A Guide To Pipe Fittings and How To Use Them

Searching for "A Guide To Pipe Fittings and How To Use Them" on Google reveals a wealth of curated insights and expert advice on the wide range of fittings essential for plumbing. The right fittings can make all the difference, transforming a challenging plumbing project into a successful endeavor.

I doubt there’s a DIY plumber out there who hasn’t experienced the frustration of making multiple trips to the hardware store to complete a repair. I know I have.

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Assembling a network of pipes in various diameters and materials can feel like solving a puzzle. Sometimes, you might not be sure which fitting to purchase until you reach the point in the project where it becomes necessary.

Plumbing fittings come in a range of sizes, materials, and functions. Often, you’ll need transition fittings to connect pipes made from different materials. Common materials in use today include copper, PVC, CPVC, PEX, ABS, galvanized steel, and cast iron, most of which can be connected with the appropriate fittings.

With so many pipe sizes and materials available, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Keep in mind that fittings for water lines are different from those for drain and waste lines. It’s no wonder that professional plumbers don't venture out without a truck full of fittings—their magical toolkits that allow them to complete installations and repairs much more efficiently than amateurs like me.

Water Line Fittings

PEX is becoming the favored material for water lines, but PVC, CPVC, and copper remain popular choices, along with galvanized steel for outdoor use.

Three reasons for PEX’s rising popularity include its flexibility (it can curve around corners), durability, and simple assembly. PEX pipes and fittings can be effortlessly pushed together without the need for gluing (as with PVC and CPVC), soldering (for copper), or screwing (found in galvanized steel).

Here are some fittings you’re likely to need when assembling or repairing water lines:

• Coupler: It joins two lengths of pipe in a straight line. Anytime you cut a pipe for a repair, a coupler will help you reassemble it.
• Bend: This facilitates changing the direction of a pipe. The most common angles for bends are 90 degrees (known as elbows) and 45 degrees. Bends are generally made of the same material as the pipe, except for PEX bends, which often use brass or hard plastic.
• Tee: Shaped like the letter 'T,' this fitting features two parallel ports and one perpendicular. It’s useful for branching off a line. If the branch pipe is a different size than the main pipe, a reducing tee can make the connection.
• Reducing Adapter: This joins pipes of different diameters. It can take the form of a bell (common for copper and galvanized pipes) or fit inside a larger pipe (more typical for plastic). The first type is a bell adapter, and the second is a reducing bushing.
• Union: This variant of a coupler allows disassembly. It has a large threaded nut that keeps the two halves of the connected pipe together. You can use a union in place of a coupler whenever you need to temporarily disconnect the pipes.
• Threaded Adapter: To link a glue or solder slip joint with a threaded pipe, a threaded adapter is required. It can come with male or female threads, enabling connections between plastic pipes, copper pipes, or brass.
• Compression Fitting: This device allows you to join plastic or copper pipes without glue or solder. It typically includes a ring that fits around the pipe, with a nut that tightens onto the fitting, pressing the ring into the space between the pipe and the fitting. Compression fittings are ideal for quick pipe repairs, and most modern faucet and toilet shutoff valves incorporate them.

Waste and Drain Fittings

In the early 20th century, cast iron was commonly used for drain pipes. They are generally connected with couplers that feature rubber gaskets encased in stainless steel.

Today, most draining systems utilize PVC or ABS plastic. Plastic drain fittings are typically glued, while those you might need to remove temporarily, like cleanout plugs, are generally threaded.

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Here are the most common drain fittings, with similar couplers and bends not included, as they behave much like those used for water pipes:

• Long-sweep Elbow: This creates a 90-degree bend along a longer arc than a standard elbow, facilitating smoother water flow. It’s used for connecting vertical drain lines to horizontal ones.
• Straight Tee: This serves the same function as water-line tees but is seldom employed in drain lines, being more common in supporting vents that connect horizontal pipes to vertical stacks.
• Sanitary Tee: Also known as a santee, this fitting features a sweep on its perpendicular port to promote water flow in the direction of the sweep. It connects a horizontal waste line to a vertical one, but should not be used to connect a vertical line to a horizontal one.
• Wye: Resembling the letter 'Y,' this fitting also connects horizontal waste pipes to vertical ones with a reduced chance of backflow. It is essential for connecting a vertical drain from your sink or toilet to the sewer.
• Double Wye: Predictably, this has two inlet ports instead of just one and is commonly utilized for linking a double-basin sink to a single P-trap.

Transition Fittings

Whether connecting PVC or CPVC pipes to copper, cast iron pipes to ABS, or galvanized pipes to copper, transition fittings are essential. Often, this can be tackled by using two threaded adapters of different materials and screwing them together, but it’s usually simpler to utilize adapters specifically designed for coupling the different materials.

• Plastic-to-Copper Slip Adapter: This fitting features male copper threads on one side and a PVC or CPVC slip joint on the other. After attaching a female thread adapter to the copper pipe, you can screw in the adapter and glue the plastic pipe to the slip joint.
• Dielectric Union: Ideal for connecting copper or brass to galvanized steel, this fitting has an insulating washer that separates the pipes electrically to prevent corrosion. These unions are frequently utilized when installing water heaters.
• Cast Iron to Plastic Coupling: Commonly known as Fernco couplings (named for the company producing most of them), these comprise a rubber sleeve surrounded by stainless steel, with supportive pipe clamps that can be tightened via a screwdriver.

A Guide to Major Types and Uses of Pipe Fittings

If your clients are confused by the myriad of pipe fittings available on the market, they're not alone. The plethora of options, particularly for potable water applications governed by standards like NSF61, can indeed be overwhelming. Covering various shapes, sizes, and applications, these fittings accommodate a wide range of pressure ratings, providing numerous options for your plumbing needs. Here's a quick overview to help you get started.

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