![]() The LOCTITE® liquid sealants can be used on pipe fittings up to 3”, and LOCTITE® 55 Pipe Sealing Cord can be used on pipes with a diameter of up to 4”. These single component sealants are clean and easy to apply, and won’t creep, shrink or contaminate systems. ![]() While the more traditional solutions make sealing a hit-and-miss process that takes far too much time, the LOCTITE® family of pipe thread sealants offers reliable easy sealing time after time. Demanding a certain amount of experience and skill to achieve a complete seal, it is messy, slow to assemble, and unsuitable for use on fittings carrying potable water. Lastly, perhaps one of the most traditional of all traditional methods is hemp and paste, which has been used for many years. Small pieces of tape can then break free to clog key apertures, leading to severe maintenance problems. PTFE tape is not suitable for use in hydraulic systems, as it has a tendency to shred. It also encourages over tightening of fasteners, which adds to joint stress and can even cause parts to fracture. It even acts as a lubricant – but when it does it allows fittings to loosen under dynamic loads, which leads to loss of clamping force and, inevitably, leakage. The tape does give a good initial seal, and one which resists chemical attack. This is particularly true if you’re trying to seal an elbow, valve or pressure gauge fitting, for example, which needs tightening up to a particular position. PTFE tape is a solution that demands experience and expertise to give it any chance of working effectively and consistently. Their major disadvantage is that as the solvents evaporate during cure, the compounds shrink, which compromises the efficiency of the seal. These also lubricate and compact into the threads to create a seal, though once they’ve been applied the fittings must be re-torqued to minimise any voids.īut that isn’t their greatest failing. An alternative is solvent-based sealing compounds. They also have poor solvent resistance and don’t solve the problem of sealing for parallel threads. Although they do create a seal, they provide no locking – and if they’re placed under pressure they can squeeze out. These are pastes made from oils and fillers, which lubricate and compact into the threads. One of the oldest methods of sealing the spiral leak paths of threaded joints is with non-curing pipe compounds. Let’s compare traditional sealing using non-curing pipe compounds, with Henkel’s LOCTITE® branded adhesives. But unless you’re from the “that’s what we do because we’ve always done it” school, the question you need to ask is which method works, works first time, and works most reliably for longest? As with most things in equipment maintenance and repair, there’s a traditional method and a more up-to date method.
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