A Commentary on UPONOR PEX Pipes by Joe Ludlow

[@kevinroberts4809]

Well you can see it turned yellow so it's been in the UV which it says you can't expose any packs too until UV light more than 30 days.

[@JoeLudlow]

You are intentional misleading the public. Ferguson supply stores the pipe indoors at all times. I expose the pipe to ultra violet light less that 1 hour during the repipe prosses. This pipe got less than 1 hour of UV light. I know why the pipe failed and it not an UV failure. You should apologize to the public.

[@Drillmechanic]

@@JoeLudlow Thermo-oxidative destruction during PEX-A production causes these structural damages! Right?

[@Colbster1995]

Hot water is what causes the yellow color. Go into any house with uponor, everywhere you go you will find cold water lines are clear and hot lines are yellow. The UV causes faded lettering and damages the pipes integrity.

[@TechnicalLee]

The rings have discolored, which indicates the piping was likely exposed to some type of damaging condition. Ozone, bleach/chlorine fumes, UV rays, too much heat, etc. If you see discoloration like this, the material is damaged and should be replaced immediately. The yellowed polymer is brittle and will crack easily. The red and blue Uponor pipe is now also considered defective, as the color coating process damages the outside of the pipe, making it prone to microcracking near expansion joints. I feel it was the combination of a defective product and exposure to damaging conditions that caused this leak.

[@JoeLudlow]

This pipe was not exposed to any damaging condition of any kind. No Ozone, bleach/chlorine fumes, UV rays, too much heat, none of that is true and that is why Uponor paid me to repipe the house. I repeat there was no damaging exposure of any kind. Pex A Wirsbow (White pipes) fail. Uponor pex A Red fails and has been removed from the market. Uponor pex A blue fails and has been removed from the market. The new product line that replaced the red and blue has not fixed there fundamental problem. Unfortunate. I really like everyone at Uponor.

[@xephael3485]

This is exactly what I was thinking...

[@Drillmechanic]

Short Uponor pipes should be expanded on both sides at the same time to avoid fitting damages !

[@JoeLudlow]

Not true .

[@JoeLudlow]

Not True

[@bobdobbs7828]

@@JoeLudlow no it's true

[@Trahloc]

Even if true what does it have to do with the test he's doing? The pipe itself is showing pinhole damage, not wear damage from vibrations on a sharp piece of pipe fitting.

[@Drillmechanic]

@@Trahloc Probably freezing causes damage like this on video.

[@mr.dandiy]

This video is 100% consistent with what is happening to Uponor red Pex. My home was built in 2016, and starting November 2021 until now I have had 13 pin hole leaks. All leaks are on the 3/4 hot water supply lines. Some of the fittings turned yellow just like in the video. The same has been happening to other homes in my subdivision. Almost a dozen homes so far. Uponor approved my neighbor's warranty claim across the street which was the 1st claim in my subdivision, and then denied my claim. Great video..... More people need to know what is going on.

[@gsu1612]

I see you posted this about a month ago, any new updates on your claim with uponor? My house was built same year as yours and I am also experiencing many leaks in my sub floor underneath my second floor. What did uponor actually cover in the claim? I’ve got some serious work that’s going to need to be done to replace all of mine.

[@JoeLudlow]

You will not know how to handle the claim and because you are laymen and you will get yourself disqualified.

[@JoeLudlow]

@@gsu1612 The same is true for you. You are a laymen you will not know how to handle the claim and you will get your own claim disqualified.

[@gsu1612]

@@JoeLudlow thank you for the tip. I will follow up with a certified plumber and see if they will help me with the process. Especially if they can receive the work to fix it all. Seems they would be willing to help.

[@mr.dandiy]

@@JoeLudlow Please share your knowledge.

[@canoeshoe]

It yellows from the inside. A lot of times hot water or chloramines will cause it to yellow. I have clear uponor and i can see it yellowing after 6 months already. Joe knows what he's doing.

[@jonc5152]

I'm going to repipe my house and decided on uponor.... Im VERY interested to hear what this guy has to say but he comes across as an old cranky jerk with a bone to pick. Given the enormous amount of uponor out there, you can find a failure of every type... the question to answer is how prevalent is this? He doesn't provide data to show this is a trend, vs spurious. To be clear, I do appreciate his effort to share his experience and opinions, he is doing good work and cares about the product he installs in customers' homes.

[@plumberman5369]

This guy was bought out by zurn products. Watch his other videos. he's a hack

[@johnbeckwith1361]

Then that is all Zurn is doing for marketing, pay some plumber to rip apart their competition. I can't imagine Zurn's marketing department being that bad. Uponor's name is virtually everywhere. And they did recall their pipe not to long ago. Perhaps this is a case where too many fell in love with Uponor too fast and now they refuse to acknowledge the faults? But there are ways for manufacturers to cover-up failures. Schluter has failures (I'm both a tile guy and a plumber), forums take down posts showing them, tile setters refuse to believe the stuff might not be what they say it is. It works, just not all of the time. But I digress, this guy has vids pushing Uponor, copper, and Zurn. Its all a big contradiction. Time will tell what is what...

[@gregorymoats4007]

@@johnbeckwith1361ou guys don’t seem to understand this fellow changes his mind and method when new updates and information present themselves. That’s professional and honorable. I’ve been a builder/ remodeler for 35 years. This fellow has my ear…

[@Damitsall]

Or maybe he just has better luck with their pipe. PexB Zurn is known to hold up better to chlorination than PexA. If anyone is buying out plumbers it's Uponor.

[@jon4231748]

I've known about the minimum distance between fittings for over 15 years bud. I was certified in 2004 through uponor at the local supply house

[@JoeLudlow]

The minimum Standards have changed over the years. They thought that lengthening the distances between fittings would reduce the pipe failures near the fittings. It did not reduce the failures.

[@GlennInLaguna]

I have been told it is the pipe manufacturing coloring process. That they are now making uncolored hot pipe with red labeling for identification. There are class action lawsuits, but those are only good for the lawyers litigating them, not the unlucky customers.

[@JoeLudlow]

The Red, The White and The Blue all fail.!!!! The Class action layers only understand 5% of the problems that are causing Uponor failures. Red coat. Blue coat. Clear coat all fail from the outside in and also fail from the inside out 95% of the time. The inside out failures caused by the effects of chlormine (ammonia) not the undulations on the inside of the pipe.

[@nictaitingfong795]

Uv exposure and we've never had an issue with upnors minimum distance requirements

[@IWBVS]

Wait, so do we know what pex brand Joe likes now? Thought he's been preaching Uponor for decades.

[@1psyurmind200]

It seems that this company knows that there is something wrong. However if your house is leaking what can you do?

[@IWBVS]

Ah he's pushing zurn pexB now. Wish we had more info on where this piece came from, how old it is, where it was connected, etc

[@hdtvkeith1604]

My plan is to use Zurn and still debating between Expansion and cinch fittings on the Zurn.

[@plumbbuild6517]

I had switched to Zurn and after a couple new pipes, the pipe on the end after expansion broke in half on a couple fittings so I started crimping the zurn and switched over to Legend to see how I like it and so far so good but who knows, I still have near a thousand ft of Zurn and about the same in uponor, with PEX its damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[@hdtvkeith1604]

@@plumbbuild6517 I get that, there is no great Pex solution, they all,have trade offs. I would up getting Uponor because by me Zurn sticks were I possible to find. Then I was going to use Rehau, but some of there fittings were back ordered for months and I wanted to use mfg fittings to avoid any potential warranty issues should they arise.

[@plumbbuild6517]

@@hdtvkeith1604 yeah I was having problems finding uponor fittings and zurn fittings on a big 4 bathroom job I just Rough-in not long ago but I finally got some big fitting orders come in and now I should be pretty much set for the next couple jobs. And any repairs.

[@rogereprest]

@@hdtvkeith1604 forget about the warranty your never see a dime get clear pex keep it out of the sun & temp under 140 been using wirsbo since 1995 & never had 1 problem These problem come from track & apt plumbers

[@kimberHD45]

“It’s clear your engineers have never done repipe or worked in confined spaces…” Hence their decision to be engineers. Which, by the way, is the problem with engineers across all industries, and why everyone in the trades who works on the crap they design fantasizes from time to time about working them over with a lead pipe.

[@deblalonde1226]

Explain the yellowing rings. None of the Uponor I installed in my home have turned yellow. I doubt these are Uponor brand or they were stored god only knows where. I think you are dishonest,

[@strangehappenings8682]

They do turn yellow

[@lloydjones9401]

@@strangehappenings8682 approximately long does this take? I have three year old piping that looks as good as it did when new.

[@woodworking5979]

@@strangehappenings8682 hate to tell you I just visited it a home that was pipe for this 15 years ago and none of the rings have turned yellow this guy is being represented by Pex b i’ve seen many of those copper crimp rings fail in the houses not pex a

[@codyhauska6589]

Class action lawsuit on the red coated uponor because of cracking. Now it’s white uponor with red lettering.

[@garagekeys]

And blue

[@JoeLudlow]

The Red, The White and The Blue all fail.!!!! The Class action layers only understand 5% of the problems that are causing Uponor failures. Red coat. Blue coat. Clear coat all fail from the outside in and also fail from the inside out 95% of the time. The inside out failures caused by the effects of chlormine (ammonia) not the undulations on the inside of the pipe.

[@JoeLudlow]

@@garagekeys The Red, The White and The Blue all fail.!!!! The Class action layers only understand 5% of the problems that are causing Uponor failures. Red coat. Blue coat. Clear coat all fail from the outside in and also fail from the inside out 95% of the time. The inside out failures caused by the effects of chlormine (ammonia) not the undulations on the inside of the pipe.

[@jonathanmcdougal8252]

It’s not rated for sunlight

[@sethpawlik]

Couldn't you use PEX-B in a spot like that and use PEX-A in the rest of the job?

[@snailracer3773]

IMO, this to me proves PEX B is better. If you have to use PEX B at all on a job because the PEX A is prone to fail, why not just do all of the job in the same better material?

[@waytospergtherebro]

Well we've got an old man grumbling at a camera about his career choices instead of presenting anything that could possibly resemble evidence of a faulty product. Can't imagine why he's not being taken seriously.

[@xyvyx]

Yeah, he starts ranting at 2:30 about how their length requirements can't be met... but as shown clearly in the diagram/chart, that length includes the overlap of the fitting & its shorter for the smaller diameters that'd be used w/ the stub-outs through drywall or whatnot. The whole thing is also clearly UV-exposed, so I can't imagine it being taken seriously.

[@bryanfunk5918]

@@xyvyx Pipe was pulled out of a bathroom first floor ceiling. Alot of UV in the walls?

[@JoeLudlow]

@@xyvyx Uponor paid me $19,000.00 to repipe this house. Uponor does not pay for UV damaged pipe. What do you do for a living

[@JoeLudlow]

Uponor takes ever word I say seriously that is why they have paid me to repipe many homes.

[@adjbob56]

@@JoeLudlow You showed a mock up of demonstration outside of a house. No one paid a dime to "repipe that house"

[@plumbbuild6517]

That alittle strange to have the rings turn yellow the plumber I learned from had been plumbing with wirsbo then uponor for many years none of his jobs has turned yellow some of his jobs had blue and red expansion rings but never yellow.

[@strangehappenings8682]

That happens over time

[@woodworking5979]

It’s been exposed to UV light I install uponor pipe all the time no problems at all.

[@JoeLudlow]

1) Uponor does not pay for UV light exposure. 2) Uponor removed the red and blue pipe from the market before you wrote this. 3) Uponor paid me to repipe this house and they do not pay for UV light exposure failures. 4) Why did you not know this if you install Uponor all the time. 5) the lawsuits against Uponor are growing as more and more people have pipe failures.

[@woodworking5979]

@@JoeLudlow Sounds like he was looking for a free handout due to you being in California most of you are over there usually do we’ve never had a problem with it at all over here on the East Coast in the Boston area

[@woodworking5979]

@@JoeLudlow and I seriously doubt a couple homeowners are going to put the pex a maker underwater that could be the reason to KZbin channel never did grow so ur clout chasing

[@gregorymoats4007]

@@woodworking5979you don’t take correction well, do you?…

[@paulfox521]

Ive seen 20 year old pex do that on a hot line

[@chriss1183]

Incompetence. Love my uponor. Best pex around.

[@1psyurmind200]

Uponor no longer sales the red or blue. The Red and Blue is only being sold by third party.

[@josegarcia-th3pj]

so no use pex at all

[@Thedesertplumber]

should be cut to 6" or longer per uponor

[@WLDxCHLD]

Time to get rid of this option IMO

[@SlaviJordanov]

Why are you so desperate to sell your product? Of course you can do a repipe and meet the minimum size requirements. In fact we have done thousands...

[@danieldeasy6051]

Never told us why. Could b one of several causes.

[@Chicago_Clout]

If you can't hold the camera correct, you can't do plumbing.

[@anonymousbaros4424]

Lot of Uponor fan boys in here, He's trying to show a problem that a huge corporation doesn't care to address, they're avoiding claims and waiting till a lawsuit meanwhile millions of a possibly defective product are being sold still, I hope it's in your own house and you're too old to repipe it 🤣

[@ryanknuth6915]

Uponor is great.run it every job and never leaks

[@woodworking5979]

Duh been in the sun UV rays it will fail

[@JoeLudlow]

This Pipe was never in the sun UV rays that is why uponor paid me to replace it.

[@woodworking5979]

@@JoeLudlow also u wAs bought our by zurn pex so please got jump on the ocean

[@davidwilliams8788]

@@JoeLudlow what is the best pipe to use in re piping a house ?

[@mikeyangel1067]

Wrong Pex types; you mixed Pex B fitting with Pex A. Simple

[@IntegrityRepipeInc]

Yes Pex A Uponor and Pex B Zurn are approved for the F1960 Cold Expansion Fittings.

[@almeidasheatingandplumbing]

hahaahaha I also know an old man who still makes lead pipes lol

[@peterock8678]

Switch to viega. Problem solved.

[@mr.redneck2715]

Heat the pipe

[@1psyurmind200]

I have a friend that is looking to but a house in Georgia I told her not to buy a house with Uponor plumbing.

[@JamesBrown-db9pk]

good job joe i cant even get plasti fittings fro uponor un real

[@kathyern861]

Looks like some of that "discontinued, faulty" red-colored pipe. Uponor no longer makes red-colored pipe, right? And as for not being able to run new pipes, I have never seen a "totally, completely, utterly, impossible" plumbing application. I'm glad Thomas Edison and Elon Musk never met someone with your grumpy, whiny discouraging attitude. Read some of the other comments here. The main factor causing the failure is the pipe. The main factor causing the failure to resolve this situation is your attitude.

[@extremeskierx528]

Class action lawsuit against uponor. I've called after just testing a system I just finished and all fittings leak. I'll absolutely never use it again. What I see on his fitting is that the sleeve isn't on far enough you can see red pipe not close enough to the end. I warmed the pipe because of the 20⁰ Temps and everything seemed to be going well. Not a chance I'll never use it again

[@jasonfrake8018]

Awesome video

[@Hardworkwork777]

Copper haters are looking for excuses

[@hogi99]

Uponor, I see bankruptcy in your future. 🫡