Our home water comes into the house from in the ground to about 2’ above ground. It is copper 3/4”. There is a gate valve in the above ground portion to shut off water to the house. We live in south Florida, so there is never a freeze issue with this kind of setup. The gate valve never fully shuts off the water. There is always a small trickle. I want to add a ball valve into the line. The guy at the big box store suggested a Sharkbite slip type ball valve. You cut out 2” of the copper pipe and slip one end over the lower section of pipe then use the special tool to release the valve and engage the upper section. My question is: Is the Sharkbite a good solution for this or is there some reason to to sweat solder a new valve. Part of my issue is that where the copper turns into the concrete wall there is zero play and I dug up the in ground and found a transition to 1” pvc and a tee to the irrigation system which makes the bottom part fixed with no movement possible. The slip Sharkbite would solve the problem but I want to be sure it is OK to use.
The top valve is the gate valve and the valve below it is a hose silcock. My plan is to cut in the new Sharkbite below the hose silcock.

 

I don't see any reason not to use a sharkbite there. It's accessible, it's outside. If there ever a problem with it you'll be able to see it. Obviously you'll have to clean off the paint.

 

I have a 3/4 Sharkbite that’s been on a copper pipe now for years, and no problem. But as previously noted you have to get the paint off of the pipe where you connect and get the pipe shiny clean. But that’s not a problem.

 

I don't see any issue with using a slip Sharkbite valve there.

The other alternative would be to cut the copper where you marked, then cut the PVC below. Solder in a new valve at the red mark, then just add a new bit of copper pipe down and elbow into the PVC. More work, but certainly doable if you wanted to go the non-sharkbite route.

 

Maybe I should also remove the 20 year old gate valve and the old hose bib. I could unsolder the top elbow, use a new elbow, a 2” cu pipe, the new ball valve, a new tee with hose bib and join the existing copper verticle pipe to the new tee. I am thinking that would make a neater looking installation.
I did look at one site that said not to use Sharkbite where it is exposed to UV since it will make the plastic parts of the device brittle. We shure do have a lot of UV here in South Florida. I guess I could wrap the parts in a fusible type tape they suggest. Of course, one should not believe everything on the internet is correct.

 

If you're going thru the effort to change multiple devices.... go with the soldered in parts.
The Sharkbite is a quick no-muss no-fuss repair if you can't solder.