Repair Fittings for Copper, CPVC, PEX and Polybutylene

Please note: not for potable (drinking) water.
For potable water, you can use a female adapter (shown below) and a stainless steel nipple.


* lead free models, safe for potable / drinking water

Polybutylene: Bad rap or bad actor?
BY JULIUS BALLANCO, P.E. - Plumbing Engineer

A DOUBLE STANDARD exists for the acceptance of plastic pipe.

Once upon a time the homeowner called his plumber to take care of leaking pipes. Today he's more apt to call his lawyer first. Then the plumber. Or maybe the lawyer calls the plumber.

Is Polybutylene as bad a piping material as the lawsuits claim? As bad as the TV newspeople report? As bad as the metal pipe manufacturers allege? Of course not.

Polybutylene is perhaps the most tested water piping material there is. Because of difficulties in gaining acceptance, the Polybutylene industry had to do all of that testing.

True, there have been failures in PB piping systems. But there have been failures in metal piping systems. Nobody's invented the perfect water piping material.

Having worked as a plumber, I've fixed leaks in all kinds of pipe and tubing: copper, brass, galvanized steel, galvanized iron, lead, ductile iron, CPVC plastic.... I'd hate to go to court for every leak I've fixed. I'd spend all my time in court.

The only material I've never repaired is Polybutylene.

PB, like every other pipe material, must be properly installed and used within its limitations. As with the others, there will be failures. But they're not catastrophic. Much of the negative publicity about PB has been generated by lawyers and non-PB competitors.

If the television show "L.A. Law" is any indicator, lawyers certainly can twist the facts in a case. Every plumbing contractor knows why a competitor publicizes failures of the other guy's products.

Plumbing contractors are street-smart enough to realize that everyone -- manufacturers, competitors, lawyers -- speaks half-truths about piping materials. They emphasize and play up the side of the story that works to their advantage.

PB Pipe is just one of several plastic pipe materials that's been subjected to a double standard. Metal piping, traditionally, has had an easier time gaining code acceptance. [Aluminum dwv is an exception.-Ed.] Some local codes still don't accept PVC, CPVC, PB, PE or PP.

Politicians often defend their jurisdictions' codes, saying, "We don't want our citizens' homes to have that cheap junk; we want our housing to keep its high value." Whatever happened to freedom of choice? Why is plastic pipe always referred to as cheap junk?

One plumber told me plastic pipe is considered cheap junk because we remember the cheap plastic "Made in Japan" toys we had as kids.

The analogy seemed appropriate until I thought about what "Made in Japan" means today.

Plumbers and the public in general should equate "plastic pipe" with high quality and good performance.

We don't question use of plastic in other products. One of the most sought after cars, the Corvette, has a plastic body. We prefer plastic skis to those of wood or metal. The same goes for boats, canoes, eyeglasses, even park benches.

In evaluating plastic pipe, consider it the way you would metal pipe. What are its pluses and minuses? It's the performance of the pipe that should determine its acceptability.

I often wonder what it would be like if history were reversed. Imagine if plastic pipe, joined with strong solvent cement forming a homogeneous bond, were the only accepted piping material.

Now suppose the copper industry came forward and said, "We have this new pipe. To join it, you clean it, add flux, heat it to over 400°F, and add solder. When it cools, you have an acceptable joint.

Imagine the questions the plastics-oriented code bodies would ask:
Does the joint form a homogeneous bond? What if you touch the pipe when it's hot? Can't the solder crack? How can the joint be inspected? Can't the plumber get burned? Isn't it dangerous if the solder drips on the plumber? What happens in a corrosive environment? Could the acetylene tanks explode? Should a plumber be carrying pressurized gas on his truck?

Or, to go one better, imagine the cast iron industry coming forward with a new pipe called extra heavy cast iron pipe. A lO-ft length of 4" pipe weighs "only" 160 lbs. It has a bell hub at each end. To join the pipe, you pack a hemp rope in the joint, force it down tightly by beating it with a hammer and some special tool. Molten lead then is poured over the hemp rope to hold it in place.

"You want to pack the joint with what!?"

- The author, president of JB Engineering and Code Consulting, is a registered engineer in Illinois, Indiana and New Jersey and a licensed master plumber in New Jersey.

Shell was the manufacturer of Polybutylene resins in the U.S.

DuPont was the manufacturer of Delrin - the acetal material for older P.B. plumbing joints