PEX Line plumbing

[jbadd99]

I'm in the unique position of being able to install some of this stuff UNDER the foundation from my garage to the area where my living room will be in a house that we're in the process of building.

I talked with the builder who recommended I use PEX line instead of PVC. I'd never heard of this stuff before and looked it up. Apparently lots of pros with only a few cons. I was wondering if anyone else has plumbed with this stuff before? Basically I'm going to use it as my overflow and return lines. It was suggested I utilize a third line and make it a siphon return for silent operation, which I'd like to try but I haven't done much research on.

I've got five days to do whatever I want to do before the concrete is poured so input is welcomed and encouraged - the sooner the better!

Thanks in advance!

 

[KrisDeitz]

Great stuff. It is ran in all of our Rv's

Great stuff man! I think the biggest con we have is it never breaks for us to repair lol

 

[hnguyen]

My entire house is plumped with PEX piping minus drain of course. It's really easy to work with as far as cut and fit. It also flexes to a point so most of the time a corner 90 degree fitting is not needed. When I had my house built, I had them drop a hot and cold water line in my basement with drain stub and then capped. I installed a sink in after I moved in and it took me 30 minutes from the time I cut the water line to when I had water running in my sink. I used shark bite connectors so it's a push and fit just like a john quest connection, their rated for in-wall use as well. The only down side I see with PEX pipe as oppose to copper pipes like the older homes is pressure ratings. PEX pipe has no wear near the PSI ratings as copper but then again my water pressure at home is only 40 PSI.

 

[sewer urchin]

It's made out of High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) same stuff our plastic salt buckets (and my plastic homebrew buckets)are made of. It's food safe, obliviously.

I believe that there are several greenhouse manufactures that run in the slab for radiant heating/cooling. Plumbing is relatively straight forward, heating and cooling is another beast entirely, research that a bit and find the right person to install. If you do it yourself you'll need to by/borrow/rent the crimping tool.

 

[rdnelson]

What ever you decide and 1 spare. .

 

[grouper therapy]

It has been used in Europe for many years. I installed in my place in Florida and never had issues. I have the swagging/crimping tools should you decide to use it. You are welcome to borrow them. My mom lives in you area. Just let me know.

 

[jbadd99]

Basically I'm looking to see anyone's experience with line pressure. I've looked it up and I've seen the pros and cons, just haven't seen it used in many aquarium builds.

I just figured it would be an easy way to run water from one area of the house to another while the house is still in the build process.

The builder is hesitant to do it because he's worried about how "thousands of gallons of water could cause damage under the foundation". I laughed and laughed and laughed and he didn't seem to understand that after a few gallons my return system shut down... Basically told me he'd install the lines where I asked for a "future use"

 

[rdnelson]

I used it to plumb a chiller for a member with a very large system a few years ago. As far as I know he has had no problems. It runs through a soffit to an exterior wall and then outside to the chiller. In this case, I used the "Shark Bite" fittings which helped a lot in tight spots. I ran 1".

 

[jbadd99]

Well the builder ended up running two 3/4" PEX lines from the hot water heater area in the garage to the area of the living room where the tank will be set up. I had asked for 3 lines, but I guess he forget how many and only did 2. It's better than nothing I suppose. The long and short of it is I want to keep all the equipment/sump/etc. in the garage and just have the tank in the living room and a nice area to store things in the stand under the tank. The best I can tell, the general flow rate for a non-pressurized 3/4" line is around 660 gph. That should work just fine with my Eheim 1262 give that I've already got it dialed back more than half.

Since I'm able to see the framing as they build the house I already have several ideas for how this will be accomplished. I'll start a new thread on the build in a bit to show my progress. I'm fairly excited about this one.

 

[skriz]

Do those fittings have copper in them?

 

[cjsparky]

Skriz;1018266 wrote: Do those fittings have copper in them?

IIRC from when I sold new homes is the fittings are Brass...so yes. There are however, non brass compression fittings. If the loop was devoid of Brass, I think you would be just fine, but from what I read...you need to keep brass away from salt water, as copper leaching will be just one of your concerns. I think I read Brass is super reactive in a salt water environment.

 

[jbadd99]

Correct. Some fittings do have brass in them, but they do make all plastic compression fittings, which is what I'll be going with. There is also a PEX to PVC fitting that utilizes a compression fitting on the outside of the tube so there would be no metal in contact with the water.