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I was able to get 500' of plastic tubing to run water and compressed air to a barn. The tubing is made by Advanced Drainage Systems, and described as 1 in. x 500 ft. CTS 250 psi NSF Poly Pipe in Blue. Perfect for my application, UNTIL I found out that it requires a pack joint fitting. Apparently. And those are on the order of $50 each. With three lines, I am looking at $300 just to connect to the tubing.

Is there someone with more experience who can suggest an alternative? Like a standard barb fitting (which my guess is will not be the right diameter).

Any guidance is welcome.

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  • If you are running at 250psi then use those connectors.. if not then others may work. Up to you to see.
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Jul 15, 2021 at 20:03
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    If the tubing is rated at 250 you should have no problem using barbed fittings at 150 or less. If trying to use at 200 psi best to go with the factory fittings.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Jul 15, 2021 at 20:18
  • Leave some extra on each end and if your experiment does not work you can change it. Take a short piece to your local Box store and see if they can help.
    – Gil
    Commented Jul 16, 2021 at 2:39
  • I am specifically looking for what fits. It's a 70 minute run to get to a reasonable hardware store, and the selection is limited. So I am really looking for tried and successful methods of using connectors other than the prescribed pack joint fitting.
    – mongo
    Commented Jul 17, 2021 at 21:54

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The CTS in the tube designation means "copper tube size." This implies that the tube is sized by outside diameter and wall thickness. It follows that you might be able to use fittings from other CTS-sized tubes. Maybe a push-on "sharkbite" or similar will work. Do note that, especially with relatively soft plastic tubes, an internal stiffener may be required. This is because the pipe is retained in such fittings by forces applied from the exterior of the pipe -- but if the pipe is soft, and there's no stiffener inside the pipe to help out, then the walls of the pipe may collapse a little bit and allow the pipe to escape from the fitting.

CTS probably implies that PEX crimp bands would fit the outside of the tube. Depending on its wall thickness barbed PEX fittings may or may not fit well inside the tube..

If you do find some kind of barbed fitting that does fit inside the tube well, some kind of clamp on the exterior may be a good piece of insurance. The worm screw type hose clamp is the long-time standard, but if a copper PEX band or especially an Oetiker pinch clamp fits, they might be better choices. The Oetiker clamp is becoming more popular for PEX but it is offered in a wide range of sizes to fit other round things.

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