Assistant's View: Fusion

The electro-fusion machine is our newest irrigation tool.  This machine will allow us to repair our HDPE pipe.  The way this machine works is there are two electrodes that stick out of the repair coupling that are connected to wires that run around the inside of the coupling.  This machine heats the electrodes and wires to a temperature that will melt the HDPE and weld the coupler and pipe together.  Each coupler has a bar code that the machine reads to determine how hot and how long it needs to heat  the coupler to get a perfect weld.   It’s very important that the pipe and couple are clean and free of debris to get a good weld.  The first step in fusion is to scrape the HDPE pipe to get a fresh layer of material visible.  Then I clean it with isopropyl alcohol to remove any oil that may have been left behind from handling it.   Once the pipe is clean I can then slide the couple on and make sure everything is lined up properly.  I then use the optical pen to read the bar code that tells the machine what size and density the pipe is. The last step is to hook up the electrodes and hit the start button.  For two inch pipe it takes about 45 seconds and it’s done.  The first project that I have used this machine on is repairing irrigation lines around the new bridge construction on 11 and 17.  We will be using it next on 7 tee to install irrigation on the newly built tee.  With all the construction going on here this will be a very useful tool to be able to repair pipe or add new irrigation when needed.