SharkBite Fittings - Awesome or A Failure Waiting To Happen?

SharkBite Plumbing Connectors - Matt's Opinion on them... are they awesome, or a FAILURE waiting to happen?

Here's the link to the blog post I mentioned. This is worth a read:

[graemed-g]

I know these are for indoor use, but I do have a personal experience. I have have 2 of these outside to hook up my water to my sprinkler system, these things have been out in the weather in Canada and I am so impressed with how, even exposed to the worst elements and temp swings these things are holding up, and they have been outside like this for 10 years now connecting copper pipe!

[george]

Thank you for not adding music and splash screens, and thereby trying to be a movie star. The clear, no-nonsense explanation that you gave us is exactly what we needed.

[Xiomaro]

These have been used in other parts of the world for way longer than 15 years. Their success, like anything building related, relies on the prep. I always clean the pipe and use some plumbing grease before I put one in. Been using them since they came to market here and did a hot water line repair in a kitchen wall the day the we're available. Fast forward around 15 years later. Same area had a leak in the wall again. Had to go in and open everything up, I stated to think it was that SharkBite fitting and panicked a little. Upon inspection, come to find it was another section of pipe on the cold side that was deteriorated. The SharkBite still looked good and didn't show signs of any leaks or compromise. We went ahead and disassembled our old repair and made a much more extensive repair job out of the whole situation. When I got to inspect the fitting itself the o-ring was slightly flattened but showed absolutely no signs of deterioration. The grease really does protect the o-ring. This is why I say prep your stuff right and you won't have the problem to begin with!

[TheBTEAMwins]

We used one in the basement at our water reservoir building for a city for a chlorine analyzer and it still works like a charm to this day! That was like 2007

[dockwik]

I have never had a Sharkbite fail !
I worked for Home Depot and had my doubts, but I used a lot of them and they are great!

[electricpastime]

I was a plumber for over 12 years, and for the last 10 years I've worked in the largest independent plumbing supply house on the east coast. I have installed hundreds, and sold thousands of these fittings. The only way these things fail are hydraulic pressure from freezing or poor instalation. As long as the pipe is clean cut at a 90 degree angle, smooth and completely round where the o-ring will make contact with the pipe, fully inserted, and deburred you will not have any issues with this product. This isn't new technology, just perfected, Delta had these things back in the 80s they were much bigger and made of plastic except for the teeth, they just weren't removable. In 10 years of selling them only 2 or three have been returned to my store, but not for credit, they were returned by plumbers during a freeze, showing how hard these things were trying to hold onto the pipe before tearing the brass apart very similar to the one that failed in this video. There's not much out there that can compete with the hydraulic pressure of freezing not even cast iron. The brand I sell is tec-tite which has a warranty of 50 years, that is better than most pipe manufacturers so I'll let you decide from my experience. Good luck guys!

[ptester]

I've heard stories of these failing, never seen one fail myself, though. I follow Matt's advice and don't put them where I can't see them. Another advantage of them is that the pipe doesn't need to be empty. If you can't clear the water from a pipe, soldering the joint will be very difficult. These will work no matter what.

[stephenwalker]

These particular fittings may only have been on the market for 20 years (15 mentioned in the video, dated 5 years ago), but I used equivalents, in the UK and in France, 32 years ago. Only one has failed in that time and that was due to freezing pushing the pipes apart - the stop-cock was off, so there was no flooding when it thawed.

[aquatrax]

10 years ago I used a shark bite valve for my water main. I would have Soldered a valve in however that valve at the street would not turn off entirely so solder was a no go. The shark bite saved the day and is still going strong.

[TAO]

I am sold on the Shark bites! We put a new well pump and due to the water pressure increase, some old connectors developed small leaks. I replaced those old connectors with Shark Bites. So easy to install and perfect, no leaks. Some of those old copper pipes looked rather bad and I was worried they might leak, but everything is holding up great!
Good product!!

[marklindquist]

One other great use for the noon plumber in some situations you don't know if you have completely shut off the water. An open shark bite ball valve can be jamed on and then closed and you now have control over the water again. In appartments generally the water shut off is a long way away and the shut off for the shower valves are old and only partially work.

[WakeUpAmericans]

Thank you Matt. I used Sharkbite fittings on PEX, copper, and PVC tubing as part of a Tankless Water Heater install done in 2005. They've been rock solid since, even on the heater hot-water outlet side where there is a 90 degree Sharkbite elbow between copper pipe on the heater side, and PEX for the run into a 27 gallon buffer tank / heat exchanger for an underfloor heating system that is heated by the Tankless heater (in addition to providing domestic water). The tankless water outlet setting to the buffer / heat exchanger is 160 deg and the sharkbite fitting right under the heater has been fine. That said, all of my Sharkbites are visible for inspection. Thought my experience has been excellent with Sharkbite fittings, I think your recommendation to use more permanent connections inside of walls is a sound one. Not only are soldered (Copper) or crimped (PEX) fittings way less expensive than Sharkbite, but local codes might not support the Sharkbite inside walls.

[freema]

I discovered the PVC/Copper coupling when replacing my well pressure tank. After spending 2 hours trying to get the 1" copper pipe hot enough to properly solder and still getting leaks, I went the PVC route, with the Sharkbite as the transition to the existing copper. Literally done in 30 minutes. Sure, it was $18, but well worth it in eliminated frustration.

[donaldrenish]

I don't see any reason why there would be any thumbs down. I found this video to be helpful and honest review.thank you.

[NorthernChev]

I’ve only used one inside a wall once in all my years, as we had little choice due to the circumstances with this particular house. This fact STILL keeps me up at night now almost eight years later.

[vzgsxr]

I used to work for a bathroom renovation company, we used the shark bite caps over and over again as a temporary cap off during demolition. We had the same 10 or so caps and used them for around 12 months before replacing them with new ones. Not one ever failed.

[mikelitty]

Used them about 15 years ago and have had no problems!!

[PaulyDownUnder]

To help prevent them from leaking, it's important the section of the pipe going into the fitting is clean and smooth, not marked. Equally important too, the pipe must be cut square, so a proper pipe cutter of sorts should be used. When used on copper pipes, clean up any sharp edges after cutting. I've used them several times and only had leaks on pipes that weren't cut square. Also not mentioned by Matt in the video clip, once the fitting is pressed onto the pipe, they can be twisted around to the right orientation without leaking. I've even done this while the connection was under pressure and it didn't leak.

[sptrader]

Make sure the pipe is cut at 90 degrees and "they MUST push on 1 full inch" (mark the pipe at the 1 inch spot to be sure) and they are great. But I would only use them where you have easy access. Great for DIY water heater replacement, that's what I used them for. Great video as always.

[glennlienhop]

Installed thousands
No problems at all
Seating the fittings fully is key 🔑