Why Most Epoxy Pipe Lining Adhesions Fail (How Nuflow gets it right)
Hi everyone. Today I found a great article in Nu Flow that I know many of you will enjoy reading or possibly relate to. The original article can be found here - https://www.nuflowmidwest.com/blog/why-most-epoxy-pipe-lining-adhesions-fail-how-nu-flow-gets-it-right - if you’d like to read the article there, or I’ve pasted parts of it here to share it. It’s well worth a read.
Pipe lining is a trenchless technology that can extend the useful life of your pipes and stop pinhole leaks and leaks at the joints and seams. It’s even been known to restore severely corroded pipes. However, if the liner and pipe are not prepared correctly, the liner may experience a loss of adhesion, which would significantly reduce its expected lifespan and function.
Common Problems with Epoxy Pipe Lining
CIPP stands for Cure-in-Place pipe. During this pipe restoration technique, a PIPP (Pull-in-Place Pipe liner) is pulled through the pipe, inflated and left to cure inside the pipe. This is a very effective method of correcting common plumbing problems, including pinhole leaks and severely corroded pipes, but it only works well if the pipe and liner are properly prepared prior to the insertion. If the process is not done correctly, it can lead to significant plumbing problems in the future.
- Improper Pipe Assessment Prior to Installing the Liner
- Improper Preparation of the Existing Pipe
- Improper Installation Technique
- Pipe Lining Adhesion Failure
Hazards of Improper Installation and Pipe Lining Adhesion
Pipe lining adhesion refers to the process where the epoxy in the pipe liner adheres to the existing pipe. If the epoxy solution is mixed wrong or the liner isn’t thoroughly saturated, the pipe liner can fail to adhere to the existing pipe. This can lead to the pipe liner slipping out of place or wrinkles, bulges and tears appearing in the liner, which can significantly reduce the lifespan of the liner and contribute to further deterioration of the existing pipe.
CIPP Lining Process
If your pipes are good candidates for the lining process, our pipe lining experts will clean and prepare the pipe for installation. Next, we prepare the liner. Our liners are covered by white felt, which helps us make sure that the epoxy has been applied correctly.
We start by laying the liner across a mat. Next, we open one end of the pipe liner and pour 100 percent epoxy into the liner. We then use heavy rollers to evenly spread the epoxy. This turns the white felt blue, letting us know that the epoxy has thoroughly saturated the CIPP liner.
Once the liner has been thoroughly saturated with epoxy, we score the ends of the liner with vertical and crisscrossed lines and a crisscross pattern in the middle. This helps ensure proper pipe lining adhesion to the existing pipe.
Next, we prepare the liner for insertion and use a special machine to pull the pipe through your existing pipe. Once the pipe liner is in place, we use a black inflatable bladder to inflate the liner and press it against the sides of your existing plumbing pipe. The bladder is then deflated and removed.
The pipe liner takes about four hours to fully cure, and once it’s cured, it is just as strong as a 'regular' plumbing pipe. In fact, if the existing pipe were to completely crumble away from the liner, the liner would still operate normally as if it were the original pipe.
This author seems to write some great stuff and well worth following.
If there is any other info you’d like me to search out and share in the world of Construction then please let me know. Or, if you have any other pressing needs in my area, feel free to reach out on (0418) 760646 or visit https://www.nuflowtech.com.au.
Thanks,
Ed