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ALD and other plumbing contractors have been installing Wirsbo using either Wirsbo’s plastic fitting (in the attic) and their standard brass transition fittings or they have been using SharkBite fittings, or some combination of the two. As we have written, the owner typically has the option to decide. Whether ALD will utilize Wirsbo’s new fittings is not known. The new ½” DZR fittings will be a sweated fitting using solder to seal the fitting to the copper stub out that is attached to the plumbing fixture. The SharkBite fitting is a compression fitting. The use of non-Wirsbo fittings in an otherwise all-Wirsbo plumbing system does have a negative impact on Wirsbo’s warranty, reducing the time period from 25 to 10 years. What about those SharkBite Fittings?
Someone, perhaps taking a cue from that 1939 play by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, later adapted into that classic 1944 movie, Arsenic and Old Lace, had an interesting idea—just add a dab of arsenic into the brass-making melting pot, not to kill off a few kindly gentlemen but to stop corrosion of zinc. That chemical discovery actually occurred more than 70 years ago when it was learned that a small quantity of arsenic inhibited the preferential dissolution of zinc from all-alpha brasses. While zinc itself provided brass alloys with strength, the addition of a very small amount of arsenic inhibited zinc from being corroded. [To read an interesting but technical article on the inhibiting effects of chemical additions to brass, click here.] This inhibiting feature and the Austrialian origins of the SharkBite fitting in part explains why SharkBite fittings contain arsenic. In addition, the alloy from which SharkBite fittings are made is heat treated, which also aids in furthering corrosion resistance. According to a February letter from SharkBite’s manufacturer, Cash Acme, this is how they address the dezincification resistance issue for Las Vegas users of their product:
A Non-Brass Solution. Yes, folks, there may be even better news than the availability of a DZR fitting to tackle the dezincification issue. If brass (in any form) is the ultimate culprit in bringing about the dezincification problem, why cant we just eliminate brass from the plumbing system. While we might not be able to eliminate all brass, e.g., the brass washing machine valves, the question is whether we can successfully eliminate all brass fittings from the plumbing system that will be replacing the Kitec plumbing system. The answer to that question is an unequivocal “yes” we can eliminate, not just in the attic but also in the transition fittings that connect to the copper stub outs. And, moreover, it’s being done right now in Sun City. The Copper Fitting Alternative: Vanguard. As I learned this week, there is an acceptable alternative to brass fittings when transitioning from Pex pipe to the copper stub outs in a re-plumbing project. That alternative is copper. There has long been an unfounded assumption that the major Pex manufacturers did not make copper transition fittings, in part due to the recognition that brass transition fittings are being universally used by everyone in the industry. With brass as the accepted standard, there wasn’t any interest or need to manufacture a copper transition fitting from Pex to copper. So, as a result no one produced such a fitting.
While re-plumbing every stub-out with an 90º elbow might pose a challenge, it can and has been done in Sun City. Even better, though, if the plumber wanted to use a copper straight Pex female sweat to connect to a stub out, that option is readily available from an approved Vanguard company, Sioux Chief, at http://www.siouxchief.com. According to Mr. Brierley, parts that are manufactured by or for Sioux Chief have been tested and approved for use on Vanguard products. Such use is alleged by Mr. Brierley not to affect Vanguard’s warranty. Also, one needs to be aware that there is a distinct physical difference in the barb portion of a fitting between the Vanguard fittings and the Wirsbo fittings. Since the barb portion of Sioux Chief’s copper sweat fittings is designed for use with Vanguard’s Pex pipe, their copper fittings cannot be used with Wirsbo’s Pex pipe. Each company has a unique design to the barb that permits their respective Pex pipes to attach to the fittings, thereby making the fittings incompatible for use with Wirsbo. Advantages I see a number of advantages to this Vanguard approach. They include:
Some Disadvantages
Wirsbo: Does Wirsbo Have a Copper Transition Option? For many homeowners, the ideal plumbing solution would be a Uponor copper transition fitting for their Pex to the copper stub outs. So the big, big question is whether Uponor (Wirsbo) offers a counterpart to the Vanguard solution described above? Unfortunately, I am not aware of any Uponor copper solution similar to the Vanguard option described above. As of now, Uponor's best solution for addressing our dezincification problem will be the forthcoming 1/2" DZR sweat fitting coming by the end of March. Is there a copper transition solution comparable to the Vanguard option in Uponor's future? I am not aware of any.
Ron Johnson, 24 February 2007 |
For any number of reasons, some homeowners have settled on Wirsbo as their plumbing product line of choice. As we recently reported, Wirsbo’s manufacturer (Uponor) will be shipping DZR fittings, designated as C314, in 5,000 increments beginning later in March. 
With respect to the use of SharkBite fittings, I would like to clarify some confusion that I may have contributed to. First of all, SharkBite fittings are DZR rated by the manufacturer. While there is no recognized standard for rating a brass alloy as “DZR,” it is incorrect to assume that the only difference between two different DZR fittings is the percent of zinc in the fitting. While the new anticipated DZR fitting from Wirsbo has less than 10% zinc and the SharkBite DZR fitting has 35% zinc, it would be wrong to assume that the SharkBite fitting is any more or less corrosion resistant than the DZR fittings from Wirsbo. We do not know. 
As I learned this week from one homeowner’s re-plumb and from Bill Brierley, the manufacturer’s Las Vegas representative for Vanguard Piping Systems, Vanguard just happens to manufacture a copper transition fitting that is designed to meet a specific purpose. That copper fitting is called a female Tub/Shower Sweat Elbow (a 90º bend). That ½” copper fitting is designed to connect Vanguard’s Pex pipe to tub and shower fixtures. Ironically, a unique feature of the Vanguard sweat elbow makes it easily adaptable for similar tight uses wherever a transition fitting is needed to connect to a stub out for a plumbing fixture. In other words, it’s ideally suited for re-plumbing jobs given its physical characteristics—it’s small, i.e., it has a short radius. In the world of tub/shower sweat elbows, there are two sizes manufactured. That unique feature is its size, one is a small radius elbow and the other is large radius elbow. Fortunately, Vanguard makes a small radius elbow. It can be utilized can be used as a general purpose transition fitting. [Uponor (Wirsbo) does not make a copper short radius elbow.]