Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => Plumbing => Topic started by: BIG AL on November 14, 2017, 05:16:36 PM
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So I'm finally getting to the heating system portion of our 1850 farmhouse overhaul. I am getting ready to run my loops to tie in my cast iron baseboards and trying to decide what tubing to use. I decided to go with pex for cost and time savings. I saw a new tubing called hy-PE-RTube made by Zurn\Dow. It is supposed to be more flexable with less coil memory than conventional cross linked tubing. Was wondering if anyone out there had heard anything about it? Looks like a good choice for what I need to do. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
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Yeah, I've seen it mentioned on Seigenthaler's posts. I think there are a few places online carrying it. Maybe Supplyhouse.com.
I need to get some to try. Sounds really nice.
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Fairly expensive the way it looks, but it'd be well worth the investment not to have to fight the memory if it does what it says! Especially on the bigger pipe. I always buy 1" in 20ft sticks so I can handle it but it's about the same price as this hy-PE-RTube, might have to give it a try. Thanks for bringing it to my attention and I hope you find some info!
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Well I ordered 300' of the hy-PE-Rtube and it arrived today. Seems pretty nice I'll let everyone know how I make out after I finish up this week.
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I'll be waiting!
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Yes, very interested. Keep us posted.
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So here's the update. We ran about 200' for my heat loops and I must say I'm impressed. There is virtually no coil memory when uncoiled. It runs out nice and straight and is very flexible. I was able to bend nice tight radius on the corners with no kinking. It has a nice snug fit onto the monoflo tees and pex adapters without having to struggle to make connections. We used clamps but it will accept any of the available types of connections. The quality seems very good compared with some of the less expensive options I have used in the past. Only con I can come up with is that it is not certified for potable water so it is for heat only. I have used the Upnor tubing that can do both and it was nice to be able to use one pex for everything but not a deal breaker. So far I can say that it was worth the extra money. :thumbup:
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Thanks for the update!
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Glad you like it! What size did you end up buying?
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I used all 3/4"
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This has really really got me thinking... No coil memory..
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This has really really got me thinking... No coil memory..
Right? This stuff is going to revolutionize the underfloor radiant world. Ever tried 'rasslin PEX through floor joists? Yuck. My next job I'm a gonna get me a roll of this I think
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Yeah, great fun. :)
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It looks like the max temp rating is 200 degrees. Could that be an issue if a stove overheats?
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It looks like the max temp rating is 200 degrees. Could that be an issue if a stove overheats?
Most PEX is 200 also at atmospheric pressure.
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Pex should be 80 psi at 200 degrees.
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Looks like the hy-PE-RTube is rated at 73 psi at 200 degrees. I wonder what happens to it if it gets up to 212.
CPVC has similar ratings but from what I have seen does not hold up to temps over 200 like pex does.
Apparently the Nibco version (PERTpro) is rated at 80 psi at 200 degrees so maybe there isn't much difference between it and pex.
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I know I've seen a few of them get over 212 and even some clown using PEX for LP steam without any noticeable delamination or deformity after several years of service. I replaced it with black pipe and cut the PEX apart for inspection and it looked great. As with most ratings, I think it's underrated to err on the side of caution
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I agree, I've never seen Pex B fail except from direct sunlight on an open system, it's tough stuff. I think they're overly cautious with ratings.
. Pex-al-Pex I've heard stories of delaminating but I haven't seen it personally.
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I've heard stories about pex-al and others but never seen it first hand or know anyone who has. Once we uncoiled the hy-PE-rtube and rotated the loops out of it it stayed straight. It never tried to coil itself back up. There was no fighting clamping it up to joists and the runs look straight when you clamp it every few joists. The most amazing part is how flexable it is and how easy you can bend it without kinking. Great product. :thumbup:
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I've seen pex-l-pex cracked on the inside lengthwise, multiple cracks. Fellow brought me a piece to show when buying a new regular pex insulated pipe to replace it. Just looked defective to me. Don't think he over heated it or anything. Just looked like freak thing.
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Do you know what brand it was? Was the crack along the lap in the aluminum?
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There multiple cracks, not just one lengthwise but on kinda a spiral as I recall on the inner layer of pex,outside seemed to be good but I think it had started to leak and discovered the interior cracks. He showed me two pieces about 6' long as I recall, orange in color.
I don't really want to knock the product because I don't know how it was treated, but the person has not contacted me about having trouble with the regular pex. It was not one of our installs nor did we sell the furnace it was hooked to.
I would say this hy-pe-rtube looks great but I'm a little cautious. I'd like to see it work for a while before I jump.
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I've heard stories about pex-al and others but never seen it first hand or know anyone who has. Once we uncoiled the hy-PE-rtube and rotated the loops out of it it stayed straight. It never tried to coil itself back up. There was no fighting clamping it up to joists and the runs look straight when you clamp it every few joists. The most amazing part is how flexable it is and how easy you can bend it without kinking. Great product. :thumbup:
Is one able to use regular old crimp fittings with the stuff?
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I read it uses standard crimp Pex fittings.
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I am using crimp fittings seems to work fine.
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Seriously gonna give this stuff a try. Dropped a stove off Friday afternoon and got it set, went back today to finish the job. Had my rolls of pex in the warm cab of the truck Friday, gave it to the guy to put in the house, sat in the house for 48 hours and was still stiff, didn’t have my rubber plugs to do the bathtub trick, had my heat gun though, heated the stuff up, wrastled it nice and straight, made my connections, went on down the line doing other stuff, come back 20 minutes later to see what was straight is now curved again, sh*t!!! Heated it up again and used some more supports to hopefully hold it in place. You’d think 48 hours in a warm house would help a little at least, stuff was like I just brought it in from outside.
It’s either figure out a way to spread the added cost of hy-PE-Rtube out else where or just start buying 20 foot straight sticks and build a rack on the trailer. Although straight sticks woulda kinda sucked as well, a little planning and some of the curve actually helped, like where I ran it thru the floor joists where they plan on actually finishing the basement.
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Last year I cut some tees into my line in the house for my snowmelt HX Marty, the 1" Rehau pex across my basement came off of the coil like 6 years ago and had been heated and stapled every other joist since day one. First cut I made, the damn line memory coiled up and tore right out of the first 3 hangers! The memory is strong with that crap. I've been buying 1" Viega in 20 ft sticks lately, about $.80/ft. Can fold em in half and shove them in the pickup box or trailer. I keep a stack of 20's at home and cut a few in half for 10's to put in my rack inside the trailer. If I know I'm going to need a lot of pipe I'll just grab the center of the stick and walk up the ramp in the trailer so it bends into a 6x8 ft U shape against the walls of the trailer. Memory is next to nothing if I pull em out when I get to the job, they'll straighten right back out
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I’ll have to try the sticks then, I think I spent more time fighting the pex than actually working. haven’t really had this problem before, but this is the first time all if it ran perpendicular to the floor joists, then they moved a lot of stuff around in the basement when they had somebody else redo the furnace and water heater.
I’ll have to dig my receipts out as well, tried a different brand, it sucks.
I’ll either give the sticks a shot or maybe I’ll give the Sharkbite tubing a try, supposedly Made in USA.
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Good luck! I think I might try the Hy-Pe-rtube on the next big job I have to see what it's all about. Price isn't terrible if a guy doesn't have to fight it and can save hours on install
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I was playing with some regular 3/4 pex today running some cold water supply lines. The whole time I was fighting with it I was looking at all the hy-PE-RTube I ran and wishing all pex layed out that easy. I ran all my heating loops just temp hanging all the tube with wire then went back with the hangers. The pex I ran today I had to hang it as I went along or it rolled back up as soon as I let it go. Too bad its not NSF I would have used more of the hy-PE-RTube.
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Just thought I'd give a little update since I put the hot water to the pex. I am running my boiler at 180 HL with 160 LL. I had all the loops hung up nicely to the ceiling joists with hangers about every other one. Well this stuff is like rubber with heat to it. Had to go back and nail it up on every joist to make it stay up on the ceiling. The pex-a I ran for domestic hot water is much less flexable , but only 130 max temp too.