SharkBite
Wikipedia has a brief page about push fittings used for plumbing. They mention the history of these fittings and a few tidbits of information concerning the materials they are made of. Then the page pretty much trails off from there, with barely a mention of SharkBite brand brass push fittings. That Wiki page does not have a section about how fucking awesome SharkBites are, so this page will.
SharkBite Fittings are FUCKING AWESOME
As much as this page is going to sound like the author is shilling for the SharkBite company, it is not. No one on this website has made a dime from the SharkBite company. What has happened is that the author has saved countless hours in labor because SharkBites are so damn easy to use. This is why this section proclaims that SharkBite Fittings are FUCKING AWESOME.
How to Use
Part of the reason why SharkBites are Fucking Awesome is that any moron can use them, and if they are incapable of using them at first, they can be taught in a matter of seconds.
- Find where you need to install a SharkBite. This could be a split in a water line, a new installation, or just because you feel like sticking a SharkBite on something.
- Use some sort of pipe cutter to make a spot to install the SharkBite. Since this is the 21st century, you will probably be using pex rather than PVC or copper, so use a pex cutter and don't cheap out on it.
- Make sure the cut portion of the pipe is a straight cut that is free of debris. Don't shove a SharkBite on a dirty pipe, you fuck up the SharkBite and will have to buy a new one.
- This is the sexy part. Make sure to deburr the portion of pipe to prevent damage to the fitting as it slips on. Oh baby.
- Both steps 3 and 4 can be considered optional if you are working on a water line when the temperature is below freezing and you are in the middle of an emergency repair. Just be careful, dumbass.
- Once the line is cut, slip the "female" end of the SharkBite over the line. Push hard until you feel the pipe go past 2 bumps that are inside the fitting. If you only feel one bump, you have installed the SharkBite wrong and it will probably leak a few days later which means you are going to have to drag your ass out in the cold again to fix it.
- That's it. You are done. Go warm up by the fire with a Miller High Life.
Removing a SharkBite
Despite what Wikipedia says, if you screw up, you can remove and reuse a SharkBite fitting. The company makes a tool for this, but they almost never work. It is better to use a pair of CHANNELLOCK® pliers to hold the pipe, and another pair of CHANNELLOCK® pliers to mash the SharkBite's inner ring (the beige one). Once the ring is mashed down far enough, the SharkBite will release and if you didn't screw up too badly, you can reuse the fitting.
If, for some reason you don't have a couple of pairs of channellocks, you can use regular pliers, crimping tools, wire cutters (be careful), pipe wrenches, vice-grips, and even a shoelace (see video below, it really does work).
External Links
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