That's how much there is modern materials to seal the joint, and good old flax does not give up its position.
What is his task? Plumbing flax allows you to fill as tightly as possible all the free space inside the thread. To withstand mechanical loads and temperature deformations during operation.
What is needed for this? Master skill. High quality material and quality carving.
Thread. Or rather, its preparation. May be good master, but get a leak on an unprepared thread. The thread must be serrated. The flax must cling to something when screwing the thread into the coupling. On a smooth thread, there is a high chance that the flax will slip into the end of the thread.
Therefore, on a smooth thread you will have to apply the notches yourself.
You can scratch the thread for this. For this purpose, pieces of hacksaw blade, broken drills, files, etc. are used. But be careful, you can easily get hurt.
I bite the threads with plumbing pliers. It turns out quickly and accurately. Someone might argue that this could squeeze the thin-walled fitting and ruin it.
Very good. I’d rather crush it than for it to crumple inside the coupling later.
More. Before winding flax, it is necessary to assemble the connection dry, without flax. First, you will see how the thread is screwed in. It may be tight or skewed. Secondly, count the number of revolutions. This helps a lot when screwing on angles, tees, taps, eccentrics and other oriented fittings.
Screwed in? Have you checked? Have you counted the revolutions? Great. Let's take flax.
Flax comes in braids, in balls, and on spools. How it is rolled up and sold makes no difference. Main. Linen must be clean. That is, there should be no debris or tangled lumps in it.
Separate a strand of flax. It is difficult to say what the thickness of the strand should be. It all depends on the diameter of the thread and the length of the flax. The guideline is something like this - after winding, the thread should not be visible.
There is a lot of debate about where to start winding - from the beginning of the thread or from the end. It doesn't matter at all. From where your hands are sharpened, move from there. Whichever is convenient for you. I wind from the beginning, along the thread.
Now apply sealing paste. For example, I take Unipak paste. Not because it is the best, but because it is sold everywhere here. Previously, about 20 years ago, I used paint. Then, succumbing to fashion, I applied silicone sealant. As soon as sealing pastes went on sale, I immediately switched to them.
In order to achieve strength and tightness of the connection, builders and plumbers use flax or special linen tow in their work, which is wound onto the threads of the joint elements.
To truly achieve the results you want, it is important to know how to wind flax on threads correctly.
Instructions on how to wind flax on a thread
In order to properly wind flax on a thread you will need:
- tow (linen);
- silicone;
- plumbing key.
Prepare the connecting elements by first cleaning them from rust, if any. For this you can use fine grit sandpaper. When removing rust, be careful not to damage the threads.
Take the tow and separate a small strip of fibers from the main bundle, which you straighten along its entire length. There should be enough fiber to make the connection dense, but not tight, otherwise when the temperature rises, for example, in a heating pipe, the connection may simply burst. In addition, excess flax will be squeezed out of the threaded connection during assembly, and this will almost certainly cause a new leak.
Please note that pipelines with screw-cut threads, as a rule, have a fairly rough surface, but fittings with a smooth surface need to be prepared. To do this, use a plumber's wrench or a triangular file to apply small notches over the threads.
Take the flax and place the end of the fiber against the very edge of the thread. Start winding the tow in the opposite direction from tightening the nut. It should be wound in such a way that each subsequent turn tightly presses the previous one. If there is not enough flax fiber to cover the entire thread, take another bunch.
Apply a thin layer of silicone or special paste on top of the fiber that is wound on the thread: this will ensure a tight connection.
Tighten the threads while the silicone has not yet polymerized. Remember, before this ends chemical reaction there are 8-10 minutes. There is no point in securing the small amount of tow that will remain outside the joint - the sealant will hold the flax well. However, plumbers who work with metal pipes sometimes simply burn the end of the bundle. Doing this at home is not recommended.
Tow for pipes is one of the most popular sealants on Russian market. has been popular for many decades due to its low price, availability and relatively good sealing of joints under special conditions. on threads is relevant for temporary threaded connections and those located in the public domain, i.e. are always in sight, leaks are easy to detect and fix immediately. Flax compounds work up to a maximum temperature of 120-140 °C, but sometimes this figure is reduced to 70 °C. It all depends on the quality of the material and an additional sealing agent - plumbing paste.
Let's talk about the technology and rules of flax winding. How to properly wrap tow on a thread so that the sealing is sufficient for the entire shelf life of the joint? What are the tricks and professional secrets for high-quality thread sealing?
How to wind tow
This question is asked not only by the owner of an apartment where a faucet has suddenly leaked or the faucet needs to be replaced, but also by a plumber who has recently started his career. , indeed, not the simplest and most convenient material. Linen does not look aesthetically pleasing, it fluffs up and tears easily, and flax fibers constantly cling to threads or clothing. Almost weightless, they scatter around the room and, having finished the work, the plumber has to spend time finding and collecting all the threads.
Sections of the article:
Today, for packing metal threads, the following are used: sanitary flax, fum tape, anaerobic sealants. Each of the above materials for packaging threaded connections has its own advantages and disadvantages.
For example, anaerobic thread sealants have high adhesion. However, using this tool to seal the threads, ultimately, it will be almost impossible to unscrew the threaded connection in the future.
Fum tape is most often used with fittings made of non-ferrous metal: copper, brass and bronze. As for such a material as sanitary linen, it has rightfully won a leading position thanks to its considerable advantages.
Among the main advantages of flax for thread wrapping, it should be noted that it is cheap, excellent operational properties, and, durability. Having wound flax on the thread once, you can forget about leaks for a long time. Read about it on the website.
Why exactly tow - flax?
Surely many modern plumbers who are accustomed to working with Jacuzzis are perplexed by the fact that flax is still used by many craftsmen to seal threaded connections.
Such popularity sanitary flax due to its following advantages:
- ✅ Tow - aka plumbing flax, has a very long service life. If you use special lubricants for tow, it will not rot or deteriorate for a long time.
- ✅ Linen is relatively cheap, so it is used where there are a lot of threads to pack. First of all, these are boiler houses, for the piping of which tow is used.
- ✅ When wet, flax can swell, so leaks during the operation of threaded connections will be excluded.
- ✅ Tow is an environmentally friendly, absolutely harmless material for human health. Therefore, it can be used to seal threads in cold water supply and hot water supply systems.
- ✅ This material is universal in use.
There are probably enough advantages to start using tow rather than fum tape or anaerobic sealant. At the same time, as with any other material, you also need to know how to work with tow.
This is especially true for threads made of non-ferrous metals, from which it peels off so well.
What is needed for packing pipe threads with flax?
To properly wind flax onto the thread, you will need very few tools:
- 🛠 Pliers;
- 🛠 Sharp knife;
- 🛠 Metal brush.
The materials you will need are a “braid” of plumbing flax and a special lubricant. By the way, Unipack, graphite lubricant and the like are quite popular.
You can use machine oil and even oil paint - enamel. However, it is worth understanding that flax on paint will seriously complicate the unscrewing of the threaded connection in the future.
How to properly wind flax on a thread
Before you start packing the threads with tow, notches should be made on fittings made of non-ferrous metals: copper, brass and bronze using pliers. Many modern products already have notches on the threads, however, it will never be superfluous to go through it again, additionally.
For packaging colored threads, a smaller amount of tow is always used than for packaging ferrous metal products. Especially when it comes to winding flax on cast iron fittings. IN in this case, it is better not to save tow, as it can simply come off the thread.
So, in order to properly wind flax onto the thread, you should take a small amount of it, and then twist it into a long, not too thick braid. It is important that there are no lumps on it, which will only prevent the tow from fitting properly into the thread.
Then, starting from the beginning of the thread, you should carefully lay the flax in each turn, clockwise. In other words, the fitting that will be screwed onto the packed thread must tightly press the flax.
After winding the tow, it should be lubricated on all sides with Unipak or graphite lubricant. When screwing on a fitting, it is important to ensure that the flax does not come off the thread, otherwise the threaded connection will have to be sealed again.
2015-02-18, 19:31
Hello dear homemade people.
Until now, the best winding for thread is linen. First, I will justify this statement, and then we will analyze the execution process piece by piece.
The first alternative to flax is fum tape. There are at least three reasons why it should be abandoned.
1. It is unknown who made it, despite what is indicated on the label, which means there are no guarantees of quality.
2. It takes a long time to wind it.
3. When tightening the thread, especially when installing valves, it is impossible to correct its position, that is, you can only tighten it forward. If you push it back a little, the connection on the gun will leak.
The second alternative is a Tangit unilock pipe with a lock. I won’t argue about the lock - it’s dead, but as for the key: consider that they screwed it up and threw the key away, so you can’t find it.
You can't unscrew it, you can only cut it.
Linen is a completely different matter. Here are four reasons why it's worth using:
1. One hundred percent guarantee against leakage.
2. Speed and accuracy of execution.
3. The ability to adjust any connection back and forth, without the risk of leakage.
4. Easy disassembly, regardless of service life.
Now how all this is done.
Everyone knows that flax is not wound dry. Previously, it was impregnated with paint, but now, thanks to technological progress, silicone has appeared.
If the connection with paint looked very untidy, and you had to disassemble it with a blowtorch, then with silicone it was a completely different matter.
The main thing is to use solid silicones. These include: KimTek 101E, Olimp, Macroflex, since they, in addition to cushioning, also have adhesive properties. With other brands, the connection turns out to be too flexible, although it still does not leak.
So, we take a part with a thread, a flax braid, a syringe with silicone, and separate a small part from the braid for winding.
How much to pinch off from a braid? Each case is different. First you need to try wrapping the folder in a case. Sometimes it wraps very easily, sometimes it wraps tightly (just like in life), and depending on this, the amount of winding is selected.
But in general, after the first time it will become clear. If it squeezes out too much, then take less.
First, we apply silicone to the thread, then, leaving a small tail, and pressing it with your thumb to the part, in the direction of the thread, we tightly wind the flax, trying to cover the entire surface with it, that is, so that it does not go in a strand.
If during the winding process you realize that there is already too much flax, simply tear off the rest. We also run the remaining tail in the direction of the thread.
After that, using your finger, we smooth the entire winding so that the hairs do not stick out on the sides, and most importantly, do not block the passage hole.
