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The photographed PEX radius of curvature is approximately 2 feet.

  • What is a reasonable curvature for PEX piping?

  • What is the minimum RoC?

I ask because if I can avoid using a 90 degree shark bite, that is one less failure (leak) point. Although I really like the idea of one less failure point, I need to be careful not to introduce a curve that will weaken the pipe and cause a burst. The PEX piping runs through the plenum of an office.

enter image description here

gatorback
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1 Answers1

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The minimum bending radius or PEX is 8 times the outside diameter of PEX, (8 x OD). For 1/2" PEX with OD of 5/8", minimum bending radius is 8 x 5/8" = 5".

OD's for 5/8" PEX is.75", 3/4" PEX is .875" and 1" pex is 1.125"

So minimum bending radius for 5/8" PEX is 6", for 3/4" PEX is 7", and for 1" PEX is 9"

These are the minimum bending radii so anything over that is reasonable.

JACK
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  • I neglected to mention that the piping is 3/4". Is there a good reference (link)? Thanks! – gatorback Sep 17 '20 at 02:15
  • https://www.pexuniverse.com/pex-tubing-technical-specs ? – gatorback Sep 17 '20 at 02:33
  • @gatorback I had a tradesman handbook that I got my info out of but this works too, same results but always check with vendors. – JACK Sep 17 '20 at 02:37
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    Good answer - also not that they sell plastic corner bend fasteners that are usually at the max. – DMoore Sep 17 '20 at 05:17
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    And those corner supports are helpful if trying to go as tight as possible, since they help prevent overdoing it or kinking. – Ecnerwal Sep 17 '20 at 12:56