[hswerdfe]

Hey I'm using 1/2" pex clamp connections and I keep getting oval connections.

If I slide the go-nogo tool on one way its a go, but if I rotate the tool relative to the PEX a 1/4 turn the tool doesn't go on at all.

So I tightened the tool, now my tool tells me that its to tight on one axis and just perfect on the other.

Along what axis am I supposed to check the go-nogo tool against?
The shortest end alway seems to be where the teeth are, and the longest end is the other way

Thanks

 

[hswerdfe]

Adding Pictures

Uploading an example picture....

This one is over crimped on one axis and just right on the other.
While if I loosen my tool, it crimps correctly on the teeth axis but under crimps on the other axis.

 

[jeffnc]

The only possible explanation if you "keep getting" oval connections is that your tool is bad and needs to be returned. If it was just one connection, it could be a bad fitting.

The guide should not fit fully over the crimp ring from any direction. The left photo is good, the right photo is bad. The fitting and/or the pex pipe itself could be damaged on that angle.

 

[jeffnc]

If I slide the go-nogo tool on one way its a go, but if I rotate the tool relative to the PEX a 1/4 turn the tool doesn't go on at all.

To be perfectly clear, it seems that you have this backward. When you say "it doesn't go on at all", it looks from the photo that it is going halfway on. In other words, it gets about halfway up the gap and gets stuck. This is correct.

The photo where it shows the tool going all the way in is incorrect - it's over crimped.

 

[hswerdfe]

Thanks Jeffnc.

So, to fix this problem what I do is loosen the tool but then I get the opposite problem. correctly crimped on one axis, but under crimped on the other.

I will try fiddling with my tool a little more. it is good to know that they are not supposed to be oblong or oval.

 

[jeffnc]

So, to fix this problem what I do is loosen the tool but then I get the opposite problem. correctly crimped on one axis, but under crimped on the other.

I will try fiddling with my tool a little more.

Nope, it's bad, can't be fixed. Return it.

 

[jagans]

See what I mean Jeff? All you need is a raft of out of round crimp rings, or a bad tool................... With CPVC It is pipe and glue. With copper, it is solder. Im really not sold, but time will tell. One bad untrained apprentice can cause a lot of trouble with this stuff.

 

[jeffnc]

See what I mean Jeff? All you need is a raft of out of round crimp rings, or a bad tool................... With CPVC It is pipe and glue. With copper, it is solder. Im really not sold, but time will tell. One bad untrained apprentice can cause a lot of trouble with this stuff.

Copper can be soldered badly so it leaks later, and it can burn down your house. CPVC could be unprimed, or they could use PVC glue by mistakes.

Lots of mistakes all around.

That's one of the benefits, not drawbacks, of PEX in my opinion. You can immediately test the integrity of the joint with quick use of a tool. Try that with copper, PVC or CPVC.

You can immediately look at someone else's work and test it, and see if the crimp is spaced correctly. There are even Pro Crimp rings now that space themselves, taking that out of the equation.

If you had to go with an untrained apprentice, knowing what you know of the different types, which would you rather use? Knowing that you could take a look at his work, and if anything went wrong you'd have to come back and fix it later?

Remember, PEX can be worked on wet, even with water flowing if need be, nothing else can. Have you ever worked on a house and sprung a leak somewhere and not known where the shutoff is and not been able to get ahold of the homeowner? I'd get a bit wet, but I could fix that pipe if it were PEX. OK extreme example, but the main advantage is being able to work on it with the inside of the pipes wet. Can't solder or glue in those conditions.

 

[jagans]

Hi Jeff,

Considering the fact that acid water eats copper and brass, is probably best to stick with CPVC with well water no? I guess there are plastic fittings for Pex, though I dont know how they handle the compression.

 

[jagans]

All really good points re your liking for Pex. Ive never had a bad solder joint, nor a glue joint but I sure have seen a few. Good Points, especially the wet work.

 

[jeffnc]

Considering the fact that acid water eats copper and brass, is probably best to stick with CPVC with well water no? I guess there are plastic fittings for Pex, though I dont know how they handle the compression.

Acidic water and CPVC - that I don't know. With regard to the "plastic" PEX fittings, I haven't personally used them, but I recently read that someone tried to break one apart with a hammer and couldn't do it.

 

[hswerdfe]

Hey guys my bathroom is now leak free (for now). For the record I tinkered with the tool rotating the little adjustment nob by about 1/16 of a turn each time and test crimped a few.
I manged to get it so the ring was a "Go" on one axis and very close to a "Go" on the other. But I still have not managed to get a fully round connection with my tool.

 

[ben's plumbing]

Hey guys my bathroom is now leak free (for now). For the record I tinkered with the tool rotating the little adjustment nob by about 1/16 of a turn each time and test crimped a few.
I manged to get it so the ring was a "Go" on one axis and very close to a "Go" on the other. But I still have not managed to get a fully round connection with my tool.

if you use wirsbo pex ...to adjustments needed...expander tool with plastic rings:thumbsup::thumbsup:ben sr