pex and homeruns

jonny88

I am honestly a copper guy and have a hard time transitioning to pex.When I took a class the instructor/inspector said when he sees pex he wants homeruns which I agree with.In the field however I see very little homerun systems in place and am noticing a lot of general contractors doing their own plumbing(hey all you need is a cutter and crimper).Do you think inspectors should get tougher or am I being an **** by running homeruns.

SWEI

Home runs on domestic plumbing make a lot of sense IF they are done with 3/8" PEX a la Manabloc. 50 feet of 1/2" PEX feeding a 1/2 GPM aerator will not make for a happy customer. What code requires home runs on PEX, and why?

Expansion-based PEX fitting systems (F1960 & F2080) flow quite a bit more than F1807 & F2098 commodity junk and are impossible to "forget to crimp." If you haven't seen that movie yet, better check your liability policy.

A.J.

I hear you jonny88 I will take copper over pex any day . The simple truth us that pex is here to stay . If you are not home running it and using a trunk and branch type system you can get away with it , just watch your GPM . The inside fittings of the pex are going to cut down on the flow . I didn't believe how much till I used about 30 feet of 3/4 pex with 6 fittings to pipe a series base board going through a crawl space . It cut down on the flow so much I had to take of the Taco 007 and put in a 0011 , TRUE story.

jonny88

The inspector in this particular town wants homeruns even though it doesnt state it in the code book but I pick my battles and usually try and give them what they want.I will admit I am new to pex as we did not use it in the city.Swei I see the crimp rings everywhere.I did a viega job once and used the manabloc, problem was the availability of fittings.What do you use,I have seen the uponor fittings and liked them.But from what I see if you are using Viega you can only use Viega where as if you crimp there is a larger selection or should I say a more available selection of fittings.Please do correct me if I am wrong and from what I get from your post crimping is a big no no .Thanks for your advice

SWEI

Start with the tubing: PEXa. Anyone who is too cheap to pay the pennies per foot difference for a clearly superior pipe is not really our kind of customer. The expansion-based fitting systems also perform better. Uponor's EP fittings are competitive with commodity Chinese-made brass F1807 (crimp) stuff and the transition fittings are close. Uponor is winning a lot of bids on commercial projects all over North America for a reason. Sioux Chief, Dahl Brothers, Woodford, and others now have F1960 options available. Rehau (F2080) makes good stuff as well, and both require PEXa.

Rich_49

Johnny , Check out Uponor Logic . Home runs are not always and actually more expensive to install plus that's when you get into that spaghetti look . Wastes hot water too often times . Uponor systems are pretty damn superior and flow more fluid than the B & C piping systems . Pipe is always trying to tighten as opposed to loosen with the crimp ring systems .

icesailor

A.J. said:

I hear you jonny88 I will take copper over pex any day . The simple truth us that pex is here to stay . If you are not home running it and using a trunk and branch type system you can get away with it , just watch your GPM . The inside fittings of the pex are going to cut down on the flow . I didn't believe how much till I used about 30 feet of 3/4 pex with 6 fittings to pipe a series base board going through a crawl space . It cut down on the flow so much I had to take of the Taco 007 and put in a 0011 , TRUE story.

I wonder where all the air is coming from? Cavitation? Restricted fittings and turbulence?

RobG

Besides higher flow rates, with expansion fittings you can get into tighter spaces as the tubing can be expanded outside of the area it needs to go into. Crimpers are a pain in the but to get into a tight space.

Roohollah

Dear Colleagues ,

As I saw the reputation of Uponor around the globe , especially in U.S and Europe , you shall easily use it ,and it meets many international standards .They recently introduced logic system which is more better than trunk and branch and home run procedures .

Thank you for sharing your views on the above topic ,


Best Regards,

Roohollah

SWEI

I love the Logic fittings -- just wish they would make them with 3/8" branches. Running a 1/2" line to a faucet with a 1/2 GPM aerator is just silly.

Robert O'Connor_12

Homeruns on hydronic work only, imho. Domestic potable homerun systems can be problematic if you are piping multiple units and the piping is bundled together and, if developed length is long. What happens in say a multi unit condo is the occupant(s) go to work in the morning & sometimes don't return till late evening. this, gives the water in the pipe time to become the same temp as the building and with water restricting faucets it could take quite a long time for you to ever see nice cold (or hot) water which negates any energy efficiency because your wasting so much water. I've seen these systems take 3-5 minutes to get cold (or hot). I've even seen 90 degree cold water in a few.
Homeruns (unless hydronic) are not for me.

SWEI

Homeruns really need 3/8" PEX with moderate run lengths to work well. It's unfortunate that Viega expressly prohibits recirc through the Manabloc.

icesailor

SWEI said:

I love the Logic fittings -- just wish they would make them with 3/8" branches. Running a 1/2" line to a faucet with a 1/2 GPM aerator is just silly.

The supply conversion adapters are almost always 1/4" ID, 3/8" OD. The standard practice is 1/2" to the fixture, and code requirements are 3/8".

For the "Cheaper is better" crowd, if you allowed 3/8" OD to fixture supplies, they'd be running coils of spaghetti tube.