# Pex/Qest Compression Fitting



## Logback (Sep 27, 2006)

I was doing a little bathroom remodel on a newer house that has PEX pipe. I went to Home Depot and they said I didn't need to buy the crimp rings and they sold me 2 compression fitting elbow made by QEST to connect the PEX to flexible sink supply lines. Four days later, one held and one did not -- big flood. Has anybody else had a similar failure?


----------



## mdshunk (Dec 4, 2005)

Quest fittings always were, and will continue to be... junk. Spend a couple of sheckels and have a plumber come out and crimp a PEX x faucet shutoff on there and you'll be good.


----------



## Ron The Plumber (Jun 7, 2006)

Yep they will tell and sell you anything.


----------



## fqp25 (Sep 2, 2006)

No offense intended to anybody, but don't believe the commercials. Big-Box store employees aren't really qualified to give out advice. I'm not even aware they sell PEX tubing at that place.


----------



## invoicee (Aug 31, 2010)

*Qest fittings not to blame*

I installed some Qest compression tees in my existing Qest plumbing over 15 years ago. No leaks, no failures. In my experience, such problems are due to NOT READING AND FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS. The little metal rings that go on the tubing before the compression washers CAN be installed the wrong way. A cheap part installed correctly is worth more than a hundred expensive parts installed wrong.
Yes, the clerks in the big-box stores are NOT a good source of instruction. Be sure you understand the manufacturer's assembly instructions or talk to someone with experience.


----------



## Steve_P (Aug 18, 2010)

fqp25 said:


> No offense intended to anybody, but don't believe the commercials. Big-Box store employees aren't really qualified to give out advice. I'm not even aware they sell PEX tubing at that place.


I agree about your first statement- the not qualified part, but FWIW the HD near me does have pex tubing, the fittings, crimp tools, etc. 

Maybe a sharkbite fitting would've been a better option w/o buying the crimp tool?


----------



## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

If you have PEX plumbing in your home and plan on doing repairs and/or changes, invest in a PEX crimper. Over the years you will save money and sleep well knowing that you have good water tight connections.


----------



## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

I saw a crimper at HD that uses vise-grips to crimp the connections for around 20 bucks.

DM


----------



## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

DangerMouse said:


> I saw a crimper at HD that uses vise-grips to crimp the connections for around 20 bucks.
> 
> DM


I have a one of these in addition to my regular crimpers. Kind of slow to use but good in tight spaces. I re-plumbed my camper and these were great working inside the cabinets.


----------



## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

Whenever I see an employee at any of the big box stores, I'm thankful that they do have a job. BUT--I never depend on any of these employees for advice. They are not hired because they have years of experience within certain trades or for the fact that they know all about anything. I do not go out of my way to give them a hard time but will tell one my opinion when it is needed. I really get ill when I hear one telling a customer that they need to buy this or that and it is not what they need at all. I will patiently wait until their conversation is over, introduce myself, explain that I have a business doing "Household HandyMan" work and will help them to decide if I can at no charge in the store. I do not solicit business when doing this, I just don't like to see people treated that way.


----------

