As PEX tubing continues to become more commonplace in the plumbing and heating industries, it is often necessary to connect PEX to existing copper tubing. Since PEX and copper have the same outside diameters, SharkBite fittings make the task easy. Crimp/Clamp and ProPEX fittings can be soldered over copper pipes.
Some installations, however, may require a PEX connection directly to a copper fitting. Adapters that make this possible are also available for Crimp/Clamp and ProPEX PEX connections. They, too, must be soldered to the copper, but copper fitting adapters are placed inside the copper fitting, rather than over the copper pipe. On the copper side, fitting adapters have the same outside diameter as a copper pipe.
