Remembering the choice between crimp connectors and compression fittings

Back in my first year, my boss gave me a box of cheap crimp connectors and said 'this is how we do it.' I saw the other guys using compression fittings on a big apartment job in Austin. I spent my own cash on a pack of compression fittings to try, about $15 back then. The crimps kept failing in the heat, but the compression ones held up perfect. Anyone still run into that old crimp vs. compression debate on older lines?

3 comments

3 Comments

kevinrivera13d ago

Man, that brings back memories. We had the same fight with some old irrigation lines at a rental property. Those crimp connectors would just give up after a few summers, always a slow leak. Switched to compression and never touched them again. It was night and day, especially with the temperature swings. Cheap crimps are such a false economy.

mia_hart9013d ago

Tell me about it, @kevinrivera. I had the exact same thing happen on my back patio line. Found a soggy spot in the flower bed every single August, and it was always one of those crimps. Swapping them out for the good stuff was a total game changer, no more guessing where the next leak would pop up. It's crazy how much time you waste fixing the same spot over and over.

seth_harris3613d ago

Yeah, "false economy" is the perfect way to put it. I read a plumbing forum thread where a guy tracked all his callbacks, and the cheap brass crimp rings were the number one culprit for leaks under pressure changes. He said the metal was too thin and would actually crack, not just loosen.