Crap Plumbing Fittings

[angus99]

While plumbing in a new freshwater toilet, I used a Lowe’s brass tee fitting on the supply line. I was congratulating myself for getting it into one of the most inaccessible places on the boat. When I pressurized it, water shot out of a rupture on the side. Either it’s total junk or I torqued it too hard installing the hose barbs.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

I don't think thats a result of over torquing ,Angus. I suspect faulty manufacturing..

 

[Xsbank]

Pex and Sharkbite!

 

[mramoo]

Looks like a failure in the casting

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. 99. Frustrating to be sure. When you go to replace, sit back, have a drink and hire this girl...

....OUCH!!!

 

[HeadMistress]

With the possible exception of the bell, brass doesn't belong anywhere on a boat. This from a poster to another forum:
"This brass ball valve from Home Depot was in use for about 8 months and the ball, inside the valve, is completely GONE, NOT THERE, CORRODED AWAY!" He went on to say that there was no way it could have been due to electrolysis. He's a seasoned enough sailor to know.

--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

 

[DDW]

The trouble is, many (perhaps most) of the fittings sold as bronze are in fact some alloy of brass. This is why I tend to go for 316 SS. Much harder to fake that, though it can and has been done.

 

[angus99]

I’m learning. I found a few below-the-waterline, raw-water brass fittings on the boat that appear to have been factory installed and replaced them with bronze from reputable sources (Groco and Buck). There are also a couple of brass fittings on the Westerbeke raw water pump that I’m changing out. Would have thought brass was a reasonable choice for a potable water system. This piece didn’t corrode—maybe it would have eventually—it just burst when initially loaded with moderate water pressure. Don’t Sharkbite fittings have brass couplings?

 

[angus99]

Greetings,
Mr. 99. Frustrating to be sure. When you go to replace, sit back, have a drink and hire this girl...

....OUCH!!!

LOL. She doesn’t need a mirror or anyone’s help to answer the eternal question: “Does this outfit make my butt look big?”

 

[psneeld]

Brass hass been used for centuries aboard boats and ships but in critical areas has been replaced by superior materials.

A factory defect shows up in all materials and systems sooner or later.

You will find perfectly suitable brass fittings in potable water and fuel systems many decades old. Unless buried in a salt water ridden bilge or under a saltwater leak.....no real worry. It just shouldnt be ised in salt water applications.

Taiwan trawlers are full of them with all the copper plumbing found in water, fuel and propane systems......and still working into their fourth or more decade.

Can you use other materials? Sure, coulda also just bought a custom boat for 20X what I paid.

 

[sdowney717]

Brass and copper fittings are fine for fresh water on the boat. Picture shows the defect, maybe examine before purchase, dont buy obviously odd looking pieces, but yeah the manufacturer screwed up.

 

[Xsbank]

Sharkbite is brass, ok for potable and is isolated by Pex, do not use in a salt dnvironment to connect copper.

 

[sdowney717]

Brass compression fittings and copper pipe on my boat fresh water system since 1970 in salt water, not a single brass fitting failure, none were replaced except by me when I reconfigured a few things. All were Nibco. I had two places that froze and cracked pipes I had to repair.

 

[boatpoker]

With the possible exception of the bell, brass doesn't belong anywhere on a boat. This from a poster to another forum:
"This brass ball valve from Home Depot was in use for about 8 months and the ball, inside the valve, is completely GONE, NOT THERE, CORRODED AWAY!" He went on to say that there was no way it could have been due to electrolysis. He's a seasoned enough sailor to know.

--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

Not that seasoned or he would not have said "electrolysis" in relationship to any boat issue.