Beach days, barbecues, and pool parties – summer is nearly upon us and with it comes the hot season. Depending on your location this can mean extremely hot temperatures that will change the way in which your crew installs cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) liners. However, don’t let extreme heat stop you from running your lining business – here are a couple tips to keep your installs on track.
Like most epoxies, heat can cause the epoxy to cure fast – sometimes too fast. This can greatly affect how quickly you will need to prepare, mix the two epoxies, saturate the liner and finally get it into the pipe. Luckily, there are a few techniques to slow down the curing process when it’s hot outside.
- Find a shaded area to wet out the liner.
- Place the liner on plywood to keep it from absorbing heat from the ground.
- Wet down the plywood with water (the evaporated water will cool the liner).
- Once the epoxy is poured into the liner, roll it through the liner as quickly as possible to get the epoxy out of its mass. This will keep the liner from heating up.
- If you are not lining multiple elbows, then half fold the liner and then tape it. This will not build as much heat as tri-folding the liner.
- If the epoxy filled liner is too warm, pour ice water over the liner to slow down the chemical curing reaction.
If at any time when feeding the liner into the pipe causes your hands to burn (or the temperate spikes to about 125F) do not install the liner. Unfortunately, you have run out of time. At 200F the liner will instantly harden into whatever shape it is in.
Effectively preparing for CIPP lining in hot temperatures can mean the difference between a successful or unsuccessful installation job. Avoid wasting money, lining equipment and materials, and most importantly your time by taking into account these lining tips.