When to NOT use sharkbite? A question

To be fair I'm sure you've brazed stuff in areas people couldn't even get their hands in to fit a shark bite.

Are you a turbo torch guy or oxyacetylene?

They're red cedar.

They're 24" oc over a 16' span.

They're grossly under modern code and there's no excuse that'll help them. :)

@ChrisJ

No. I believe codes and rules should be followed permits as well.

My problem is the manufacturer seem to have taken over some of the code making panels by there influence and the code making panels are bending to what the mfg wants.

Some of the equipment they are approving is junk IMHO

I never liked CSST since it first came out. The mechanical construction is very flimesy at best. It is about the same construction a electrical seal tight.

The few times I used it were for temporary work to fire up some temp heating units. The inside of it is like tin foil. I just think gas is too hazerdous to use something that can be so easily damaged. MA approved its use then took it out of use after the bonding/lighting strike incidents. After discussing it with the MFGs they let it back in. I wish they didn't do that.

As far as the whole AFCI/combination breaker thing it is the same issue. Maybe in time the MFGs will get it worked out. I follow a lot of the electrical forums. Most electricians absolutely hate the thing and are sick and tired of call backs they can't charge for and do not want the things in there own house. Building a new house requires almost every circuit to have arc fault. The MFGs pushed this on the code panels saying how many lives would be saved due to arcing faults. This was never proven. The failure rates are very high and at $60 + dollars for a single pole breaker they are expensive. They want them on electric stoves outside condensing units etc.

This didn't happen years ago. Things were thought through and products really tested before they were forced on the market. Now they bring things to market that are not ready. Are the code makers paid off from kick backs??

Agree on the AFCI breakers. I'm all for building codes, many of which evolved from the hard lessons learned when people got killed. But the modern world seemed pretty safe with pre-AFCI breakers. Then we had to upgrade to AFCI's when we had a new panel installed. I've had to replace a number of them in the house with standard breakers because they trip so easily on window air conditioners and vacuum cleaner motors.

But I am glad SharkBites are allowed. I replaced my hose bibs last year with frost-proof faucets. Normally I do sweat my own pipes, but in this case one of the old 1/2" copper supply lines was pitched up as it approached the hose bib, and also ran tight alongside a 100-year-old timber beam. But the new frost-proof faucet had to be pitched slightly down to drain, making an angle mismatch and also a vertical offset with the 1/2" supply. A SharkBite and a short piece of PEX bent to span the angle mismatch and the offset made short work of what otherwise would have been a pain.

You can't flare it or use a compression fitting because you cannot get ANY tools though a 1.5" opening.

You can't preassemble it because you cannot make the 90 degree turn under the floor.

Pex would have worked but I did not have any pex adaptors or tools for it.

Old growth lunber is compleatly different then todays lumber.

The floor has a ton of bounce in it. I'm sure if I tried I could snap a joist.

One of the complaints people complain a lot about lately is putting electric stoves on AFCI/GFCI as is now required. You wire it up and the HO moves in and while Christmas dinner is in the oven the stove trips. What many have found is to take the AFCI out and put in a regular breaker. Let the stove run for a few weeks to burn off the elements and then go back to the AFCI.

But its just more crap you shouldn't have to go through. Not the HO fault, not the electricians fault but there the ones that pay. Not the code panel or the mfg. who could care less.

@EBEBRATT-Ed When I was renovating and adding to my home I approached my electrician about those combo breakers. Before I could finish talking he interrupted and said I will put them in and then take them out after inspection. A bold statement but I was very happy that he did this simply because I new that the things are s**t. I have never heard so many electricians talk about how awful these things are. The complaints were almost as bad as the "Federal" breakers complaints I had heard in the past.

As to CSST. I did install it in my home. I have installed it in other places. Installed it above and beyond the code requirements and, followed the manufacturers directions. I had less concerns about it because I have installed a lot of it and have seen miles of the stuff in working order before I tried it out. It's not as thin walled as you might describe. However, I did cringe when I saw a brand being offered directly to consumers in the big box hardware stores. Offering it there…not a good idea.

As to shark bites. They have there place. I would not use them as a go to fitting, but they have been succeeding in the market for many years now.

As usual Ed I agree with much of what you say.

And @JayPoorJay When not to use them? It's your call.

Are you talking about "Arc-Fault" Breakers? Mad Dog

My licensed electrician hates them. Constant nuisance trips...Passes inspections replaces them all...mad Dog

That's my complaint about the breaker . The mfgs have been shoving this stuff down our throat for years and it doesn't work.

I heard someone made a code proposal to have them taken out of the code…not likely that would ever pass.

The MFGs make big money on this stuff. Not properly tested. Its a joke.

Yeah...

And the price of filling a new 40 pos panel with them isn't exactly practical either.

It doesn't help that they're garbage.

Before my electrician replaced the Arc Fault breakers we would get nuisance tripping several times a week. Ain't had one since..mad Dog

I bet some brands of cadfci are much better than others. 20+ years is a long time to have not figured it out if you were trying.