Gray plastic water pipe repair
 

I need to replace a short section of water pipe from the floor to the back of the toilet. The pipe is the old type gray with a crimped on connection coming out of the floor and a threaded connection at the back of the toilet. What parts do I need to get ?

I would look into PEX pipe for replacing ...probably best if you could do the whole run but a repair patch could be made.using the same I imagine

Do a you tube search and bet you find some good information on how to

But let us know what you end up with

Greg

PEX connectors, shark bite or shark teeth maybe? Work very well and are easy to install. I just repaired an outside wall faucet in my granddaughter's house. I had no faith in it until I tried it. Very easy to do

The creamy white PEX is great and so is the blue/red PEX. I would get the 'Shark Bite' brand of slip on repair connectors as required for that repair. I'd try to cut out as much of the grey stuff as I could to make it an easier job. The Shark Bites are very well made and I've never had one leak. And I've found that although it's tricky sometimes, you can remove them easily enough if needed.

The gray PEX is hard to cut, you can't use a simple copper tubing cutter on it for instance like you can the creamy white PEX, so have a couple styles of hack saws on hand. The wide jaw tubing cutters work, but the ratcheting tool for PEX is very expense at many big box hardware stores. I once saw one for only $7 though.

I’m going to bet the gray is polybutylene which is what was used in stick and brick construction and RV’s/motorhomes until sometime in the mod-late 90’s (out ‘91 coach had it, our ‘02 coach doesn’t).
You may remember all the lawsuits that occurred when those systems started leaking.

A Sharkbite is a good solution to transition to todays PEX or male/female adapter that you can then use a reinforced hose to make the connection to the toilet valve.

But you have to make sure to buy the PEX adapter that is compatible with polybutylene! And, you have to use the ferrule-like tube insert to support the poly to insure it won’t collapse against the o-ring pressure of the Sharkbite.

The poly isn’t that hard to cut with regular pvc pipe snips.

Just be sure to check any/all original fittings that you might disturb when doing the work.

The lawsuits that ensued as a result of the leaks was not due to poly failure, but leaks that occurred at the fitting joints.

Out ‘91 coach that we got in ‘18 likely had a hard to get at joint leak from its first use. By the time I figured out what was leaking, most of that area of the floor had rotted out. Fortunately most of that area was under the bathroom cabinet and water heater. But it did create a squishy walk into the bathroom after 2-3 days of water hook-up use until I finally found the leak.
Totally rebuilt 1/2 of the coaches water system when I figured it out.

Thanks for all the answers I think I will need 2 of the shark bite connectors and a very short section of PEX

HD and Lowes have 5' long pieces of 1/2" pex in stock.
I keep the cutters, crimper, rings, some fittings, and a couple 5' lengths in the RV just in case.
Good luck with the repair. Shark bites make it easy.



Tim

AND the Poly (Quest) Pipe to PEX Pipe adapters.....
Your 1996 has Poly Pipe


Reread Post #5

[QUOTE=Old-Biscuit;6096847]AND the Poly (Quest) Pipe to PEX Pipe adapters.....
Your 1996 has Poly Pipe


Yup purchase a polybutylene to pex adapter will work great

And avoid using any bleach.

The easy way to repair RV fresh water pipes is with https://www.flairit.com/flair-it.php
No special tools needed. Fittings for all needs.

Richard

Yeah, polybutylene was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. And, it was until chlorine in the water made it brittle over time.

thanks
 

Thanks for all your ideas , I just used some garden hose and clamps for now and it works no leaks. I will order some pex and conectors for the next repair

Genius:thumb And the DW will be happy:)