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Discuss External Pipe Insulation in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at Plumbers Forums
As above. Not the cheap grey stuff mateArmaflex
Either there normal stuff or tuffcoat
Can anyone point me to a product that provides waterproof insulation for an external buried condensate 32mm pipe ? Non of my local building suppliers appear to have such an item in stock
Cripes!! Have you seen the price for a 2 mtr length of that stuff?Armaflex
Either there normal stuff or tuffcoat
Cripes!! Have you seen the price for a 2 mtr length of that stuff?
Hello Martyn2,
As Shaun wrote - Armaflex TuffCoat pipe Insulation is the only `readily available` [almost certainly have to order] Pipe Insulation that I am aware of that is actually specified for `Underground` / Buried pipework - e.g. Water Mains pipework.
About 2 Years ago I used the 35mm internal diameter x 19mm wall thickness size - only available in 1 metre lengths at that time and from memory it was over £16.00 per metre.
BUT - the TuffCoat ` Insulation Tape to correctly seal the seams was over £60.00 for a Roll and I think only available in 50 metre x 50mm rolls.
To adhere to the Installation Instructions You would also need Armaflex Adhesive to glue the seams and that is not cheap either although I cannot remember what I paid for it - and also Armaflex Mastic to fill any small gaps if you are going to have any Mitred joints for example around Pipe elbows.
Because it has a PVC Coating it is quite rigid and not really suitable for using on Bends - for example if it was being used on Water Mains pipework the pipe would have to be installed to suit the rigidity of the TuffCoat Insulation - no Bends over about 15 - 20 degrees.
`Segmented bends` can be formed but that is a quite complicated and time consuming process to cut and seal the segments which I would always avoid if possible.
If You have Elbows in the Pipework you will already know that you will have to form mitred joints on the Insulation which should be Glued and the joints sealed with Armaflex Mastic and then over-sealed with strips cut from the Armaflex TuffCoat Tape.
As You can imagine it can be an expensive task because of the cost of the Insulation - Tape - Mastic & Adhesive and if it was being seen - e.g. run on a wall you would also need Armaflex Cleaner to remove Adhesive residue / Finger marks etc.
I hope that this information is helpful.
Regards,
Chris
Hello Shaun,
If You mean was I referring to the product that you gave the link to when I wrote that the `Armaflex Adhesive was not cheap` - it is that product but the size that I had bought was a 1/2 Litre [I think that was the smallest size available then ?] and I thought that I remembered that it was `not cheap` - having given it a bit more thought I think that I might have paid about £15.00 but I cannot be sure now.
I ordered the TuffCoat Insulation - Adhesive - Mastic & Insulated Tape via my Plumbing & Heating Materials Supplier so that it could be delivered with other Plumbing & Heating Materials and they had priced the Armaflex items for me so they will have added their handling charge and profit to their Suppliers price.
I think that it is possible that because of the fairly recent realisation that it is an absolute necessity to insulate external Boiler Condensate pipework - 14 years after the launch of Condensing Boilers ! - Armaflex may have decided at some point in the last few years to produce the 1/4 Litre size to suit a small run of Armaflex TuffCoat Pipe Insulation ?
When Condensing Boilers were first available if You or I had to run Boiler Condensate pipework externally [only because there was no other way] We would have never had to be told to increase the Pipe diameter and to apply Waterproof / UV protected Pipe Insulation - but as you know from reading about `Thousands of Boiler Condensate pipe Freeze in very Cold temperatures` there have been Thousands - perhaps Hundreds of Thousands of Condensate pipes installed incorrectly [?] run in Overflow pipe and without any Insulation !
However back to this thread - although the Armaflex Adhesive is a vital part of the Pipe Insulation Installation process as You have pointed out it will be a very small part of the Cost.
I hope that I understood your point correctly - You were letting Me and the OP know that Armaflex Adhesive is NOT `expensive` as I thought I had remembered ?
Regards,
Chris
This is a new job hopefully being done by me to HHIC specifications. The specs only talk of trace heating in extreme conditions which I don't think is applicable, but I just wanted to make sure with the extra insulation. There seems to be a lot of confusion with external condensate arrangements. For instance worcester boch advertise an item called "Condensure" which has the condensate leaving at a higher temperature. That seems to pay no regard to the "Mpemba Effect" (Google it).Martyn is this a new application or is it specified for a job I see you said it was buried and external I have never heard of a 32mm condensate pipe freezing have seen o/f pipe insulated in a short run most boiler ask for 32 mm to prevent freezing ,just asking trying to visualise your job in my mind
Totally agree. How many original CH systems can you actually match a new combi boiler to and still get the so called efficiency advantage?This is where we turn into the mad scientist and not plumbers every time they bring something new to the trades two weeks later there is a newer and different version and better they will tell you,person personally I think they are just complicating things we have had plumbing and heating systems working for over 100 years and all good now the newer systems break down at the drop of a hat mostly all faults with modern technology sensors,boards even some taps and showers are gone digital it's only for asthetics for the consumer to make it look nice not for the inner workings of the shower don't jump down my throat that was just an opinion
I was just asking which one you used as there seems to be 3 different types eg model numbers
Would the glue need to be uv resistant ?
Hello Shaun,
Sorry that I have only just seen your message [10pm Wednesday ] or I would have replied sooner.
As far as I know there is only one Armaflex Adhesive - is it possible that the model numbers that You saw refer to different can sizes ?
When glueing either `Armaflex Original` or the `TuffCoat` the insulation seam surfaces are the same material - TuffCoat just has a PVC external coating which makes it Waterproof and UV resistant.
Because the Installation process for Armaflex TuffCoat involves the glued seams being covered with the TuffCoat Tape the Adhesive does not need to be resistant to UV rays.
Regards,
Chris
There seem to be two main types 520 and 625
TBH I wouldn't think it would matter what glue you use aslong as it's suitable eg for the material the lagging is made from
Can you not get that stuff uncut?