Leaking 2\" pro press fitting woes

Brad White_132

That the leaks seem to occur between the "bite points" where the jaws contact the fitting. Just an observation. Wonder what the compressive pressure is between the bite points?

Ray Landry

Oddly enough, after reading Mr. Ebel's post about pro press fittings leaking on glycol'd systems I ran into the exact same situation. This is a one year old snowmelt system we installed, with about a dozen joints covered in green spooge appearing to be the remenants of a glycol leak. no threaded adapters or sweat joints are leaking, only the press fittings. This really worries me because we've got a lot of glycol jobs out there. I'm going to send this to my viega rep as well..

S Davis

This is what one of our jobs looked like before the fittings started leaking and getting the green spooge look.



S Davis

subcooler

That what we expected.

O-Rings can, do and will leak. But almost everyone had to get on that Propress wagon. A few people a few years ago said just wait till all that crap starts a leakin. Yes glycol is slippery and does make matters worse.

Weezbo

do you recall my post a couple years ago?....

i resented having a showcase job twisted out of orbit one of the 4" i stuck a 3/8" lag into one side of a pressed $ $ $ 4" fitting....That was enough of that propress education that i could stomach... the press tool picked an end suction pump off the ground! silly me i did nt Bolt it to the ground....

i left the 2" 1 1/2 and some of the 3" and 4" valves in place...may as well bite the bullet and go back over there....

Ray Landry

Ray Landry

Brad I was thinking the same thing, it's almost like there was too much tourque on the fitting... the press tool I used was fairly new back then I don't think service was an issue. This is definetly making me question propress now..

EBEBRATT-Ed

We have had leaks on the 2" due to "foreign Tubing" Great Britian. We have 3 systems we will be putting glycol in.

Ed

Constantin

Hmmm...

Glycol is slippery? Sure, but what does that have to do with the fitting? The system wasn't full with the stuff when it was assembled, so presumably contamination of the joint site can be largely ruled out.

Further, given that the viscosity of glycol is higher than that for water, I imagine that a glycoled system will actually be less prone to leaking than a pure water one. However, at the pressures these systems are run at, the viscosity difference between the two becomes less relevant, no?

One potential issue with Pro-press vs. the traditional way of joining copper could be the O-rings being eaten by the solution in the system. Depends on the ring material, I guess. That said, hydronic systems can fail in many interesting ways and pro-press seems to enjoy a stellar reputation.

My guess is a bad jaw setting and/or pipe diameter issue. These fittings have tighter tolerances than the soldered process.

subcooler

Nice theory

Not than a finished good sweat fitting. Quote (These fittings have tighter tolerances than the soldered process.) This is a instance where you get to pick all three quick, easy, and leaky.

Brad White_133

Viscosity versus Surface Tension

At first blush, Constantin, most folks would agree, the stuff is "thicker". But it also lessens surface tension, not unlike a surfactant. It penetrates and weeps (again as many noted, it makes visible what we otherwise might not see!), showing up first in my experience at valve stems where it weeps out of the packing. Now this...

Mike Miller

Well, just one more reason I haven't spent the money on pro- press. Didn't like the fact that it is one more joining system designed to be used by the stupidest amoung us, and I know how long a well assembled copper solder joint will last, long after I am gone. Just how much money did you really save yourself or your customer. I'll bet by the time you have added it all up, cost of tools and call backs and looking stupid to your customer you would have come out ahead to do a traditional job.

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subcooler

Mike & Ken For President

I will let the two of you decide who is president and who is the vice.

Ray Landry

I won't even sink to his level by trying to come back at that. It's too bad there are people like this in our trade, it gives us a bad name.

S Davis

Ray,


Good luck with your Viega rep I have been trying to get mine to do somthing for months now.


S Davis

Ray Landry

constantin the pro press fittings leaking are a combonation of st veiga fittings and pipe so that rules out the theory of it being a pipe problem.

Jerry_15

Posted on another thread about wiping the o-ring with teflon paste. Works great. Might be your solution for the glycol problem. Can't see why it wouldn't be allowed. Luckily I don't have to mess with glycol. Good luck.

Eric_25

Threaded joints too

We use a lot of glycol in central - northern NH, we have the same weeping problem with threaded joints that never leak with plain water and float vents, valve packings, etc. The question is can the make a glycol or a freeze protection out of some material that won't weep. We have recently started using X-press and are hoping we won't see too much of this. Three systems installed, so far no leaks.

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Big Ed_3

What is Glycol Made with ?

Glycol ? Any lubricant in the stuff ? O-Rings may be swelling ?

Constantin

Interesting point...

I had no idea that glycol acts as a surfactant. Thanks for that info, I appreciate it!