Are Zurn Pex Fittings Breaking Down?

A contractor who has done some work for me stopped into my office yesterday.  He mentioned that a friend of his was able to buy up a number of Zurn Pex fittings because they are defective.  According to his information, the fittings contain too much Zinc and are prematurely breaking down.  I suppose any time a plumbing fitting breaks down would be premature.  This contractor must have felt the need to let me know about this since he re-plumbed 2 baths and 2 kitchens in a double of mine and I’ll let you guess what he used.  Heck, I use the same stuff.

Apparently, there is a class action lawsuit against the company, Zurn, but they continue to sell product.   This could be a bunch of BS, but I will probably switch to the plastic fittings anyway. In fact, I purchased some bulk elbows for my last Pex plumbing project.  Over the last six years, Zurn has reportedly sold more than 140 million of their brass PEX fittings.

Now, a class action suit is very often useless. The only people who collect are the attorneys.  The system is a bit rigged.  A judge imposes the settlement amount on the company and determines how much the attorneys receive.  Guess what that judge used to be?  You guessed it, an attorney.   I don’t necessarily recommend joining the class action, but it will be in your best interest to stay informed.

Here is some information that was found on a forum (TerryLove.com)

Zurn may well get into serious financial damage on this one, as the potential for enormous property damage is so high.
Here is a link to an article in Blaze news.
http://newsblaze.com/story/200708101…/topstory.html

Here is the Larson King website.
http://www.larsonking.com/

Here is a link to layers and settlements.com
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com…-plumbing.html.

Here is an article in the Bismarck Tribune about problems there.
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/artic…cal/142172.txt

Here is an informational website.
http://www.zurnclassaction.com/

If you are in the same boat as I am on this one, I would recommend that you pay close attention to your own fittings (assuming they are visible).  If they show the signs of dezincification, you should consider replacement.