The Instalok coupling is billed as the first major innovation in tube coupling technology in over 50 years and is one of our feature products at pricefitters.com. We are often asked why the Instalok is a feature product and why is it rapidly becoming the coupling of choice for plastic processors. We believe its simplicity of design, ease of installation, and durability warrant its status as a feature product. In our estimation, it shouldn't require engineering skills to connect two pieces of tube and it certainly shouldn't be as time consuming as it is to install a standard compression coupling. However, our customers that use the Instalok aren't comfortable with so simple an answer and claim there are many more advantages:
1.Better overall system performance. Since the Instalok uses an O-ring seal instead of a gasket, there's a better seal in both the vacuum and pressure environments. The O-ring also reduces the water seepage found at times in outside applications.
2. Less dust and fines generation: the Instalok is designed to automatically align tube ends, so there's less of an opportunity for pellet shear.
3. Reduced contamination: Instaloks' metal on metal clamp provides a positive engagement that greatly reduces tube movement. As a result, there's a reduced opportunity for pockets to develop where pellets can be trapped during line purges. Additionally, with no gasket, the threat of abraded gasket material in the line - and thus in the end product - is eliminated.
The list goes on, but we love hearing feedback about our products. If you have an Instalok experience or a question/comment about the Instalok, just let us know. If you haven't had the chance to try out an Instalok on your lines, give us a call and we'll send you out a free sample. See for yourself why it's our feature product.
We upgraded our material delivery system piping awhile back to a larger diameter pipe. Upon removal of the old piping with Morris-type couplings we found the gasket material bound up in the joint between the two pipes. This caused the pellets to come into direct contact with the gasket material and slowly erode it over years. Although this may have been due to an installation error, it is nearly impossible to determine if the pipes are aligned correctly, or the gasket and metal sleeve is centered between the pipes. We used Instalok couplings during the install of the new pipe and there was no problem aligning the pipes. We didn’t have to fumbling with gaskets or sleeves. We were very impressed with ease of installation. We were able to install the Instalok couplings faster than we could remove the old Morris-type coupling. The price was less too. We installed the couplings on nearly 300 feet of pipe and it has worked flawlessly for the past 18 months. There is never an issue with our piping system couplings. This is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Posted by: Chris Ward | February 09, 2007 at 04:21 PM