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cost savings

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basnider
basnider Member Posts: 1
in THE MAIN WALL
Is there any information regarding the cost savings of crimp vs soldering copper pipe. I am putting together a budget for tool requisition and would like to include this in my proposal.
Brian

Comments

  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,506
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    I assume you mean Propress.
    Only personal experience. Most will say the savings in time easily makes up for the cost in fittings. Plus the only danger of fire with Propress is if your battery catches on fire in the charger.
    steve
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,524
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    Can't beat propress for wet work, you can't solder a pipe with water pouring out of it.

    Propress fittings are $$$ and take up more room which you don't always have and some reducing fitings are not available you have to make them up with reducers or fitting reducers. Your sometimes constrained with access for the tool. Can't take the fittings apart and reuse them, if you make a mistake or a bad crimp you will have a nice pile of copper scrap

    That being said lots of time savings on the right job.

    personally I like solder
    GroundUpAMservices
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,847
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    The labor savings and lack of Fire Guard(s) makes it more then worth while!
  • SteamingatMohawk
    SteamingatMohawk Member Posts: 1,006
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    I am curious as to what effect water hammer may have on ejecting an elbow or tee, if the crimp is not tight enough.
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,847
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    Same as a solder joint.

    Ive seen water hammer break a 6" Vic fitting!
  • SteamingatMohawk
    SteamingatMohawk Member Posts: 1,006
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    Interesting reply. I would think a sweat joint would not have an equal tendency, but then I've never tried to make one fail.
  • GroundUp
    GroundUp Member Posts: 1,907
    edited January 2020
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    Depends on the work you're doing. Thousands of feet of 2" mains in a commercial building with a gang box and storage, sure, press is the cat's meow. Cutting in a tee in a wet line, heck yeah. Banging together a wall hung boiler in someone's basement working out of your truck, no substitute for sweat IMO. I have 3 press tools in my truck along with a whole Pack Rat full of fittings, but of the 100ish residential jobs I've done since I had the tools, I pressed 1/2 of 2 of them and switched back to sweat. It's fast to install, but the fittings are huge and cannot be removed/reused, and it's UGLY. Domestic plumbing would be a different story because most of it's hidden and there is space, but boilers I refuse to press. It's honestly faster for me to sweat a new residential boiler job in addition to the fittings being 1/3 the price and no tool cost. Over a 10 boiler span, paying myself $200 an hour, I'd guess I saved roughly $10,000 by sweating it all
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,524
    edited January 2020
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    I agree with @GroundUp . I think of propress like i think of vic. It's great to go from 1 end of a building to another but installing boilers and pumps with all the accessories tess for thermometers and gages etc it gets messy and takes a lot of room.

    Sweat I clean all my fittings with a fitting brush chucked in a battery drill before I start. With a lot of short pieces around a boiler I will clean a 3-4' piece of copper all at once then it's cut flux and go. I think a 2" PP elbow is over $30

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