Heat Shrink Sleeves Technical Assistance

Need Technical Assistance with Heat Shrink Sleeves?  

We Can Help!

     Sometimes people think JSI is nothing more than a distribution center for Covalence and Raychem heat shrink sleeves.  While we ARE that; we are also much, much more.  We do carry other product lines as well; but I won't get into that here.

     We are also you resource for technical questions, installation issues, specification help and engineered solutions.  Several times a month, I receive phone calls from folks all over the world with questions about our products.  Sometimes it could be an engineer wanting to go over his pipeline project details to determine if the Covalence heat shrinkable product he has selected is the correct product or not (sometimes it is; sometimes is on the verge of a major catastrophe!).

     Other times, a contractor somewhere in the world is calling to double check that the sleeve width he is using for his project is sufficient.  Sometimes I'm asked if an installation step can be skipped or modified due to some unforeseen complication at the job site.  Sometimes I'm asked if we can mix and match different products from our product line to solve a major field problem that has been difficult to solve.  Sometimes I'm asked for a use history for a specific product line.

     One thing that all of these scenarios have in common:  these are all projects where I did not supply the shrink sleeves.  Wait.  That's weird, isn't it?  Customers all over the world (including the USA) purchased heat shrink sleeves from a source; but when they had technical questions about the product; that source was either unable or unwilling to help them.  A customer somewhere made money from the sale of shrink sleeves for a pipeline project; but when their customer came back after the fact with questions; the customer is told "sorry, can't help you" - which leads the customer to the internet; which hopefully leads the customer to us. 

     I say hopefully, because even if a customer didn't buy his sleeves from me; I still want to make sure he is using the proper product; installed in the proper way.  I want to be certain that customers (no matter where they purchased) are getting correct, honest answers.  That is the only way I know to do business.  So, if you've got a shrink sleeve question or problem - give us a call.  We're eager to help you; even if we didn't happen to get the business this time.

How Do I Coat a Buried Flange?

Question:  How do I coat a buried flange?

Answer:  SIMPLE!  We have a product called Flangeseal (FS for short)

that is designed for exactly this application. 

Covalence Flangeseal is the perfect product for coating flanges.

Flangeseal is made from a high expansion, high density polyethylene shrink sleeve.  

It is manufactured with a fiber mesh woven into the PE backing; this gives it excellent

abrasion and penetration resistance.  The fact that it is a high shrink product (shrinking ~66%)

means that it can bridge the large gap that is typically found between flange OD's and pipe OD's. 

As if that is not enough; it gets better.  Flangeseal is supplied with an option cardboard sheet.  

If that cardboard sheet is wrapped around the flange prior to installing the FS shrink sleeve, 

the flange has now become a re-enterable flange.  With a razor knife (and probably a lot of

sweat), the flangeseal can be cut off; pulling the cardboard away with it; giving

complete access to the flange (anything that the cardboard was touching).

 To get an idea of installation; look at the following installation video for Caseal.  

Flangeseal is made from the same material and would behave very much like this.

Call today for pricing; but PLEASE have the OD of the flange and the OD of the pipe handy

as we need both dimensions to be certain we are offering a product that will 

do exactly what you are expecting it to do.

Field Joint Coating for Zaplock Pipe?

Question:  I have Zap-Lok pipe, will your heat shrink sleeves work to coat the field joint?

Answer:  Yes. Absolutely and it is done often.  Though some in the industry would maintain that Zap-lok pipe does not require any kind of a field joint coating; my professional opinion is that there absolutely must be a field joint coating on this sort of pipe.  In addition, it is my understanding that the machinery used to push the zap-lok pipe together often actually causes some amount of minor damage to the factory applied coating (FBE most of the time).

So, not only do I believe a shrink sleeve should be used on the field joint; I also believe you need to have heat shrink sleeves on hand to repair any potential damage caused by the machinery.  In cases like this, we quite often see a 34" wide heat shrink sleeve used to seal up the "field joint" AND reach over to coat adjacent factory applied coating that might have experienced damage. 

I think the Zap-Lok system appears to be a very good one in it's speed and in its reliability.  I just think (again, my personal opinion) that the epoxy they use is insufficient as an actual field joint coating working to prevent corrosion to that uncoated area of pipe. 

Same Day Shipping for Raychem and Covalence

     Here is one I get on a weekly basis:  HELP!  We forgot to order the shrink sleeves and we now have pipe welded and ready to to -- but no shrink sleeves at the job site!  Can you help us?

     We've been doing this a long time.  We started as a direct field office for Raychem Corporation and since the mid 1990's, we've been Joint Specialists.  We do not have any fantasies about the place of field joint coatings in the oil and gas pipeline world.  We know that we are almost always the last detail to be considered (even though we are incredibly, critically important to the life of your pipeline).  So, we are used to being an afterthought and it is for just that reason that we utilize our 30+ years of experience to make sure that we keep just about anything you could possibly need sitting on the shelf; ready to go.

     I'd say that 90% of orders placed with us ship same day.  Another 8% ship one day after order receipt (most of the time this is because the order was placed after 4pm and we just can't get a truck here in time).  It is only about 2% of orders placed with us that don't ship right away.  So, if you've got an emergency; you've found the right people.  Give us a call and let us get to work...so that you can get to work.

Pipeline News Round Up 8/22/13

Pipeline News Round Up 8/22/13

- Second quarter saw Northwest Pipe's tubular sales fall 18% versus 2012 (read more here).

- Smart Pigs failing to find cracks in pipeline?  (Exxon seems to think so) (Read more here)

- Landslide causes pipeline rupture (read more here)

- Sheehan Pipeline Construction employees honored for their generosity at Beech Bottom Primary School (read more here)

Recoating an Active Pipeline

     The task of recoating an active pipeline is always a very, very difficult one.  Sometimes the pipeline might be operating at a lower temperature (50F) which essentially eliminates most stand along liquid epoxies as options.  Other times; the pipe might be actively sweating which eliminates just about every possible coating.  Because the pipeline is active; the product inside of it acts as a tremendous heat sink; making pipe preheat essentially impossible.  It is very, very complicated. 

     One solution that we've offered over the years is to utilize a three layer heat shrink sleeve system.  In such a system; a liquid epoxy is used as the bonding agent between the shrink sleeve and the pipe.  This liquid epoxy acts as a replacement for 'preheating' the steel (since preheat is impossible on an active line).  Because the pipeline is cool; the epoxy typically goes on in a VERY thick coat (much like honey).  The sleeve is then wrapped around the wet, uncured epoxy and shrunk in place.  The heat that is generated from the propane torch while shrinking the heat shrink sleeve (which shrinks at ~270F) goes a great ways toward helping the liquid epoxy to properly cure.

     In such a system, you end up with the strengths of a liquid epoxy and the strengths of a high density PE shrink sleeve all in the same shrink sleeve system.  This sort of system can be used for coating girth welds; for completing coating repairs; or for coating long lengths of pipe.  In just about every instance, we would be recommending our S1301M liquid epoxy to be used with a suitable heat shrink sleeve (could be WPCT, HTLP60, WPC100M, HTLP80 or others). 

    

How Do I Seal Duct Work

Question:  How do I properly seal up duct work to prevent (or repair) leaks. 

Answer:  Covalence (formerly Raychem) manufactures a product called TWDB.  This stands for "Thermofit WrapAround Duct Band".  This is a heat shrinkable product that can be shrunk with a propane torch.  The sleeve product itself is a two layer heat shrink system, utilizing a heat shrinkable backing and a copolymer adhesive layer.  This adhesive layer bonds tenaciously to the substrate and when subject to the shrink force of the PE backing; the adhesive flows and fills irregularities in the substrate helping to form a proper seal.

Thermofit Wraparound Duct Bands are available in 4", 3" and occasionally 2" widths.  They are sold as rolls which are 165 feet long.  Installers cut their own bands to length (depending on the size of the duct work they are working with) and install.  A very quick, simple process.

We keep this material in stock and ready to ship same day; so call today.

Heat Shrink Sleeves for Cold Weather?

Question:  Can Covalence heat shrink sleeves be installed on pipelines 

that will ultimately be in cold environments?

Answer: Absolutely.  A simple example of this could be seen here, 

Raychem originally got their first large scale pipeline project with the

Trans Alaskan Pipeline.  Those sleeves have been in service for more than 40 years 

now and they have certainly seen a lot of snow and a lot of cold temperatures.

When installing a product in cold temperatures; one of the main points of evaluation

is going to be 'low temperature flexibility'.  The question with ltf is:  how does the backing

and the adhesive perform, when bent at an extreme angle; at extremely low temperatures?

There could be cases (as an example) where a backing might crack or an adhesive might shatter

when exposed to extremely low temperatures and bent.  For the most part, however; this 

really only applies to 'installation' temperatures.  Once a shrink sleeve is installed, it will no

longer be able to bend in extreme ways (though pipe movement does occur; it doesn't 

occur in the same manner or to the same degree as a low temp flex test would require).  

So as one example, WPC100M passed the low temperature flexibility test at -50C (-58F). 

That is pretty stinking cold.

Heat Shrink Sleeves with Green Paint

     Once upon a time, before Raychem heat shrink sleeves developed to using the PCI (permanent change indicator as seen here), they utilized a different inspection tool.  At that time; the heat shrink sleeve backing was sprayed with a green thermochromic paint.  This green paint would burn off / turn black as the proper amount of heat was applied to it leaving the backing looking something like this:

An example of the thermochromic paint installed on Raychem shrink sleeves used up through the early 1990's

     This was a fantastic system and it worked very well for a number of years.  One annoyance of this paint was that it would sometimes flake off of the backing in small amounts; so if you were working with it all day cutting, bonding, rolling, packaging; you would ultimately be covered in a light dusting of green paint.  I know this because I worked with this material all through the summer of 1989 (my senior year of high school) and beyond! 

     So, while this green paint is no longer used by what is now Covalence (formerly known as Raychem shrink sleeves), the 'meat and potatoes' of the product still remain the same; whether that is the radiation crosslinked backing or the adhesive sealant. 

Pipeline News Round-Up 8/15/13

Pipeline News Round-Up 8/15/13

News from around the Pipeline World

- Pipeline rupture in Louisiana (read more here)

- Article says there are 2.5 million miles of pipelines in the USA transporting "hazardous liquids."  That is enough miles to travel to the MOON and back....FIVE times!  (Read more here)

- Fuel pipeline explosion in IL (read more here)

- Pipeline failure caused by brittle, faulty pipe (though it did last for 70 years!).  (Read more here)

 

Heat Shrink Sleeve Packaging Info

I am commonly asked:  How many shrink sleeves come in a box and how much does it weigh?

Looking just at two of our most commonly used products (WPCT and TPS) see below for answers.

Wrap Around Shrink Sleeves

(also available in 17", 24" and 34" widths)

WPCT 2375-11/UNI

50 per box; 28# per box

WPCT 3500-11/UNI

50 per box; 36# per box

WPCT 4500-11/UNI

50 per box; 42# per box

WPCT 6625-11/UNI

35 per box; 44# per box

WPCT 8625-11/UNI

30 per box; 45# per box

WPCT 10750-11/UNI

30 per box; 51# per box

WPCT 12750-11/UNI

25 per box; 52# per box

WPCT 16000-11/UNI

15 per box; 38# per box

Tubular Shrink Sleeves 

(also available in 9" widths)

TPS 2375-18

30 per box; 17# per box

TPS 3500-18

25 per box; 21# per box

TPS 4500-18

25 per box; 25# per box

TPS 6625-18

15 per box; 21# per box

TPS 8625-18

15 per box; 27# per box

(call us at 936/321-3333 for sizes and products not listed)

     Now, we do not enforce standard box quantities for our Covalence heat shrink sleeves (formerly Raychem heat shrink sleeves), but it is simpler to give the basic information in standard box quantity increments.  To reiterate:  read about Covalence wrap around shrink sleeves here.  Read about Covalence tubular shrink sleeves here.  Read a summary of most of our product line here.

Efficient Use of S1301M Epoxy Primer

Help!  I'm running out of S-1301M epoxy

or

Help!  My crews are using too much epoxy

or

Help!  The S1301M epoxy is going as far as it is supposed to!

     It is a call I've had a number of times over the years: "This epoxy covering as many joints as it is supposed to; what am I doing wrong?"

     The S1301M epoxy is used with DIRAX, with HTLP60 and with other products.  It is designed to be applied in a very thin layer (microns).  In order to achieve that; it is very important that the crews are properly preheating the pipe before applying the epoxy.  Much like honey; the epoxy can go on a hot pipe (140F - 190F) in a very thin layer.  Apply it to a cold pipe and it will go on very thick (1/4" or more). 

     The other thing that can be done is to try to keep the epoxy kits in a warm place.  If the epoxy is 30F, it is going to be very difficult to mix; and it is going to go on thick.  On the other hand; if you keep the epoxy in a warm environment, it will be easy to mix and easy to properly apply.

     When people are over-using the epoxy, it has almost always been that they aren't preheating the pipe.  So, don't be THAT guy.  Preheat your pipe.  It will insure a better coating; it will insure a longer lasting coating; it will speed up your epoxy cure times and it will save you money (since you won't need to buy extra epoxy if you use it properly).

Can a Heat Shrink Sleeve be used to coat a 90 degree bend?

Question:  Can I use a Covalence heat shrink sleeve to coat a 90 degree bend?

An example of a 90 degree bend

Answer:  Yes and No.  A standard tubular or wrap around shrink sleeve cannot be used to coat a 90 degree bend in one fell swoop.  Picture in your mind the bend above.  Now picture that there is a more-or-less straight line pipe welded to each end.  Also, for the sake of this discussion, let's imagine that the bend above is 3 feet long (along the outer radius). 

Both wrap around shrink sleeves and tubular sleeves are manufactured from sheet material.  This means that both; when/if laid out flat (say you cut a slit down the length of the but) would leave you with a rectangular shaped heat shrinkable PE (plus the adhesive sealant).  The way shrink sleeves work (read more here) is that that plastic sheet; when properly heated is going to attempt to return to its original rectangular shape (obviously smaller than it is in the current shape).  Picture a rectangle that is 24" x 11" and after you shrink it; it becomes 18" x 11". 

All of that is explained so that I can say:  Sleeves do not conform to the shape of the substrate to which they are applied - unless that substrates' shape is conducive to a rectangle.  So - on straight line pipe where a shrink sleeve is installed to seal a girth weld; the shrink sleeve can easily wrap around the bare steel and weld (sealing tightly) and then shrink to and seal tightly to the adjacent factory applied coating.  Picture a scenario where you have a factory applied coating that is 1" thick.  As long as the installer shrinks the area of the steel first; the shrink sleeve will bond to both the bare steel and the factory applied coating and will assume the 'stair step' at each end of the girth weld. 

At the same time; picture a large flange welded to a pipe.  A shrink sleeve will seal to the flange (which is the area that would be shrunk first) and then will shrink down to the pipe forming an extremely noticeable step down to the pipe.  I give those examples to show that a heat shrink sleeve can be used in multiple scenarios where its rectangular shape work and work well.

But!  Try to install a shrink sleeve on a bend as you see above (picture a very wide shrink sleeve that attempts to coat that entire bend in one fell swoop); and you are likely to see the shrink sleeve "bridge" the bottom of that bend rather than perfectly conform to it.  This would (obviously) be a big problem! 

So - we can't coat that bend with one, very wide, shrink sleeve.  But we do still have options.  We could use smaller shrink sleeves to install one after; essentially breaking that 'bend' up into multiple small, essentially straight line sections of pipe.  That would work; but can be a little bit more complicated.

The other (and best) alternative is to simply use our Flexclad tape.  It is available in 2", 3" or 4" widths and rolls are a standard 50 feet long.  It is designed for exactly this application and has a long, successful use history. 

Ninety degree bends can pose quite a challenge when it comes to properly coating them and protecting them from corrosion.  That challenge is easily faced with our Flexclad heat shrinkable tape. 

Preventing Pipe Damage During a Bundled Directional Drill

          In today's directional drilling world, it is becoming more and more common that pipeline companies are electing to save time and money by pulling multiple pipes through a single bore hole at the same time.  Think about it; one bore and one pull instead of two or three?  There must be significant cost and time savings there.

     It does present a new wrinkle on an old challenge though.  Road bores and directional drills are and have been one of the most challenging coating scenarios dating back to the invention of boring machines.  Pipelines (and by default, their coatings) are put under an enormous amount of stress during a bore.  They are (often) bearing the weight of the pipe; subject to collisions with roots, rocks or hard soils.  They are under attack and their penetration resistance, peel resistance, shear resistance and abrasion resistance values are all put to the test.   In the world of factory applied coatings, this has led to the creation of coating systems like the plant applied Powercrete ARO (abrasion resistant overcoat) or dual layer FBE.  In the world of field joint coatings it has led to the invention of DIRAX which is absolutely unmatched in the coatings world. 

     The new wrinkle however; is:  How do you prevent the pipes in your bundle from banging into each other through out the bore; creating all kinds of damage on your factory applied coating?  This is not a simple question to answer.  Any spacers or bumpers that are used are going to be subject to the same extreme forces as the coating (as detailed above).  It isn't very hard to imagine a scenario where some kind of bumper is used (say every 20 feet along the pipes) and those bumpers are knocked loose or forced to slide down the pipe; resulting in a giant pile of bumpers about 10 feet below the beginning location of your bore!  What a nightmare that would be!  You'd end up with a couple thousand feet of pipe that is damaged before the line is even put in service!  In addition; that damage would be somewhat difficult to detect for quite a long period of time (you don't have to read very much about pipeline spills, explosions and disasters before it becomes clear that; like all corrosion prevention system: cathodic protection is often flawed; broken and/or poorly designed).

     So the question is there.  How do I secure the ~1" thick bumpers to my boring bundle to make sure they stay in place and prevent my 10" line from beating the hell out of my 12" line?  Duct tape isn't going to work.  Cold applied tape isn't going to work.  No "standard" adhesive or coating is going to work.  In order for something to be successful, it is going to have to have been specifically designed to withstand the forces of a road bore.  In this case, the forces will be even GREATER as this product will have a high profile that sticks 1" off of the pipeline!!  Talk about a tall order.

     Terrifying isn't it?  Have no fear:  DIRAX is hear.  It has been used for just this type of application.  Just the other day; talking with an experienced pipeliner who has been on the job for many years - he called to get "some more of that DIRAX, that stuff is phenomenal."  So, use DIRAX to keep your bumpers / spacers in place.  It works.  It is designed for it.  Your pipe is just too expensive to trust it to anything else.  Aside from all of that; you don't want to end up saving all of that money on a bundled road bore - just to piss it away on CP system expansion and ultimately: pipeline repairs!  Just use DIRAX to hold your bumpers in place.

Shrink Sleeves on Stainless Steel Pipe?

Question:  I have a stainless steel pipeline and I need something for a field joint coating.  Can I use Covalence Shrink Sleeves?

Can Heat Shrink Sleeves be used with Stainless Steel Pipe?

Answer:  Yes, our Covalence shrink sleeves (known from 1970-2010 as Raychem) have been used on stainless steel pipe in the past.  In our world, stainless steel pipe isn’t used nearly as often as carbon steel pipe; but we do see it from time to time.

We fully expect that the right shrink sleeve, properly installed on the stainless steel pipe will perform every bit as well as the data reported on the data sheet; reported as results of bonds to carbon steel. 

The two product choices I would most lean toward are WPCT and WPC100M.  Both utilize aggressive mastics that bond well to steel and all commonly used factory applied coatings.  If the pipeline (and the shrink sleeves) will not be buried; then WPC100M would be the product to choose.

To reiterate, this is something that has been done often.  Our experience with this product dates back to the late 1970’s.  In that time frame; we’ve sold a handful of jobs each year for stainless steel pipe.  We’ve never heard of a single issue or failure. 

Websites

We have begun building some new websites that are more specific product focused.  These sites give you a glimpse into some of the details behind the different product families that we represent, stock and supply.

www.2partepoxy.com - a site focused on Powercrete J - two of the two part epoxy pipeline coatings that we are involved with.

www.wcsmtubing.com - a site focused specifically on the work horse of the Raychem / Tyco Electronics energy product line.

www.fieldjointcoatings.com - which outlines the different technologies we sell

www.pipelinecoatingsupply.com - which is coming soon (not quite there yet) and will cover different pipeline coating options.

Three Layer Heat Shrink Sleeve System

Question:  Which Covalence heat shrink sleeve system is specifically designed to be used with three layer polyethylene (TLPE) factory applied coatings?

Answer:  HTLP60 and HTLP80 are specifically designed to recreate the factory applied TLPE coating at the field joint.  Rated to 60C or 80C (respectively) HTLP products do exactly that.  Utilizing Covalence S1301M liquid epoxy and an HTLP60 heat shrink sleeve, the HTLP heat shrink sleeve system takes the best that liquid epoxy offers; the best that high shear adhesives offer and the best that a heat shrink sleeve backing offers and bundles it all up into one cohesive; fantastic pipeline coating.

HTLP is also compatible with FBE, CTE and other commonly used pipeline coatings (though not typically PP). 

How Much Flexclad Tape Do I Need To Coat a Bend?

Question:  How do I figure out how much Flexclad Heat Shrinkable Tape I will need to coat a bend or a length of pipe?

An installed section of Flexclad.  Isn't this a good looking installed product?

Answer:  If you'd asked me three months if I'd ever be writing about mathematical formulas on this blog - I would have laughed in your face!!  But here I go.  In all cases; we are calculating based upon the Flexclad tape overlapping onto itself by 1" during the spiral wrapping process. 

 In order to calculate how many feet of tape you will need for your section of pipe; you need to know the OD of the pipe and you need to know how many linear feet of pipe you will need to cover.  In the case of the 90 in the picture above; you need the OUTER most length in linear feet (the outer curve is longer than the inner curve).  So assuming you have those:

With 2" Flexclad:  Pipe OD X 3.14 X Linear Feet of Coverage Required = the footage of Flexclad you will need.  All Flexclad is sold in 50 foot rolls; so if you require 85 feet; you will need to purchase 2 rolls.

With 3" Flexclad:  (Pipe OD X 3.14 X Linear Feet) / 2 = the footage of Flexclad you will need.

With 4" Flexclad:  (Pipe OD X 3.14 X Linear Feet) / 3 = the required footage of Flexclad.

So, there you go.  A pretty simple formula really (I think I still have nightmares about High School Physics and some of those formulas!).  If you need help; just give us a call and we'll help you figure it out!

Pipeline News Round up 8/2/13

Pipeline News Round Up 8/2/13

- US Investigating more claims of pipe dumping – including Taiwan, South Korea, India, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam (read more here).

- Tragic accident at Columbia Pipe and Supply.  Prayers for this man, his family, his coworkers and all involved (read more here).

- Settlement reached between Northern Natural Gas and a construction company who damaged their pipeline; causing an explosion that launched 300 feet in the air (amazingly no injuries!) (read more here).

- Enbridge pays $425,000 fine over errors (read more here).

- President Obama headed toward a YES on Keystone? (read more here).

S1301M Epoxy Kit (Primer 15 Kit)

All of the components of an S1301M Primer 15 Kit (epoxy primer)

     Above, you see all of the components of the S1301M Epoxy Primer kit.  First of all, when properly mixed and properly applied to a pipeline that has been adequately preheated (to a temperature between 140F and 195F) one S1301M Primer 15 kit is designed to coat approximately 15 square feet of pipe.  This means that on smaller pipe sizes; one epoxy kit will generally be used for multiple field joints.  As a result, contractors must have the appropriate number of girth welds completed and cleaned at the same time; prior to sleeve application.

      Next, it is important to not that the S1301M Primer kit is NOT designed to be used as a stand alone pipeline coating.  It is specifically designed to be used in conjunction with a Covalence shrink sleeve system which has been tested, evaluated and designed to act as a cohesive field joint coating system.  Examples of such a coating are: DIRAX, HTLP60 and HTLP80.  At times it has also been used with both WPCT and WPC100M products. 

     Finally, the components of the kit:  an "A" container, a "B" container, a stir stick, an applicator pad and two latex gloves.