Plumbers Help (No Leak)

[mmais68569]

I have a roll of Pex Tubing that I am going to use on my roof this year & run Dumb Flex Strips through it. Problem is because it has been rolled it has that memory. What is the easiest way to get a straight line? I have it laid out in the sun but does not seem to be doing much good.

              Thanks Mike

[NavyGator]

You might be able to hang it from one end and put a light weight on the other end.

Rich

[rrowan]

I don't think PEX was every designed to be a straight line (especially a roll of it)

You could try to heat up the PEX with a hairdryer or heat gun (low setting) and have it attached to something straight like angle iron, etc until it cools off

Rick R.

[dmaccole]

You could try to heat up the PEX with a hairdryer or heat gun (low setting) and have it attached to something straight like angle iron, etc until it cools off

+1

\dmc

[tbone321]

I work with PEX all the time and it has a memory.  If you got it in roll form, it will want to retain that curve.  All heat will do is make it a little easier to bend or flex.  PEX was designed to work with both hot and cold water so unlike PVC, it is fairly resistant to heat.  If you want it straight you need to back flex it hard against the curve at room temperature and let it go to see if you bent it far enough.  Once you get it straight, it should stay that way but it's not always that easy to get it that way.

[JDM1oc]

The pex I've picked up on a roll has memory and while it does take work, it can bent relatively straight.  It costs more but I prefer the straight lengths you can buy from home depot or lowes.

[Nightowlz1966]

Schedule 20 PVC also lets light through and is straight from the get go.

[mmais68569]

Well it looks like I will be adding 100' of Pex arches to my display this year. I really need it to lay in a straight line.

           Thanks
              Mike

[tbone321]

Are you sure that PEX is what you want to use?  Pex is designed to be flexable and will probably not hold up all that well in bad weather such as heavy wind.  You would probably need to run some wire thru them to keep them from folding over.  Thin wall PVC would probably do a better job.

[mmais68569]

The  display is in Florida so weather no big deal, second the arches will only be 8' section so should stand up. We will see what we shall see.

          Mike

[rrowan]

 

Rick R.

[jnealand]

Are you sure that PEX is what you want to use?  Pex is designed to be flexable and will probably not hold up all that well in bad weather such as heavy wind.  You would probably need to run some wire thru them to keep them from folding over.  Thin wall PVC would probably do a better job.

Most the folks that I have read about that use PEX use it in short sections 12-14 inches and that becomes a single section of an arch.  The sections are then slipped over regular pvc.  This make it easy to replace a bad section and to store the lights in the off season.

[JDM1oc]

I made 16 mini arches using 5 feet of 3/4 inch pex for each.  I wrapped them with 5 sets of 50 minis and they held up really well and straighten out for storage.  Have not tried to make anything taller yet. I'm curious to see what comes of your project.   

Josh