Good news for plumbers and technicians — leaky pipes are now a thing of the past, thanks to LOCTITE® 55 pipe sealing cord. Take a moment to let that sink in.
According to Michael Rowe, it was the UK plumbing community who pioneered the method of using a type of cord to seal the piping on water systems “The Brits were using hemp cord, which was originally designed to withstand the cold, and as a step up from taping up pipework which was determined to be a common culprit in leaking water systems.”
“The traditional method of sealing a threaded pipe for fluid transfer was by wrapping a woven cord around the threading to stop it from leaking,” says the CBC Product Manager for Adhesives and Sealants.
“On a typical thread locking assembly, there is only about 15% metal to metal contact allowed. That leaves about 85% of the area that needs to be sealed where fluid products can leak past. The idea behind the cord is that by creating a staggered seal system for the join, so that any ingress of fluid will be captured before making it’s escape.”
Adhesives and sealants powerhouse Henkel has innovated that concept with their LOCTITE 55 product, designing a pipe sealing cord solution for customers looking for a more advanced, modern solution to the classic leaky pipe problem.
“Technicians often need to back up and straighten up their pipe fitting on threaded assemblies,” says Michael. “With the LOCTITE 55 pipe sealing cord, customers won’t lose their sealing ability on their threaded assemblies, like they would using a standard PDFE tape or the traditional hemp material cord.”
“Using traditional methods, straightening the fitting means breaking off the seal and resetting it repeatedly,” he furthers. “The LOCTITE 55 provides greater flexibility on thread locking assemblies. This means that if the technician needs to back off, by even with a half a turn of the pipe, the LOCTITE product will accommodate this readjustment without cracking the seal.”
“The other good thing about the LOCTITE cord is that it includes information about how much product is required on each threaded assembly, right down to how many winds of the cord,” he says, adding that it will hold the same dimensions every single time for the size of the pipe that is being worked on.
Performing repairs and maintenance work on piping systems is a common problem across any industry that requires fluid transfer, but it is particularly important for agriculture and food processing, according to Michael.
“Piping systems on these sites can range from the install and maintenance of portable water filtration systems to irrigation systems for growing crops,” he says. “Food producers need to have regulation water systems on site and any risk of leakage or contamination has the potential to compromise the integrity of their product.”
CBC’s premium partnership with Henkel LOCTITE has helped them to stay on top of these issues and provide better solutions to customers who are looking for convenient pipe sealing solutions that use the latest technology.
“Out in the field, I see the LOCTITE 55 get used on everything that has a threaded assembly with fluid passing through it — brass fittings, poly piping, PVC piping, and even gas pipe assemblies, to name a few applications,” says Michael.
As a pipe sealing solution, the LOCTITE 55 is an instant seal that is a staple in every toolbox for any repair or assembly where leak prevention is an important consideration. The result? Portable, custom, sealing solutions are no longer a pipe dream.