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Wow... glad to see I am not the only one that is working on the PB tubing replacement for the trailer... it seems that AS used the worst stuff they could when they built the thing... so we too started with a slow seepage at one of the fittings.. .and progressed to a drip and wet area... not good... So we replaced all the tubing with new PEX red, blue and white...
We found a great way to pull it through... on some sweeps... by crimping a fitting into the old tube.. and the new PEX... and then pulling the old through the retainers... seemed to work on a few of the sweeps...
We tried to keep the tubing sweeps without many fittings... as AS did... but the new PEX is a tougher material... and so you have to use brass 90 fittings... to get around things...
I used the copper crimp rings on all my fittings... (brass) and a good set of tools... such as apollo, sharkbite (US made) and my best tool for the job the Ridgid hand crimping tool...that has the 45 deg head.. for tight places... but, after all the fittings... I now have a killer grip when I shake hands... its made things painful at first working on the hand strength...(grin)
As to the water input... I got a Sharkbite Drop Ear Elbow, Lead Free, .5 Brass Pex Barb x .5-In. FPT fitting at the local big box store... and then you screw in the hose adapter... it is the right size for the 1/2 in PEX Tubing... and you make up the run before you put it in... in my case I went from the drop ear elbow... to PEX to a 90 brass to the input of the water pressure regulator... that has the tie in union... The only ting that is of consern is the PEX is UV sensitive... so I put the 1/2 in PEX inside a piece of plastic pipe tubing that is not sensitive... Working from the outside.. feed it through the existing holes up through the floor.. and in... at the rear of the trailer...
Now the fitting you have... might be the expansion PEX one... for it you use a PEX tubing expanding tool... which make the PEX larger inside for a few seconds.. push the fitting in and let the tube memory come back... locking the fitting in place... its a common way that houses are plumbed.. and they don't use compression rings... they allow the PEX.. which can expand 1.5 x its org size... to come back to its normal size after expanding it to get the fitting in... PEX is pretty tough stuff... and it has self healing memory...so they say... and show in youtube...
I found that my major investments were in brass fittings (cha-ching$) and tools... but getting good tools...is worth it...
Good luck in your adventure... we found that everytime we messed with the Pb (gray stuff.. ) it started leaking.. and as others said... now is the time to get it out of their and put good stuff back in... The only problem is the tubing and fittings... are made for homes.. and RV's such as AS use special ones... poooo.. but hey now its home qualified and easy to get parts for... just have to go 90's and crimp rings.. as the PEX is much more stiff... (grin)
Changing the old stuff out... to the new PEX is a much better idea... so as not to wet the floor... and have leaks while on the road... Its not that expensive.. but getting to places after the cabnets are in place... is a pain... brused and lots of strain on the bod...
Also a lot of people are looking at plastic fittings, sharkbite push on fitting and all... I wouldn't use 'em... even though they are quicker/cheaper/easier... they don't seem to hold up... don't get cheap... do it right the first time... and enjoy....
Most of the RV industry now are using the stainless steel locking rings... that are a little more expensive. but hold up pretty good.. and only takes one tool to tighten up the rings... The copper band type compression rings are like wearing a belt with suspenders... but, are more difficult to install...
G.M>
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