Removing Sharkbite Fitting In A Tight Space

Anybody have a trick for removing a Sharkbite fitting in a tight space? The fitting is an end stop and it's hard to reach. I can only push the orange horsehoe remover tool against the fitting. I can't pull the fitting from the other end.

Would I make problems for myself if I grabbed the remover tool with some vice grips and gave those a whack with a hammer?

Probably. Put the orange thing on the tubing, then "pull" on it with a "wrecking bar".

As I wrote, I cannot get to it to pull. I can only push.

The collar has to be pushed at the fitting. I can't visualize how whacking it with a hammer would help you at all.Look at what you have to do, and make a tool that's better suited for the job. It must be snug enough to the pipe or pex to slide, and still engage the collar.Or put the tool on, and use the taper of 2 screwdrivers to push it at the fitting.Or 2 wire loops behind the tool. You have to MacGuyver it yourself.

You said you can get the 'removal tool' between it and the wall. If so the blade on a "wrecking bar" will fit between the wall and the tool, then you use the tool as a lever to push the "tooL" IN. You do NOT have to pull on the fitting, in fact if you did you would defeat the function of the removal tool and keep the SB tight to the tubing.

I ran into this once. I removed an elbow right at the wall, and that left a pipe sticking out barely an inch. I didn't have the parts so I capped it with a SB end cap, and turned water back on. A few days later I ran into the same problem you have, which is there is a tiny cap between the bottom of the cap and the wall, and in my case, I didn't even have room to put the orange collar around it. My solution was I do a lot of cycling as a hobby so I have some bike tools. This is a bicycle wrench and it comes in different sizes and they are thin. I have both English and Metric sets and I found one that will go around the 1/2" pipe snug, then I pull the wrench away from the wall, compressing that "ring", meanwhile I pushed the end cap towards the wall. A few tries and it came loose. Edited 1 times.

When it comes to a SharkBite removal tool, why use anything else? One size fits all.

m & m, in my case I didn't even have enough of a gap to push an adjustable wrench behind it. The OP said he has enough room for the orange collar so may be he has the room for an adjustable wrench and that should work.

try a hack saw blade to push in

Don't whack it. Orange horseshoe so it's 3/4" pipe right? blue for 1/2". If the teeth inside the fitting are not disengaged and you whack it, they are going to bite the pipe really hard and make little nubs which will complicate your situation. The ideal is to get the release ring to press into the fitting fully and then a gentle twist and or rocking motion and it should slide right off. If the releasing tool is old and worn it won't press the releasing ring in far enough and if you've been flexing and pulling the fitting without releasing the teeth then the teeth have created bigger nubs and you'll have a more difficult time getting them to let go. Also it is counter-intuitive but there is often a little bit of push before you pull that helps it release. The horseshoe release tool must be kept tight against the fitting the entire time you are releasing it from the pipe or the teeth will just re-bite. You probably have to chisel a bit of the wall away to give yourself more working room at this point. pull the pipe out or chisel the wall enough to clamp a pair of needle nose vice grips onto the pipe to prevent it from pushing in if need be and still have room for the removal tool. The thinner bike wrench tool is a good idea. Good luck! Edited 1 times.

I'm having the same problem. But in my case I can reach the Sharkbite OK. It's simply frozen and very hard to push things the correct way at the correct time. The removal tool doesn't seem to move the ring at all. In the future I'll be using traditional compression fittings. Sharkbites certainly have their places to be used...just not everywhere.