring flows above 9 GPM, carrying potentially caustic or corrosive fluid, or sustained fluid temps above 160F.  Fusiolen (triple layer coextruded PP that has glass fiber in the middle) is much less squirrely than PEX when carrying hot water -- no more undulating spaghetti on the basement ceiling.



PEX bigger than 1-1/4" gets expensive fast.  The cost of large fittings can get downright scary.  Most manufacturers have at least two different termination and fitting systems in their stable based on diameter, so whatever it is that you love about your 1/2" - 1" PEX system, do not assume it applies to that vendor's 3" product.



Aquatherm, OTOH, is amazingly affordable for larger diameters in comparison.  Fusion outlets are stupid cheap.  Tap a branch up to 1-1/4" into a line as large as 6" for under $10 in materials.   Tooling costs a bit (about $3k for everything up to 2" nominal) but the warranty is unbeatable.

smklin

WHO ELSE

I know about Aquatherm & Geo Source who else

Jim Godbout

aquatherm

we use it often on potable and heating great product best of all keeps systems very clean.



it has its applications



just difficult to work with by yourself if working off staging of any kind

zacmobile

Aquatherm

I've used both Aquatherm & the Chinese knock-off stuff carried by Geo-Source & Dynamic Supply and I will have to say that Aquatherm is superior if every way: tolerances very accurate, some of the Chinese fittings are pretty tight and take some muscle to ram onto the iron but the Aquatherm glides on smooth with very little effort. Same thing with any threaded fittings, The Chinese are either too loose or too tight, you get what you pay for. My only complaint about Aquatherm is that while any monolithic fittings (one piece) are cheap, the valves, unions & threaded fittings are insanely expensive (2-3 times their copper counterpart). Once you get set up, the time per joint is much less than copper. The best thing? N0_LEAKS_EVER!

SWEI

valves & transitions do get pricey

So I try to put valves at transition points whenever I can.



My standard recipe is to weld a male NPT fusion outlet on a trunk line, then thread a Webstone Ball Drain onto it.  Thread a male PEX adapter into the other end of the Ball Drain.



The fusion outlets really make the system IMO.

SWEI

who else

Nobody else with all the NSF ratings and code approvals here that I know of.  The socket fusion is actually a DIN standard, so it's compatible with a number of industrial PP systems.  Asahi PP ball valves weld right up to it.