Will be doing some PEX A expansion connections for the repipe soon and most of the work is in the low headroom (14" crawlspace so very tight quarters. In many cases I need to crawl on my belly with a tool bag tethered to my ankle as I push ahead.

Thinking of getting a cordless expansion tool because I doubt those manual tools with long levers will work in this tight space and difficult to carry.

I know only two manufacturers (besides Uponor) that has cordless PEX A tools, Milwaukee and Dewalt. My cordless tool platforms right now is Bosch (18V) and Milwaukee M18 so it will be a new platform. Anyone has any experience with the Milwaukee vs Dewalt expansion tools? I will only be making 1/2" and 3/4" connections nothing bigger.

Milwaukee makes an M18 expander, but....cha ching$$$

steve, I saw that too, but boy expensive and has larger heads like 1-1/4" or 2" which I will never use.

The M12 has a 1" head which I don't think I will use either.

I noticed there is a newer 2532-22 kit that's brushless and more battery efficient than the older 2432-22. I am trying to figure out the difference between the 2432 and the 2474-22 system both seems to do the same thing but the 2432-22 is optimized for ProPEX by Uponor which I can't get more details on how it is optimized.

Because of the use of this being so infrequent after the initial project I am toying with the idea of buying a used kit from ebay...but than the issue is no warranty and if the M12 batteries are worn there is no workaround because I didn't purchase them from an authorized retailer. Probably not a good idea.

One question I have is, once you have expanded, and put on the fitting. How much time do you wait to pressurize for testing?

Second question is, since I will be doing this in a crawlspace where I may be climbing 20' to 50' distances on my belly to reach these connection locations to the copper risers, I need to practice this tool with some connectors ahead of time to get the hang of it. So if I get a PEX A adapter soldered onto a copper tubing, and practicing 1/2" and 3/4" PEX connections with this tool, how would I test this for leak once I made the connection?

third question, once I made the connection to the brass PEX adapter, I need to do another test, so I need to remove the already made connection, how do you remove a connection? Do you take a razor blade and just score the collar to open it or is there a better way?

Final question, if I have a copper tubing say 24" long. I need to make a solder connection on one end. The other end 24" away (on the other side of the crawlspace) is already connected to a PEX A tubing. Is it safe to apply heat to solder this copper with PEX a on the other end, will the torch heat spread to the plastic and affect the connection? If not, what is I reduce the copper to 18", or 12"...is there a minimum distance you can solder a copper joint where the other side is PEX?



Edited 1 times.

Leak testing is easy. Just get a Shark-bite hose threaded valve and slide it on to the copper pipe.

Re soldering next to a pex joint - I have not forgotten a post by Waukesha Plumbing (this was posted many many years ago and he has not posted here in years). He unsoldered and resoldered a pex-copper adapter while the Uponor pex tubing was still connected, by expansion, to the adapter, with no ill effects. After reading the post, I ran into the exact same situation where I had to unsolder and resolder the adapter and I did it without disconnecting the Uponor pex. No leaks after I did it.

Slicing the expansion sleeve with a knife is tricky because it is difficult to avoid scoring the tubing. What really helps is heating the sleeve up with a heat gun. It makes the sleeve much softer and easier to cut. A torch can be used to heat up the sleeve if you are really careful. I use a 250W soldering gun with a plastic cutting tip which makes it easy to cut the sleeve without damaging the pex.

george, it's good to know that one can unsolder and resolder a PEX adapter without disconnecting the copper. I wouldn't be attempting to do it so close but I do think I might have a few situations where I may need to solder an adapter on with the PEX being say 8 to 10" further down that copper pipe.

Another scenerio would be at the copper manifold if I have one port with a leak between the copper outlet and the PEX adapter, and I need to replace the adapter meaning unsoldering the old adapter and putting on a new one, the adjacent PEX tubing are very close since the manifold outlets are 3" apart on center.

One other thing, once I soldered on a PEX adapter to copper, how long do I have to wait for it to cool down before I can make a PEX A expansion connection? Once the PEX A connection is made, how long do I need to wait before I can pressurize and test for leaks?

One other thing, once I soldered on a PEX adapter to copper, how long do I have to wait for it to cool down before I can make a PEX A expansion connection?
I would wait till the adapter has cooled down to about 140F.

Once the PEX A connection is made, how long do I need to wait before I can pressurize and test for leaks?
At room temperature, I will wait about twenty minutes before pressurising. A bit longer at cooler temperatures.

George that is quite a long waiting time, I will be making these solder and expansion joints in a creepy and moldy crawlspace with 14" head room and going from one spot to another crawling on my belly and in some spots I could not sit straight up so waiting 20+ minutes to test is going to be a real pain.



Edited 1 times.

You don't have much of a choice, especially with the cooler temperatures now. It is not as if you are testing the fittings individually. Make all your joints in the crawl space, and twenty minutes after you make your last joint, turn the water on and check for leaks.

Sum,

I despise working in the crawlspace like you do. Just a few comments which may be irrelevant:

* PEX-B has no cool down period, you can test it instantly. Power tools are available, but
I've ben successful with the hand crimper even in small spaces. YMMV.
* My favorite master plumber, long since retired, used to assemble strange looking
sub-assemblies before crawling under the house (or sending his apprentice).
He could visualize what was needed and pre-assemble half of it or more. At the time,
he was soldering everything.
* Not to restart the debate, but Sharkbite?