Frozen Water Pipe

[Cessna172]

The recent cold snap here in the Pacific Northwest has resulted in the water fitting that connects the plastic pipe to the sink braided line cracking.

It looks like it's some kind of Pex fitting, though I know very little of such things, that connects the pipe to the sink braid.

Any idea how to replace the plastic elbow fitting? What size is it?

Thanks for your help,
Gary

 

[Kevin Lamont]

Gary,

We have those fittings in Monroe. You can order with Richard and easy to replace, start with pushing in on the pex line while pushing down on the plastic collar. You then pull the pex line off, gonna be tight with how cold it is good idea to warm it up with a hair dryer first. Unthread the old piece and install with new and applied thread tape. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Kevin Lamont

 

[Cessna172]

Thanks for the reply Kevin!

I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Gary

 

[baz]

Is the plastic piece that cracked a white looking elbow or inline union rather than the blue PEX pipe ?

Like here https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/i...FMg_Ro0cryKdtycUrml3nUcmHHMa8fqBoCD7MQAvD_BwE

During these cold snaps or even during winter times I suggest a shore powered cabin heater set to low to be running to avoid this sort of issue.

On my RT I run two dehumidifiers; one in bow and the other in mid cabin position during winter times. These two units keep my cabin and bow areas just above 40ºF.

Also open all the draws & doors to allow warm air to circulate more easily to hidden items.

 

[Cessna172]

That's exactly right Barry. It's the white plastic elbow.

Before the freeze I emptied the water tank; but apparently enough water remained in the line to freeze and break the fitting.

 

[BaylorU]

The beauty of PEX is that it is super easy to repair, either at the fitting or even in-line.
You can pay top dollar for SharkBite fittings, which are the push on/friction fittings, or spend about $50 to buy a crimper tool and then you can use inexpensive crimp rings to make repairs. I trust the crimp fittings more over time, but that's probably just unfounded and the Sharks are probably just as secure. I've installed hundreds of feet of PEX and probably hundreds of fittings over the years while finishing the basements in my last several homes.
Either way, Home Depot has everything you should need. The only thing that could possibly bite you is if you have 3/8" PEX tubing, those fittings can be pretty tough to find since it has been steadily replaced with 1/2" (I think I got those measurements correct, but the point is the older tubing was smaller diameter and is getting increasingly difficult to find fittings/etc for it).
Good luck!
Ken

 

[BaylorU]

I just clicked on that union fitting link.
Those are widely available at Home Depot as well.

 

[FlagShip]

All of this got me thinking, we have a 2019 R29CB. Like Barry said, we have a cabin heater that kicks on at 38 degrees to keep things from freezing. I've been sleeping well knowing its there. But, then I remembered we have the shower at the transom, any good way to winterize that? Maybe isolate it with valves and drain it?

I'll be going to the boat for the first time in a couple of weeks, hopefully that transom shower and the pipe/fittings aren't cracked.

 

[mjq1987]

On our R-29CB, I installed hot and cold water isolation valves in the lines under the deck access just inside the cabin door. I used SharkBite valves with vent/drain fittings (https://www.sharkbite.com/products/gate ... drain-vent). To winterize the transom shower only, I shut the valves and blow out the lines to the shower head with a compressor connected to the vent/drain fitting. The shower head trigger has a "continuous on" position which makes blowing the lines out easy.

 

[baz]

On our R-29CB, I installed hot and cold water isolation valves in the lines under the deck access just inside the cabin door. I used SharkBite valves with vent/drain fittings (https://www.sharkbite.com/products/gate ... drain-vent). To winterize the transom shower only, I shut the valves and blow out the lines to the shower head with a compressor connected to the vent/drain fitting. The shower head trigger has a "continuous on" position which makes blowing the lines out easy.

That SharkBite valve is a very nice solution for the purpose you've mentioned. Thank you. 😀

Did you get the 24634LF 1/2 in. x 1/2 in. unit ? Available on Amazon for $18 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B..._title_huc_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[mjq1987]

Yes, the 1/2" valve is correct.