As we near the holiday season in North America, we know that winter is coming and with it comes a number of challenges CIPP lining installers will face. There are several resins used today in the pipe lining industry and including epoxies and lining material manufactured by NuFlow Technologies. Once installed and cured, NuFlow resins have many advantages, such as the ability to not shrink over time and a higher strength with the same thickness. Unfortunately, epoxies may take longer to cure in cold weather. You can’t control the weather but just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean you have to stop your CIPP lining services — there are a number of ways to easily combat this as an installer. 

When dealing with extremely cold conditions there are several factors you need to address before you install a CIPP liner: controlling the temperature of the epoxy, the ambient temperature, and the pipe temperature. The key is to control these elements during a job and this can be easily done a number of ways.

Controlling the temperature of the epoxy

Creating your own climate-controlled wet-out area is an easy way to control the temperature of the epoxy. Creating a tented area, using the inside of a truck or trailer that can be heated, or placing the liner on plywood to keep it from contacting the cool ground are all feasible ways to keep the temperature of the epoxy warm so that it cures faster once it is in installed into the pipe. 

Controlling the temperature of the pipe

In specifically drain pipes, keeping the clean-out and manhole covered as much as possible can help keep the cold air from circulating through the drain that you need to line. In addition to covering the pipe, running hot water through the drain will help keep the pipe warm while you wet out the liner for installation. If you have an electric leaf blower, forcing hot air with a blower down the drain can also help keep the pipe temperature warm before the liner is installed into the damaged pipe. 

As we head into the colder season in North America rest assured that you can easily keep your CIPP lining services rolling despite the colder weather. During these types of jobs keep the temperature of the epoxy and pipe in mind. Controlling the temperature of both these variables can cure the epoxy liner faster, which means less downtime for your customers.

For more information on pipe rehab and relining, call NuFlow Technologies at 800/834-9597 or visit www.nuflowtechnologies.com.