faucetplumbingplumbing-fixtureshutoffvalve
I'm about to connect my new faucet supply lines to my new sharkbite valves. The valves came with these copper rings and I am wondering what they are and should I leave them in when connecting the supply lines.
Also, do I need to use plumber's tape for this connection?
There are flexible hoses made for connecting to water heaters but they are usually only a few feet long and are only meant to make it easier to swap the heater for maintenance. They are also much larger, usually 3/4" size, because they are feeding the entire house. The hoses you show in the picture are 3/8" and are only meant to serve a single small fixture.
If you are trying to go around obstacles consider using PEX tubing. You can connect a push-in fitting (like sharkbite) to the copper end and then run flexible PEX around the corner as long as you support it every few feet. However you may need to switch back to copper for the last 18" near the heater due to code restrictions on using PEX directly to the heater. The push-in fittings are more expensive but can be used for PEX to copper connections and require no soldering.
That's most likely a copper pipe covered in solder. You can try scraping the solder off to see if you get down to some copper to verify. A copper pipe cutter is cheap and easy to use:
Get this onto the pipe a close to the valve as you can, tighten the screw until it's snug, and spin it around the pipe making sure to keep spinning on the same location (you're making a cut, not treading the pipe or making a spiral). After every few turns, tighten the screw a little more and eventually the pipe will break off. Clean the pipe with some emery paper, and install a new compression style valve (this only requires a few wrenches (crescent or fixed, not a pipe wrench or pliers if you want to avoid teeth marks). If you removed too much of the pipe, you may need to replace the escutcheon with a flatter style.
Best Answer
Here is the correct answer to the question as it is written.
The copper ring is a ferrule, which is part of a compression fitting.
You absolutely need the copper Ferrule for a watertight connection, and plumbers tape is not necessary when this type of connection is installed properly.
If you do not know what a copper Farrule is and what a compression fitting is than you need to learn before you try to install this valve.
I have no way of knowing if you have the correct part for the plumbing task that you are trying to accomplish. If you edit your question with more details and photos then I may be able to help.