Installing the Liner & Calibration Tube

Best Practices – 9th in the series

Our next best practice is the method of getting the liner into the host pipe that we are using as a form for the new pipe. Remember we are calculating a design thickness that will serve as a stand-alone pipe, so the condition of the host pipe is not material to our job. Depending on how we set up our job there are two paths we can take in this step.

The first path we will discuss is the calibration roller directly into the inversion device and into the host pipe as the liner is processed through the calibration roller.

  1. Set up the calibration roller directly behind or as close to the inversion unit as possible.
  2. Select the correct size gasket, stiffener plate, and bats for the size you are inverting.
    • If the gasket has not previously been used, cut it to the predrilled holes to the correct liner size for your job.
    • When installing a 4” to 6” transition liner, use a 6” gasket and 6” stiffener plate along with 4” Bats for the 4” portion and change to 6” Bats for the 6” piece.
    • There are two settings for the locks for the Bats. Fully engaged the Bats to open the gasket further than the second position designed for calibration tube installation.
    • Adjust the Bat depth by adding or removing shims between the Bat body and the triangle wedges to open the gasket to the proper gap for various material thicknesses.
      • 0 shims for 2mm materials
      • 1 shim under each side for 3mm materials
      • 2 shims under each side for 4.5mm materials
  3. Cut a piece of calibration tube that equals the distance from 3” over the nozzle to 1” inside the host pipe. This will be used as a restraining guide to feeding the tube into the host pipe.
  4. You will process the calibration at a much slower rate than you can invert the liner, so you will process several feet and shoot 10 to 20 feet at a time from the calibration roller through the gun.
  5. Remove the Bats and feed the start of the liner or leader you’ve chosen for starting the inversion lubricating the polymer coating with SLIC™ lubricant as it is fed into the Quik Shot™
  6. Remove the nozzle and pull the liner through the gun as well as the nozzle. Reconnect the nozzle to the Quik Shot™
  7. Fold the leader or the liner into a cuff and slide the cuff over the nozzle
  8. Start the Compressor and prove flow.
  9. Band with 2 hose clamps torqued to 60-inch pounds. The second clamp is for safety in the event the first clamp fails, saving you from launching liner down the host pipe.
  10. When you have enough liner to invert between the inversion device and the host pipe, set the pressure level to zero on the gauge leading into the Quik Shot™ and open the air valve. No air should be moving through the unit.
  11. Slowly add pressure and volume through the pressure/volume regulator and continue adding pressure and volume until the liner begins to move. Your team member should manually guide the liner and tube into the host pipe. You may need to stop airflow here with the ball valve and stuff the liner into the host pipe.
  12. After insertion into the host pipe, open the airball valve and continue adding more air through the pressure/volume regulator opening or closing to speed up or slow the flow of the tube
  13. Since we are rehabilitating old pipe, it’s not perfect. Offset joints, direction changes, as well as other forces may stop or retard the forward progress of the liner. Here are the steps to get the liner moving again.
    • Add a couple of gallons of water to the nose of the liner through the water port. This will round out the liner and may help you overcome obstacles
    • You can pull back a couple of feet of the liner, set the air pressure to 20psi with the air valve closed, stuff a few extra feet of the liner into the gun, and quickly open the airball valve pushing the liner past the obstruction.
    • If the stoppage still persists, you may set the pressure to no more than 30 psi, and quickly open and close the airball valve. You may note that you are only moving an inch or two at a time to get past the obstruction before it continues on.
  14. When the final few feet come off the calibration roller, you already have ½ of the liner in the ground, letting you band the tail section with a rubber band.
  15. The rubber band should be a 3/16” band wrapped three times around the end of the liner within 6” of the end of the liner.
  16. Wipe any excess resin from the end of the tube to keep the inside of the inversion device from collecting resin.
  17. Remove the Bats from the rear of the Quik Shot ™ and install the tailpiece into the inversion unit.
  18. Flip the Bats outward to keep the gasket as shut as possible and hold a rag over the gasket to minimize exhaust gasses.
  19. Set the pressure gauge to 20 psi and quickly open the airball valve. This ½ of the liner is moving at about 100 feet per minute so you should see a noticeable drop in pressure when the liner is fully inverted.
  • Bats
  • Gasket
  • L-Brackets
  • Stiffener Plate

The second path assumes the roller is remote to the inversion device to launch the liner. Most of the steps above will be repeated with the exception of coming off the calibration roller and directly into the gun.

  1. You will be “wetting out” the entire length of the liner before installation making you handle the impregnated liner.
    • You will need a carrying device to hold the “wetted out” liner to carry to the inversion device
    • Depending on liner length you may need to immerse the liner in a bath of ice water to keep it cool until you insert it inside a tube that you can carry to the point of inversion. Remember that resin in mass tends to build heat so separating the liner with ice or air without stacking it all into a single pile.
  2. Remember to calculate the manpower you need for this function when handling longer liners. (Example: 200’ of 6” liner will weigh over 200#’s so a single operator or perhaps even two may struggle with this task)
  3. Lubricate the liner with SLIC™ over the entire surface of the polymer coating.

You are now ready to install the calibration tube. If you recall, this material is already prepared and ready to invert.

  1. Disconnect the liner from the nozzle
  2. Thread the calibration tube through the rear of the Quik Shot™, pull the end through the gun and the nozzle and cuff the calibration tube.
  3. Replace the nozzle into the Quik Shot™ and secure it to the gun.
  4. Cuff the calibration tube and slide it over the nozzle.
  5. Make a vertical 1” cut into the liner material and slide it over the calibration tube.
  6. Slide the guide piece of calibration tube over the top and secure the assembly with two hose clamps torqued to 60-inch-pounds.
  7. Turn the air pressure to zero and open the air valve.
  8. Slowly open the valve and allow the calibration to invert inside the liner you previously inverted.
  9. Upon reaching the ½ waypoint, remove the Bats, stuff the knot into the Quik Shot™ and flip the Bats outward.
  10. Set the pressure to 20 psi, hold a rag over the back of the Quik Shot™ to minimize spray of lubricant, and open the air valve quickly, allowing the second half of the liner to invert.
  11. Check the mark on your pull strap that you noted indicating that the calibration is fully inverted to the point you expected.

Watch the video below to see the full CIPP process.

Our next “best practices” will be curing the liner. For more information regarding this best-practice call us +1-888-354-6464 or email us at info@pipeliningsupply.com

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