Wes knows his stuff. I love Uponor and as a DIY homegamer wanted to let people know that the Milwaukee expansion tool is expensive but if you use it everyday pays for itself quickly. If you just have a single project then you can buy one off ebay and then sell it for what you paid after use. It will wind up costing postage perhaps.
Just recently discovered Pex-A system and I’m so happy because now I can plumb my own damn house as I renovate. Already bought the tool and some products.
I have been researching differences between crimp PEX and Heat connected fittings. I am now willing thanks to your video to pay and extra 1,000 for the Uponor Pex. In Florida I do not feel all workers would do all steps necessary with the crimp style. Thank you again. It is a real burden for me working six nights a week and cleaning during the day but two weeks without water I am so ready. Ugh.
I needed to make only ONE PEX connection to a 1/2" expanded-PEX UPONOR fitting. I slid the expansion collar over the PEX pipe, then I used a hot air gun (on low heat) to slowly heat up the expansion collar and the last 1" of the PEX pipe until both were soft enough to expand with a large set of needlenose pliers. It took a lot of work, and numerous re-heatings from the hot air gun, but I was finally able to expand them up enough to slip in the fitting into the pipe. The pipe then contracted and clamped down on the fitting, and as the pipe cooled off it clamped down even harder. That was it, I didn't need to rent an installation tool from Home Depot for that job, and a year later the fitting is still water-tight, with no leaks.
they say that if you do not rotate while expanding, you may not get a good seal. Sounds like it holds up well even if used not as instructed. Awesome stuff.
rlknight57 I think it’s 180 plus degrees. Somewhat depends on your pressure. Plumbing code limits homes with tanked WH’s at 140 (tankless is lower). In my experience, fixtures with rubber gaskets and washers (shower valves, dishwashers, etc.) start to fail at 150. Most appliance don’t even allow the temp to be turned higher than that. Standard factory temps are 120-125
Using Pex A now. I got a hand expander and it's a BITCH to close and expand the pipe. I'd recommend an electric expander as shown if you have a large project.......
This stuff is awesome did a whole house myself and saved thousands !!! So easy to work with. even if u have to buy the tool for 399 u can sell it later on Ebay save yourself money
Danimal_C - That’s literally what I’m doing within a few weeks! But I’m getting the bare tool with 3/4” and 1/2” head with some cone grease, I have m12 batteries already.
I'm in the same process right now. Just bought all the PEX-A and dry fitting all pipes in my crawl space. Super easy to use. Hard part is reaching all the pipes within the underbelly of the house. My estimated savings will be $3,500 by doing it on my own. If I sold the expander, I'd save a lot more! but I'll prolly keep it to help others who have issues in the future
I'm a proud Finn too and I didn't know that, thx 4 that great info. Most of the heavy machinery in our mills here in Washington USA all come from Finland. While the kids in Finland have the shortest school week, they also have the highest grade point averages and graduate numbers. The whole world is watching Finland.
Excellent video, couple of questions though. Can this be hooked directly to the water heater or is there a distance that needs to be adhered to, also, can this be used as a buried supply line from the street? I am seeing Uponor in colors-----is this correct?
You need 18 inches of metallic tube / pipe from water heater to any PEX. Here's a Propex adapter part # LF2957575 to accomplish that. Yes, Uponor can be buried as service line from meter to house. As for Uponor colors - RED, WHITE, and BLUE.
Holy cow that stuff is invincible lol. The only weak point here is the price of that expanding tool. but There is a work around. There is a manual one for between 50 and 80 bucks on the internet . This piping is the best in the business so if you have 400 to throw at it it's worth it!
The manual pump tool works, but you have to remember to rotate the head of the manual tool a few degrees with every pump to ensure you don't get ridges inside the pipe that might cause a leak. Also, in tight areas, a manual pump makes expansion more difficult, particularly when you need two hands to use the tool. The electric tool has come down in price and you can hold the pipe in one hand and use the tool (that rotates the head automatically) in the other hand. For a full re-pipe, the electric tool is worth the cost.
I just used this system for the first time. I’m a tool nut (Dewalt line) so I was gonna pay the $400 without thinking twice about it bc a plumber alone would cost me twice as much. It’s OUT OF STOCK EVERY WHERE! So I got a hand one for $80 at Amazon. After 3 FITTINGS under my crawl space I got a terrible pain by my elbow. I’m 46 years old and have bigger arms then your average “normal guy” basically, I’m in decent shape. PURCHASE THE MECHANICAL TOOL. I can’t finish the job till Dewalt bring back on stock or my arm gets better. Not buying Milwaukee, nothing against them but I have a million Dewalt batteries. 🤷🏻♂️
Adam yes is the answer, The color is just for installer and end user convenience. I use the white for everything and they used to make red and blue expansion rings if you needed the identification. They seem to be hard to find now. Pex A is the most flexible of the three and the most freeze tolerant. Pex B actually has a higher burst pressure but both will withstand pressure much higher than you'll ever likely encounter on the job so it's really a non factor. ALL pex needs protection from UV light however it's one major draw back but any common pipe covering will take care of that where natural light will be on it. Uponor stuff is top shelf in my view. ( no I'm not a paid product endorser).
Thanks, I ended up buying the dewalt expansion tool and re-plumbed my entire home with uponor pex A. Amazing stuff! I even got a heat gun and wowed my friends with demonstrations of kink repair. The project was a major upgrade, because my home was built in 1941 and still had all the original galvanized steel. Water pressure is now double and right at 50 psi. I guess the only negative thing about pex is that it is not at all biodegradable. But, I did hear that a company has started to recycle it into soles for footwear?
Yep, not a weekend DIY forgot a fitting or two and going to run down to Lowes and grab a handful kind of system. Plan ahead, lay everything out and gitter done.
All tests done on new pipe but what about pipe that been in use for 20 years and now you want to connect to it. Would it still have all the qualities after 20 years in sunlight, hot water, water chlorine and other water chemicals ? Would it still be that flexible and strong ? Thanks.
Excellent questions, although if your PEX can see sunlight, you'd want to cover it. All PEX will degrade with UV. I put insulation over my PEX in the basement even though it gets very little reflected daylight under most conditions, and I don't know how much UV there is in typical LED or CFL lighting that might reach it. As far as hot water, Uponor supposedly has pipe under a pressure and heat test beyond it's published ratings since 1973 that still hasn't failed.
@@ohger1 to me the most important benefit is flexibility when running it plus the fact that it should have a much better ability to stretch instead of breaking when frozen because I'm not doing installation for a business. Water freezing has enough force to break any solid piping that's not stretchable at 30,000 psi of force but if it can give like this pex A I'm betting that'll prevent bursting. Just a guess but makes sense to me. I'd love to see a test on it. Pex B may have a higher bursting pressure but what good is that? The expansion of ice is far below the max expansion % of pex A. I went ahead and crimped mine with copper rings and it seems to be doing great. I admit for the professional the expansion fittings are the best aspect of the pipe for ease of connection. But for the average homeowner that's doing a one time install not so much. I did cut one crimp ring off and noticed the pex A formed to the fitting shape enough it was difficult to remove even after the copper crimp ring was cut off and I needed pliers to help but was fairly easy with the pliers so I feel I'm confident in the copper ring connection for those that need to run a little of it and have this tool available instead of using the $400 expansion tool. Also another benefit is this pex a can reform with a heat gun when stretched where the others are just weakened if they freeze and stretch. More flexibility also might just be the difference between bending a corner or adding a fitting that reduced the flow and leaves an extra possible leak point from connections. So I feel there's definitely still benefits to pex A even without the quick connections. Down side is the chemical leaching. Supposedly pex A leaches more chemicals than B but I've yet to find concrete scientific comparisons they prove the difference. Only seen claims and that's it so far and we all know that is about worthless because the difference very well may be so negligible there is no difference for all we can tell without the data to back it up. If anyone has better insight into this I'd love to hear and see the results if their available somewhere I haven't been able to find yet.
@@ohger1 that's good. I was a little worried at first but it seems to be extremely well and tight fitting with standard copper crimps which will save a lot fir DIY projects where you have plenty access for crimping.
You can buy a manual expander for under $100. But I'd skip eating out for a month if I had to in order to buy the M12 expander. A lot less screwing around.
So if Pex pipe is 100 year system the why does the field installs that is going in all over the country only last 30 years...? Because you have to connect all the valves and plumbing fixtures to copper pipe which limits the plumbing system to 30 years...
You don’t have to be a plumber to buy from a plumbing supply house. You can buy Uponor PEX A pipe and fittings yourself from most any plumbing supply house. Additionally, they make mechanical expansion tools you can buy online that cost much much less than a Milwaukee or DeWalt expansion battery powered tool.
He never said that. He said you won’t find in big- box stores which is true. HD or lowes or even some of my local plumbing stores don’t even carry Pex-A fittings and tubbing. Had to order everything online.
Most of new electrical wires insulation including ones in cars are made now with soybean oil that,s why rodents are eating it. Hopefully, pex pipe is not.
My house is 4-year-old. 70% of hot water joints, that are made with poly fixtures and this plastic expansion ring, are leaking badly. I have no hot water at this moment. I am happy that it is a Summertime. I would post a picture here, but I do not know how. The cold water system is not leaking. If someone wants a picture of the destruction, I can happily provide it.
@@hunterbowie8132 They are fixing it under warranty now. It is not the water heater. It seems they assembled the hot water system in freezing temperatures and tubes cracked while expanded. It took three years from them to start leaking.
Wes Sisco is impressive and respectful. Why these two guys kept interrupting him with ZERO added value is embarrassing. Uponor should put Wes on his own channel with that stretch machine and test under multiple conditions including 150 degree heat to simulate an Arizona attic condition. Pex-A and the Uponor fittings seem like the real deal.
Simple and very well done the man from Uponor was dynamite and very professional. Thanks all of your. Mark
We just had our whole house re-piped in Uponor PEX. Great stuff.
Wes knows his stuff. I love Uponor and as a DIY homegamer wanted to let people know that the Milwaukee expansion tool is expensive but if you use it everyday pays for itself quickly. If you just have a single project then you can buy one off ebay and then sell it for what you paid after use. It will wind up costing postage perhaps.
Just recently discovered Pex-A system and I’m so happy because now I can plumb my own damn house as I renovate. Already bought the tool and some products.
Upinoor also makes an oxygen barrier pex for baseboard heaters! I've done my upstairs bathroom I plan on replacing everything with pex a.
To was sold before I clicked on the video, but wow, this guy really broke it down for us.
I’m starting my take off to do my house.
1 word for Uponor... LEACHING...
I have been researching differences between crimp PEX and Heat connected fittings. I am now willing thanks to your video to pay and extra 1,000 for the Uponor Pex. In Florida I do not feel all workers would do all steps necessary with the crimp style. Thank you again. It is a real burden for me working six nights a week and cleaning during the day but two weeks without water I am so ready. Ugh.
I needed to make only ONE PEX connection to a 1/2" expanded-PEX UPONOR fitting. I slid the expansion collar over the PEX pipe, then I used a hot air gun (on low heat) to slowly heat up the expansion collar and the last 1" of the PEX pipe until both were soft enough to expand with a large set of needlenose pliers. It took a lot of work, and numerous re-heatings from the hot air gun, but I was finally able to expand them up enough to slip in the fitting into the pipe. The pipe then contracted and clamped down on the fitting, and as the pipe cooled off it clamped down even harder. That was it, I didn't need to rent an installation tool from Home Depot for that job, and a year later the fitting is still water-tight, with no leaks.
hell of a story thanks
Well I'm sold... thanks. But I'm a young plumber so I'll invest in the tool.
Dumb. A hand expander is $100. Hiring a plumber costsm ore than that. You are risking major water damage when you do this.
they say that if you do not rotate while expanding, you may not get a good seal. Sounds like it holds up well even if used not as instructed. Awesome stuff.
Great information!
What is the maximum temperature you should run your hot water heater for PEX? Can a joint fail if temp. is set too high?
rlknight57 I think it’s 180 plus degrees. Somewhat depends on your pressure. Plumbing code limits homes with tanked WH’s at 140 (tankless is lower). In my experience, fixtures with rubber gaskets and washers (shower valves, dishwashers, etc.) start to fail at 150. Most appliance don’t even allow the temp to be turned higher than that. Standard factory temps are 120-125
140 min for sure
Awesome video guys!!!!!
Using Pex A now. I got a hand expander and it's a BITCH to close and expand the pipe. I'd recommend an electric expander as shown if you have a large project.......
This stuff is awesome did a whole house myself and saved thousands !!! So easy to work with. even if u have to buy the tool for 399 u can sell it later on Ebay save yourself money
Danimal_C - That’s literally what I’m doing within a few weeks! But I’m getting the bare tool with 3/4” and 1/2” head with some cone grease, I have m12 batteries already.
@@tommytmt awesome stuff Is amazing
Did you run it directly from the meter to your house? I am looking at using it from the meter to the house.
@@wmlane3321 u can, i started from where it stubbed up from the ground up
I'm in the same process right now. Just bought all the PEX-A and dry fitting all pipes in my crawl space. Super easy to use. Hard part is reaching all the pipes within the underbelly of the house. My estimated savings will be $3,500 by doing it on my own. If I sold the expander, I'd save a lot more! but I'll prolly keep it to help others who have issues in the future
I’m proud to be a Finn as Uponor is from FINLAND and already 100 yrs old.
Yep, small 5 million population country made world leading pipe brand.
I'm a proud Finn too and I didn't know that, thx 4 that great info.
Most of the heavy machinery in our mills here in Washington USA all come from Finland.
While the kids in Finland have the shortest school week, they also have the highest grade point averages and graduate numbers.
The whole world is watching Finland.
Excellent video, couple of questions though. Can this be hooked directly to the water heater or is there a distance that needs to be adhered to, also, can this be used as a buried supply line from the street? I am seeing Uponor in colors-----is this correct?
You need 18 inches of metallic tube / pipe from water heater to any PEX. Here's a Propex adapter part # LF2957575
to accomplish that.
Yes, Uponor can be buried as service line from meter to house.
As for Uponor colors - RED, WHITE, and BLUE.
I love the product but damn there are some really great communicators here. No gimmicks just lots of great info well delivered
Great presentation, I'm that more sold to Uponor's PEX-A.
I use uponor and I find after 7-10 hrs the joints start to leak why is that???
I am a lic.plumber
Just repiped a house with uponor and Milwaukee expansion tool its amazing.
That stuff is awesome! What a demo
Absolutely the best Do-It-Yourself material out there for plumbing hot or cold water pipes! My new home WILL be built using the PEX-A products.
Holy cow that stuff is invincible lol. The only weak point here is the price of that expanding tool. but There is a work around. There is a manual one for between 50 and 80 bucks on the internet . This piping is the best in the business so if you have 400 to throw at it it's worth it!
The manual pump tool works, but you have to remember to rotate the head of the manual tool a few degrees with every pump to ensure you don't get ridges inside the pipe that might cause a leak. Also, in tight areas, a manual pump makes expansion more difficult, particularly when you need two hands to use the tool. The electric tool has come down in price and you can hold the pipe in one hand and use the tool (that rotates the head automatically) in the other hand. For a full re-pipe, the electric tool is worth the cost.
At CPO outlet, they have the milwaukee tool for $197. That's a decent deal.
I just used this system for the first time. I’m a tool nut (Dewalt line) so I was gonna pay the $400 without thinking twice about it bc a plumber alone would cost me twice as much. It’s OUT OF STOCK EVERY WHERE! So I got a hand one for $80 at Amazon. After 3 FITTINGS under my crawl space I got a terrible pain by my elbow. I’m 46 years old and have bigger arms then your average “normal guy” basically, I’m in decent shape. PURCHASE THE MECHANICAL TOOL. I can’t finish the job till Dewalt bring back on stock or my arm gets better. Not buying Milwaukee, nothing against them but I have a million Dewalt batteries. 🤷🏻♂️
great product great job Gents.
Excellent video!
Will the Uponor Aquapex blue and red do the same thing.. i.e stretch and return to its original form via heat gun?
Adam yes is the answer, The color is just for installer and end user convenience. I use the white for everything and they used to make red and blue expansion rings if you needed the identification. They seem to be hard to find now. Pex A is the most flexible of the three and the most freeze tolerant. Pex B actually has a higher burst pressure but both will withstand pressure much higher than you'll ever likely encounter on the job so it's really a non factor. ALL pex needs protection from UV light however it's one major draw back but any common pipe covering will take care of that where natural light will be on it. Uponor stuff is top shelf in my view. ( no I'm not a paid product endorser).
Thanks, I ended up buying the dewalt expansion tool and re-plumbed my entire home with uponor pex A. Amazing stuff! I even got a heat gun and wowed my friends with demonstrations of kink repair. The project was a major upgrade, because my home was built in 1941 and still had all the original galvanized steel. Water pressure is now double and right at 50 psi. I guess the only negative thing about pex is that it is not at all biodegradable. But, I did hear that a company has started to recycle it into soles for footwear?
@@adambruce5147 By the time that PEX is ripped out of your house, you'll put the removed sections into a Mr. Fusion...
17 competitors disliked this video...
Problem is that you can’t find the products every where. If you find one thing the other part is missing so it’s difficult for DIY
Yep, not a weekend DIY forgot a fitting or two and going to run down to Lowes and grab a handful kind of system. Plan ahead, lay everything out and gitter done.
@Astro Mars Just know where to go before you need it. Supplyhouse dot com is awesome btw.
All tests done on new pipe but what about pipe that been in use for 20 years and now you want to connect to it. Would it still have all the qualities after 20 years in sunlight, hot water, water chlorine and other water chemicals ? Would it still be that flexible and strong ? Thanks.
Excellent questions, although if your PEX can see sunlight, you'd want to cover it. All PEX will degrade with UV. I put insulation over my PEX in the basement even though it gets very little reflected daylight under most conditions, and I don't know how much UV there is in typical LED or CFL lighting that might reach it. As far as hot water, Uponor supposedly has pipe under a pressure and heat test beyond it's published ratings since 1973 that still hasn't failed.
What is the maximum pressure rating?
Does pex A have to use that expansion tool or can you use the standard pex copper shrinking style crimp rings?
You can crimp PEX A, but you defeat it's most important benefit.
@@ohger1 to me the most important benefit is flexibility when running it plus the fact that it should have a much better ability to stretch instead of breaking when frozen because I'm not doing installation for a business. Water freezing has enough force to break any solid piping that's not stretchable at 30,000 psi of force but if it can give like this pex A I'm betting that'll prevent bursting. Just a guess but makes sense to me. I'd love to see a test on it. Pex B may have a higher bursting pressure but what good is that? The expansion of ice is far below the max expansion % of pex A. I went ahead and crimped mine with copper rings and it seems to be doing great. I admit for the professional the expansion fittings are the best aspect of the pipe for ease of connection. But for the average homeowner that's doing a one time install not so much. I did cut one crimp ring off and noticed the pex A formed to the fitting shape enough it was difficult to remove even after the copper crimp ring was cut off and I needed pliers to help but was fairly easy with the pliers so I feel I'm confident in the copper ring connection for those that need to run a little of it and have this tool available instead of using the $400 expansion tool. Also another benefit is this pex a can reform with a heat gun when stretched where the others are just weakened if they freeze and stretch. More flexibility also might just be the difference between bending a corner or adding a fitting that reduced the flow and leaves an extra possible leak point from connections. So I feel there's definitely still benefits to pex A even without the quick connections. Down side is the chemical leaching. Supposedly pex A leaches more chemicals than B but I've yet to find concrete scientific comparisons they prove the difference. Only seen claims and that's it so far and we all know that is about worthless because the difference very well may be so negligible there is no difference for all we can tell without the data to back it up. If anyone has better insight into this I'd love to hear and see the results if their available somewhere I haven't been able to find yet.
@@naturestrail2296 In any case, you don't need to worry about crimping PEX A.
@@ohger1 that's good. I was a little worried at first but it seems to be extremely well and tight fitting with standard copper crimps which will save a lot fir DIY projects where you have plenty access for crimping.
Great spokesman. I just wish the tools were not so expensive.
Now is 199.00 , come with 2 6.0 amp batteries and a nice case
douglas paz-reyes link??
Dewalt has an expansion tool now. You can buy it without batteries. Works great.
You can buy a manual expander for under $100. But I'd skip eating out for a month if I had to in order to buy the M12 expander. A lot less screwing around.
Has anyone used the DeWalt tool for expanding the uponor
So if Pex pipe is 100 year system the why does the field installs that is going in all over the country only last 30 years...?
Because you have to connect all the valves and plumbing fixtures to copper pipe which limits the plumbing system to 30 years...
I have used this product quite a bit. It's not perfect but it's damn close.
You don’t have to be a plumber to buy from a plumbing supply house. You can buy Uponor PEX A pipe and fittings yourself from most any plumbing supply house. Additionally, they make mechanical expansion tools you can buy online that cost much much less than a Milwaukee or DeWalt expansion battery powered tool.
He never said that. He said you won’t find in big- box stores which is true. HD or lowes or even some of my local plumbing stores don’t even carry Pex-A fittings and tubbing. Had to order everything online.
Love pex but you don’t need to calibrate the crisper every time.
What about rodents trying to chew through the line regarding strength?
That a good question, I have been using Uponor for a long time and did not see a case that rodents would chew on it.
How would they know to chew through it? I know rats have been known to chew/eat electrical wiring.
Most of new electrical wires insulation including ones in cars are made now with soybean oil that,s why rodents are eating it. Hopefully, pex pipe is not.
I've seen this before with those gray plastic lines. Rats flooded a flip project. I they don't get thirsty and chew on the lines.
Love the stuff. It is amazing! However RATS LOVE IT TOO! It is a fact. 32 year plumber here I have seen it many times with pex and poly b.
impressive video
Is it recyclable?
Really? How often do you change out your plumbing???
It's biodegradable. So be careful with ultraviolet rays.
Can you rent the expansion tools? Awesome demonstration.
Nobody rents them because they want you to buy them, and he said $399.99 but I've never seen them thay cheap, theyre usually 499-599
I think they are ~$400 new on Flea-bay. You can always use and re-sell. Kind of like renting the tool.
Bought my Milwaukee M12 for 350, came with 3 dyes and two batteries. Check any fleet tool sales stores. I got mine from acme tools.
All I keep thinking is... 🤔
This guy’s “solo cup” budget must be insane😂
“You either have copper or pex” if you’re lucky. Or else you have galvanized or pvc.
My house is 4-year-old. 70% of hot water joints, that are made with poly fixtures and this plastic expansion ring, are leaking badly. I have no hot water at this moment. I am happy that it is a Summertime. I would post a picture here, but I do not know how. The cold water system is not leaking. If someone wants a picture of the destruction, I can happily provide it.
How hot is your water heater set?! Pex and these fittings are rated to 160°!
@@hunterbowie8132 They are fixing it under warranty now. It is not the water heater. It seems they assembled the hot water system in freezing temperatures and tubes cracked while expanded. It took three years from them to start leaking.
You know when you are stretching the female part to be able to fit in the male part, it is a good fit.
Yup! Just paid &9000 to have my house repiped with Uponor 🤘
4:53 "Yours is a lot larger, I can see that", uhhmm not good wording
seephor 😂😂😂😂😂🤷🏻♂️
Freudian slip
He nodded. Feel like it was forgone conclusion.. ;)
Wes Sisco is impressive and respectful. Why these two guys kept interrupting him with ZERO added value is embarrassing. Uponor should put Wes on his own channel with that stretch machine and test under multiple conditions including 150 degree heat to simulate an Arizona attic condition. Pex-A and the Uponor fittings seem like the real deal.
Alien tech
Josh, get a haircut buddy!
Stop interrupting him and let him talk!!
Stop talking over Mr. Uponor... Clowns
Arent these uponor all failing and cracking?
Lol, your is much larger he said