O2 barrier

[Duetech]

HI Boiler Room,
I found I may have a pending problem with my boiler. At the time I put it in (06) I was not aware there was such a thing as O2 barrier pex. Now I find out that if I did not use O2 barrier pex I might be contributing to a potential problem with my system. My question is "Is there any one out there that can tell me what problems and what signs to look for? Also what is O2 barrier pex compared to regular pex. Is there some type of O2/water/heat/non O2 pex oxygenation thing going on where my O2 scavenger additive is going to need periodic replacement? Or is it a critical type of "replace your pex NOW thing? If anybody can help me I surely would appreciate it. Thanks up front...Cave2k

 

[free75degrees]

I was in a very similar situation. When I had my current heating system installed they used Watts aqua pex (non-barrier) for the baseboard heat supplies. The boiler and tank they installed stated in their manuals that all pex was supposed to have an o2 barrier, but I didn't know better at the time. Now the company that did the install is out of business so i had no recourse. A couple weeks ago the hot water tank had a catastrophic leak and I had to replace it. I am not sure if this had to do with the pex or not but there is a good possibility that it did.

I tried to do some research a couple months ago to find some answers there is not a lot of info out there. I talked to an engineer at watts and he didn't have any definite answers. He basically said that to know for sure how bad the non-barrier pex is for hydronic systems somebody would have to do a study and nobody has ever done it that he knew of.

I ended up buying a couple rolls of Fostapex (with an Aluminum o2 barrier) and replaced a couple hundred feet of pex that was accessible from my basement. I still have about 80 feet that i didn't replace because it is inside of finished walls. My plan is to use anti-corrosive chemicals for now. In a couple years I plan to finish my attic which will require some plaster work, so I'll probably break open the walls and replace the rest of the pex at that time so that i can do all of the plaster at the same time.

I think the bottom line is that you will have a hard time getting some definite answers on this. I would replace as much of the pex as you can just to be safe though. If it is accessible you can do it all in a few days of hard work.

 

[Duetech]

Thanks free75degrees,
Why was I afraid of that? Well the pex I bought came from Menards so I feel safe assuming the O2 barrier went to the saving of big money@Menards. I have recently decided to change plans for storage and will have to dig up my pex line any how. I will monitor the color of my boiler water and try to keep a healthy supply of O2 scavengers going. I'll try to query Menards before I get too rambunctious but I think I already know the drill. I'm just thankful that one of the members here alerted me to a problem that may be lurking out yonder looking for a place to land. Maybe somebody else has had a go at this and can offer us some input. Thanks again and good luck with your refit...Cave2k