Preventing plumbing leaks is critical to many homeowners. Leaks are responsible for about 10,000 gallons of wasted water in many American households, this is enough water to do at least 270 loads of laundry. This usually equals approximately 14% of that household?s water usage for the year. If you find a client?s home is losing 12,000 gallons of water or more each month, they probably have a very serious leak on their hands. One way plumbers are addressing problems with leaks is by using brass compression fittings to join two pieces of pipe rather than using the sweating process to do the same thing.
Brass pipe fittings are widely used because of the durability of brass. Brass fittings can be used on pipes that serve a wide variety of purposes and come in a lot of shapes and sizes. Brass alloys contain copper and zinc. Brass is resistant to water corrosion. Brass is incredibly strong but flexible. It provides a fantastic seal due to its relative softness. It is a great choice for piping for hot water. It offers a superior conductivity making the hot water distribution more efficient. Its performance holds up in both very high and very low temperatures.
Brad fittings are lead free. Using lead free compression fittings is crucial. It is most important when dealing with any pipes that carry drinking water given the high toxicity of lead.
Brass compression fittings offer advantages over other methods of connecting pipes. They are very easy to out together. Unlike sweating pipes together, using brass compression fittings is pretty simple and straightforward. After you have put the nut and compression ring on the pipe, you tighten it to create a watertight seal. A compression fitting is also easy to remove if you need to go back and make adjustments or changes. If you are working with piping in a system that needs to be maintained often, fittings are much better than soldering the piping.
The need to make adjustments may happen over time but is very simple to do. With the sweating process, you have to deconstruct the whole piping system to get to the section that needs repair.
Compression fittings can be used on piping that carries a wide variety of substances. From water to gas, you can use them. This is really helpful as sweating is never to be used on piping for gas. Gas piping should never be soldered.
Compression fittings can be reused. Sometimes tightening them is all they need should a leak manifest itself. The compression ring position of the fitting system should be replaced after one use.
Brass nipples and fittings have a very long lifespan. They are not prone to cracks or other breaks and when used throughout a home they will increase its value, this is a point you should share with homeowners you work with. Your clients will appreciate getting that information and it will show that you see them as more than the check they will give you for the work you do.
The bottom line is that brass compression fittings are great for a wide variety of plumbing situations. Using fittings can provide you and your customer with a great alternative to sweating pipes together.