VOICE NOVEMBER 2019
PUREFLOW MAKES PLUMBING EASY IN CUSTOM TINY HOMES
LUXURIOUS BEACH-FRONT CONDOS FITTED WITH VIEGA LAUNDRY FACILITY RELIES ON PROPRESS STAINLESS OUTDOOR PATIO AREA COMFORTABLE WITH RADIANT
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CONTENTS WHAT’S HAPPENING AT VIEGA 03 A letter from the Vice President of Business Development
12 A look inside Viega’s PureFlow PEX manufacturing plant
22 Viega’s new Colorado Seminar Center ups training opportunities
27 Tech Talk COMMERCIAL 20 Private dining club keeps
VOICE RESIDENTIAL 04 Miami Beach condos use flushing and PureFlow products
11 PureFlow good for converting
historic building into apartments
16 Custom-built tiny homes put PureFlow to work
INDUSTRIAL 08 Linen service facility piped with ProPress Stainless
26 ProPress Stainless a perfect fit in wastewater treatment plant
outdoor space comfortable with radiant
25 Multiple Viega products used in Moab-area hotels
ON THE COVER
Owners of tiny homes custom built by Movable Roots enjoy high-end features on a small scale. Plumbing is done with Viega PureFlow, which can be hidden in the belly of the trailer to keep the sleek finished look of the homes.
a publication of Viega LLC November 2019 Marketing Director Mark Brodie Creative Marketing Manager Molly Morrow Senior Content Marketing Editor Kristen White Graphic Designer Marcus Jessen Marketing Coordinator Lauren Reutter Contributing authors Dave Holden, Aaron White, Kristen White Contributing photographers Nukondo, David Steele, Mark Waldron Future articles and tips Please send in your interesting stories and tips relating to Viega products for possible publication in future issues of Viega Voice to press@viega.us.
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT VIEGA
Whether it’s educating our factory-trained sales team, working with loyal industry distribution partners or training the next generation of the workforce, we want to be involved. A letter from the Vice President of Business Development Have you attended a session at one of our Viega Seminar Centers yet? Viega constantly strives to be an industry leader, and we know that training is a key piece of the puzzle. Whether it’s educating our factory-trained sales team, working with loyal industry distribution partners or training the next generation of the workforce, we want to be involved. It’s why this year we opened a second seminar center location, in Broomfield, Colorado. Through our two locations we train thousands of people each year on everything, including press connections, fire protection systems, radiant heating and cooling, certifications, system design and so much more. We also host industry forums on water quality because we know that water is our most important resource and is directly related to so much that we do. Since the New Hampshire Seminar Center opened in 2006, thousands of people a year have received training there: In both 2017 and 2018, we hosted more than 5,000. Opening the doors in Broomfield increases our capacity and abilities to offer more. Here, adjacent to our new headquarters building, our brandnew facility features four classrooms, two hands-on workshops and an Interactive Learning Center where visitors can see Viega technology up close.
Education and training are core beliefs at Viega. They’re at the heart of what we do worldwide. Our trainings go beyond pipe joining or press fitting tool instruction. This is why we offer continuing education and certification options. For so many reasons, customers have come to expect the best from Viega. Whether it’s our speedy and accurate supply chain, helpful advice from our design teams, excellent support from customer service and technical support, or simply the ease of use of our products. Viega works hard to be best-inclass, and our seminar center offerings go hand-in-hand with these ideals. If you’re considering your first trip to a Viega Seminar Center, or perhaps you’ve attended multiple times already, we have something beneficial to offer you. With the demand for training continuing to grow, we’re already well on our way to planning a third seminar center location. We hope to see you soon. Visit viega.us/training to see our current list of courses. ■
BOB GOTTERMEIER
Vice President of Business Development
Viega. Connected in quality. | 3
LUXURY LIVING AND VIEGA A MATCH When working on new luxury condos in Miami Beach, the last thing Professional Plumbing Corp. in Hialeah, Florida, wanted to worry about was problems with the plumbing system. It’s why the company turned to Viega, a trusted partner, for peace of mind. The high-end residences, slated to be finished in 2020, will have stunning floor-to-ceiling windows with fantastic views of either the bay or South Beach, large terraces for seamless indoor-outdoor living, custom-designed bathrooms and a host of other luxurious touches. They will range in size from 2,000 to more than 10,000 square feet. “When you start using (Viega), you immediately realize the labor savings. Plus, you get the peaceof-mind benefit, and it’s easier to get a workforce trained,” said Manny Alonso, Vice President of Professional Plumbing. He said the company transitioned from sweating copper to using Viega ProPress about five years ago, and today exclusively presses its copper fittings. Then, noting that they were also using a lot of CPVC, folks at Professional Plumbing decided a couple of years ago to transition to Viega PureFlow Press for our PEX plastics needs, too. “With CPVC, it has the big risk of the infamous dry joints – they don’t leak and then blow apart later,” Alonso said. “So using PureFlow is a big peace of mind. And for copper, you eliminate the risk of leaks, too. It’s much easier to teach a guy to do a press joint than it is to teach him how to properly solder.
4 | Viega Voice | November 2019
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“My experience with ProPress led me to PureFlow, and I figured if I was partnering with Viega for copper, I might as well continue with PEX,” Alonso added. “Plus, Viega has the manifold systems like the ManaBloc and MiniBloc, which I had previously used in hotels. It saves us time.” In the Miami Beach condos, the main lines and vertical water risers are plumbed with ProPress fittings. Hot-and-cold-water distribution lines in the condos are run with PureFlow Press, tying into ManaBloc home run systems for each condo. – Continued on page 6
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I SAW THEY HAD SO MANY DIFFERENT FLUSH PLATE OPTIONS. – Manny Alonso, Vice President, Professional Plumbing
6 | Viega Voice | November 2019
RESIDENTIAL
All the faucets in the condos for both kitchens and bathrooms are wall-mounted, so using the ManaBloc provided individual shutoffs for each line, which was required by code, Alonso said. Then, incorporating design elements, the company also decided to use Viega Flushing System Technology for the bathrooms. Alonso said when he heard about Viega’s in-wall carriers, he felt they were a match. “Right as this job got started, Viega introduced the flushing, and I saw they had so many different flush plate options,” Alonso said. “I felt like it would be a great way to trim out the condos.” The luxury residences have been a long project. Alonso said there are exotic finishes, a fancy window system and other special touches that have slowed construction, but noted the condos will be “a beautiful job to look at” when finished. For Professional Plumbing, even though the timeframe of the build has been lengthy, the company has shortened its time on the job – which included about 15 workers at the height of installation – thanks to the time savings of Viega. ■
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Viega. Connected in quality. | 7
PROPRESS STAINLESS SLASHES INSTALLATION TIME AT LAUNDRY FACILITY
When millions of gallons of water are traveling through your piping system every month, it’s bound to put wear and tear on the system. The folks at Model Linen Service in Ogden, Utah, realized that huge volumes of water were doing a number on their copper; so in a new laundry facility building, they incorporated stainless pipe instead. Then, in looking at options for connecting the 3 and 4 pipe, they discovered Viega’s ProPress Stainless fittings and thought it could be a better option than threading. “ProPress made the day!” said Ryan Thon, Chief Engineer at Model Linen. “I’ve been using copper over the years and just found that I wasn’t getting the life out of it. We get so much water volume through the pipes that it wears out the copper. So we decided to go with the Schedule 40 stainless.”
8 | Viega Voice | November 2019
Model Linen services about 700,000 pounds of linen a week. Their main business in the facility where the ProPress fittings are located is restaurant service items like bar towels and floor mats. Running at capacity, Model Linen needed to expand, so they built a 19,000-square-foot facility bordering the original main plant. When Thon and his crew started on the building in April 2018, circumstances beyond his control meant they had to start threading instead. He said the first quarter of the building was threaded. “There’s so much time and effort involved with threading Schedule 40 pipe,” he said. “Then [when circumstances changed], I was able to get the press
INDUSTRIAL
gun and jaws. And I’d say it probably took me the same amount of time to press the other three-quarters of the building with Viega as it did to thread the first quarter! “It’s a big facility and it took months of time – but pressing made it so much easier. I’d probably still be threading right now!” Thon said with a laugh. In the building, there is a 4 water main that brings in the cold water. It’s softened and goes into an exchanger. Thon explained that old, dirty water coming from the washers is recycled and feeds through the exchanger to work as a heater. It raises the city water up to about 95 degrees without any heating elements. “It’s hot water. Why let it go straight into the sewer?” Thon said. “All we’re using is the radiator and pumps to pump it, but we re-water to get our tempered water.” From there, half of the tempered water goes into the washers and the other half goes through a heater to make hotter, 165-degree-water.
– Continued on page 10
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INDUSTRIAL
PRESSING THESE FITTINGS DOWN SAVED THE DAY... I’VE BEEN PRETTY IMPRESSED WITH THE WHOLE THING. – Ryan Thon, Chief Engineer, Model Linen
Model Linen does a good job in saving as much water and energy as possible. In addition to using the reclaimed hot water to heat the incoming water supply, the washer’s final-rinse hot water is also reused. “At that point with the last rinse, the soap is out and it’s clean, so that water drops into its own trench and recirculates to be used in the first part of the wash cycle with the detergent,” he explained. “It’s a pretty cool process instead of using more clean city water.” In total, nearly 100 Viega fittings were used in Model Linen’s new building, ranging in size from 1¼ adapters to 4 fittings in various configurations. Thon said he’s confident the ProPress Stainless fittings will hold up well to the demands of Model Linen’s system. He said there are not many chemicals that run through the pipes, just a mild softener. One of the concerns in piping a laundry facility are issues with water hammer, Thon said. “If the washer has a 3 valve open, that’s a lot of water going in quickly; and if it shuts off too quickly, then it shakes the whole system,” he said. “Luckily we have good equipment dialed in well so that they close slowly. There has been no movement with the pipes at all – I was impressed.” Thon was so pleased with Viega fittings that they’ll be appearing in Model Linen’s other building a few miles down the road, where all of their hotel linens are serviced. He said he purchased a “whole stack of 3 ProPress Stainless” and was getting ready to tear out all the old copper and put in stainless piping at that facility, too. “Pressing these fittings down saved the day,” he said simply. “I’ve been pretty impressed with the whole thing.” ■
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RESIDENTIAL
IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
NEW LOFT APARTMENTS RETAIN HISTORIC APPEAL A historic and recognizable building in Logan, Utah, is being converted into 51 apartments, made possible with the help of Viega PureFlow products. Originally a factory for evaporated milk produced by the Borden Company, the building was constructed in the early 1900s. Because of its historic value to the community, a unique type of funding – $5.6 million in private activity bonds – is in play for the construction project. Private activity bonds are part of a federal program adopted by states that allows cities to issue bonds for projects that promote the general welfare of the state. Developers of the Borden Lofts have been working with the National Parks Service to guarantee the building will retain its historic look and feel. The main floor has simple brick walls, steel support beams and wooden columns, and much of the original material is being kept intact and exposed. This is why Viega PureFlow products were so handy in plumbing the water supply for all the apartments. Kim Stander, President of Stander Plumbing and Heating, said configuration of the supply lines in the building was tricky. “I had to run it up and down and all around. There’s a lot of concrete in the building,” Stander said. “The benefit of Viega PureFlow is that I could fit it into the areas I needed because it bends. If I’d had to do this in copper or anything else, it would have been a total nightmare.” There are two 2" water mains into the building, and Viega PureFlow Press fittings were used, along with some crimp fittings, on the ½" and ¾" pipe in the apartment units. “It was a maze, figuring out the water through all these old walls,” Stander said. “I’ve been using Viega for years and knew PureFlow would work well here.” The Borden Lofts will be completed in 2020. ■
LOGAN, UTAH
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WHAT’S HAPPENING AT VIEGA
MILES AND MILES OF PUREFLOW PEX TUBING Do you remember that episode of Sesame Street with the visit to the crayon factory? Or maybe you’re a fan of the TV show How It’s Made, where viewers are captivated by the manufacturing of pet-nail trimmers and mattress pads? Yeah, us too. That’s why you’ll love this peek at how Viega makes its PureFlow PEX and oxygen barrier tubing, from start to finish.
Preparation An important note about Viega’s PEX – and something that sets it apart from its competitors – is that Viega makes its own PEX resin. Other companies purchase resin that is used to make the PEX tubing, but by manufacturing the resin itself, Viega has total quality control of the product from the get-go. “We control the quality of the incoming raw material to our process,” said Director of Manufacturing Eric Wicker. “We purchase railcars of polyethylene, then compound it in twin extruders. We make the PEX plastic pellets that are extruded into the pipe, and it’s mixed with a catalyst that initiates a cross-linking process (therefore making it cross-linked polyethylene, or PEX).” Every pellet of PEX that is produced in Viega’s manufacturing plant in McPherson, Kansas, is 100 percent sorted for contamination. This visual inspection looks for any contamination that can come with carbon buildup that is inherent to the process and that could potentially affect the PEX pellets.
12 | Viega Voice | November 2019
Production Once the resin is created, the product goes through an extrusion process to create PEX tubing. From start to finish, it takes about three days, beginning with creation of the PEX pellet to finished PEX tubing that is cured and spooled. “Quality is huge for us,” Wicker said. “Every extrusion line is equipped with dimensional monitoring devices that monitor, control and adjust our machines based on the dimensions that they read. Then it automatically cuts the pipe if it sees something wrong, cutting it into small pieces for scrap, until the issue is fixed and the tube is back to normal.” Tubing is wound onto large spools that hold about 35,000 feet of PEX. The spools are stored on site and can be cut into different lengths for specific orders. Wicker said that storing the large amounts of PEX gives Viega the gift of speed: PEX can be cut and coiled in approximately 30 minutes when a customer places an order. – Continued on page 14
■ The plant in McPherson will produce enough PureFlow PEX tubing this year to wrap around the Earth twice. ■ Manufacturing of PureFlow PEX tubing runs 24 hours a day, five days a week, in McPherson. ■ One spool of PureFlow PEX tubing holds about 35,000 feet – that’s more than six and a half miles. ■ Approximately 100 spools of PureFlow PEX tubing are stored on site in McPherson, in different sizes and colors, to make sure orders can be shipped with 48 hours.
Viega. Connected in quality. | 13
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT VIEGA
Manufacturing in the United States McPherson is home to Viega LLC’s U.S.based manufacturing. All of Viega’s PureFlow PEX tubing is manufactured there, along with the creation of the resin. Viega also manufactures select MegaPress and ProPress items in other manufacturing halls on the McPherson campus. While there is a lot of automation involved on the lines, human work is also vital to the process of overseeing machines as well as doing some of the work by hand. Tour-goers are captivated by the robotic machines and production lines, where thousands of fittings and miles of tubing are produced. ■
■ Viega PureFlow PEX tubing has the highest ratings for UV and chlorine resistance, according to industry standards. ■ PureFlow tubing is made from start to finish in the United States, with strict quality control through a vertically integrated manufacturing process. ■ PureFlow is PEX-b, which has a higher burst pressure capability – often 10% or more – as compared to PEX-a. ■ Connections in sizes 3/8 to 2 can be made in just seconds with Viega PureFlow System, compared to cold expansion, which can take several minutes to complete.
14 | Viega Voice | November 2019
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Viega. Connected in quality. | 15
PUREFLOW: A PERFECT FIT IN TINY HOMES It started with a bottle opener. When Mike Cheatham, co-owner of Movable Roots, was at the International Builder’s Show in Orlando a couple of years ago, he stumbled upon the Viega booth, where he used a press tool to create a bottle opener with a piece of Viega PureFlow PEX. He was hooked. “I was amazed at how easy it [making the press connection] was and started to think about how easy it would be for us in the labor we were doing,” Cheatham said. “It wasn’t like sweating copper or anything like that, and the more I looked at PEX, I knew it was something I wanted us to use in our homes. When I looked at the competitors out there, I wasn’t crazy about them. We picked Viega.” Cheatham and his brother Jonathan own Movable Roots, which builds high-end custom tiny homes. All of them include Viega PureFlow products for the water supply. “We bought the Milwaukee tool and jaws and use both the ¾ and ½ fittings. We’ve also started using Viega parts, like the washer and dryer box, with the press system and the ice-maker line for the fridge,” Cheatham said. “Each build depends on what kind of customization people want, but we plumb in the water heaters and everything with Viega. “There’s a lot more linear feet of PEX in a tiny home than most people think! Plus we take advantage of the flexibility of PEX. We run a lot of supply lines in the belly of the trailer itself, not a lot in the walls, so using the bends and things, we want as few connections as possible down inside the trailer,” he added.
– Continued on page 18
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Viega. Connected in quality. | 17
Roots of the company The history of Movable Roots goes back a bit. Mike and Jonathan (and their late brother Paul) grew up in construction because their dad was a remodeler, so Mike jokes that he grew up with a hammer in his hand. During the boom and height of the market in the early 2000s, Cheatham was building large homes with a healthy-sized crew. Then the bottom of the market fell out, and a couple of builders Cheatham was working for shut their doors unexpectedly, which eventually led to him taking a break from construction. A few years later, he and his wife, Nikki, talked about building their own house, possibly on the water. He said the thought process was to spend more on property and put a smaller house on it, which led them to research tiny homes.
“We went to some builder shows and we weren’t seeing a whole lot that fit our lifestyle,” Cheatham said. “We felt like if we were going to go tiny, why can’t we have some of those finer features in the houses that we used to build? If I only need 300 square feet of flooring, why not buy the more expensive, beautiful stuff?” They bought property in Florida, only to learn that local zoning regulations prohibited them from putting a tiny home there. But the Cheathams weren’t discouraged. They decided to see if they could not only change rules and regulations, but they also decided to jump back into the building world.
VIEGA.US/RETHINKPEX 18 | Viega Voice | November 2019
RESIDENTIAL
A new venture In 2017, Movable Roots introduced its first model, The Henderson – named for their brother Paul Henderson – and Mike said “it’s been kind of a crazy whirlwind since. “We worked with a group to get zoning changed locally, and now there is a whole tiny home community going up in northern Brevard County,” he said. “And we still own our property and talk about what to do with it. We’re so busy building for other people that maybe we’ll put a spec home on it, who knows. We haven’t let go of the dream of living on it.” In the meantime, Cheatham has taken on the challenge of designing tiny homes to meet the daily needs of owners. “It was a crazy learning curve in the beginning. When we were building a normal 2,000-square-foot home, the plumbing or electrical stack of something in the rough stage could be shifted three to 12 inches and it wouldn’t affect anything negatively,” he said. “In a tiny house, if I have to shift something a quarter of an inch, it might mean the couch doesn’t fit!” Cheatham credited the flexibility of Viega’s PureFlow tubing and fittings in helping to make it possible. Because exterior walls might be only three and a half inches thick, there are limited spaces for things like supply lines. PureFlow fits. “The system itself is very user-friendly,” Cheatham said of PureFlow. “We had a plumber friend who had never used it, but had used Uponor and other systems. We’ve asked him in to help a few times when we got bogged down in difficult scenarios, and he loves [Viega]. He raves about the ease of use of it!” In 2018, Movable Roots built eight houses, and Cheatham said they were on track to build the same in 2019. Their creations are everywhere, from California to Texas to Montana. One of their builds was featured on the TV show “Tiny House Nation.” ■
Viega. Connected in quality. | 19
RADIANT INSTALLATION EASY WITH VIEGA Although the crew at Guido Construction hadn’t put in a Viega radiant system before, they got plenty of help along the way, and the project potentially opened the door for many more. Guido was asked to install radiant heating in an outdoor patio area in an upscale private dining club in the San Antonio area. When the owner wanted to incorporate a heating element, the building’s architectural firm, Don B. McDonald Architect, got involved and landed on Viega as the best choice for radiant.
“I’ve been doing construction for 15 years and this was the first radiant floor heating – except for some really small stuff with electrical mats under tile – that I’d done,” explained Lonnie Knight, Project Manager for Guido. “So we got in touch with [Viega District Manager] Keenan Reed and he’s been a great help to us. We had kind of put something together and started asking questions about what we’d need.
20 | Viega Voice | November 2019
“Viega Design Services gave us a layout of the drawings and the floor plan. We don’t know everything, and we’re more than happy to pick somebody’s brain who knows what they’re doing, so this was really helpful.” The dining club redid its outdoor patio area, about 1,800 square feet total, to be enclosed on all sides and partially covered overhead. In order to keep patrons warm during the cooler months of the year, radiant was the perfect option.
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“Obviously radiant is not something we do much in the warmer climate,” Knight said. “It’s more for specialty builds – high-end custom jobs. We can see this being attractive to some of the clientele who will want to do it at their own houses.”
“Everything went really well,” Knight said. “Keenan was great and came out and helped us with the layout. He was great with questions we had, answering things over the phone or making jobsite visits. Viega was very helpful in getting us what we needed.” ■
Work on the project was largely done in the summer. The rapid grid installation has ½ and 5/8 tubing and 14 total zones. The patio area was completed before the boiler room was done, so Knight said the radiant lines were pressured and holding with no issues for a couple of months while they waited.
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WHAT’S HAPPENING AT VIEGA
ONE-OF-A-KIND TRAINING EXPERIENCE
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Get hands-on experience plus education in the classroom, and tie it all together with a trip through the visually stunning Interactive Learning Center at Viega’s new Colorado Seminar Center. Viega opened its second seminar center earlier this year after the first location in New Hampshire has found great success since opening its doors in 2006. The Colorado location was a new build, alongside Viega’s new North American headquarters. The seminar center features a variety of eye-catching components. There’s the gateway near the front entrance; a giant video screen runs up one wall, across the ceiling and down another wall. A variety of looped videos fill the screen, including Viega fittings waterfalling down the screen. And a large set of screens, also near the entrance, show all of Viega LLC’s current social media content. Then, Viega’s showpiece, the ILC, occupies the center of the 23,000-square-foot building. There are four classrooms on one side and two hands-on workshop spaces on the other. The ILC is full of displays and interactive screens to show off Viega’s capabilities. “We’re always looking for new ways to teach, new ways to enhance the educational experience,” said Jason McKinnon, Director of Technical Services. “The ILC is an interactive opportunity. Visitors can touch and feel and experience digitally some of the things we talk about in the classroom. Really, it’s a bridge between the classroom and the hands-on spaces. We talk about theory in the classroom, and the hands-on space allows guests to physically put things together. The ILC then shows a finished installation – how it should look and perform – and pulls everything together.” McKinnon noted that the group from Viega involved in creating the new ILC in Broomfield took cues from its Nashua counterpart. “We looked at what was successful there, and then scaled it up because of the size of this new facility,” he said. “We were working with an existing space in New Hampshire, so the layout changed in Colorado because it was part of a new build.” Each of the 20 vignettes in the ILC are tailored to a different topic. They have touch monitors, many of which present images or information but can also switch to clear mode so guests can see a real-life setup.
Viega. Connected in quality. | 23
In clear mode, the screen becomes a window, where the viewer can see real Viega products behind it, along with digital graphic callouts that describe the benefits and features of the products. The monitors also allow the customer to further explore information about Viega products through the touch screen via product overview and detail menus. Topics included in the different vignettes are process piping, water quality, compressed gas and air, a mechanical room, commercial plumbing, SmartLoop, in-wall flushing, shipbuilding and many others. In the Smart Connect vignette, for example, contractors can see the technology working. Water passes through unpressed connections and then people can pick up a press tool and actually press a fitting to witness the water stop and see the Smart Connect innovation at work. For the ManaBloc vignette, workers at Viega’s McPherson plant actually created a ManaBloc with clear resin. The display is lit up with LED lights so that visitors to the ILC can look inside the ManaBloc and see its assembly.
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The vignettes in the ILC were created by award-winning trade show construction company Matrex. The company was able to incorporate everyone’s cutting-edge ideas to create a truly unique experience. “They help us tell the story of Viega,” explained Marketing Coordinator Jim DeBroeck. “It’s not just a MegaPressG fitting: The fitting is attached to a gas meter that’s attached to a ‘house’ so you can see the entire scope of a product.” McKinnon said the fresh ideas and technology folded into the ILC are important for the industry. “The industry we’re in, it’s not a flashy, high-tech industry. But this is flashy and high-tech,” he said. “We’re using new, cutting-edge technology, which helps us reach the younger people coming into the trades.” ■
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VIEGA SAVES TIME IN MOAB HOTELS When Javan Shumway first learned about Viega, he said he wished he’d known about press technology sooner. Shumway, Vice President of Redd Mechanical in Utah, said that in the earlier days, it took some explaining and demos before Viega fittings were put into a job; but these days, it’s come to be expected on jobs that Redd plumbs. Redd Mechanical has been working on several hotels in the Moab area and recently finished plumbing a high-end five-star hotel there. Shumway knows how much time and labor Viega has saved him over the years. “We’re kind of out in the sticks in the Four Corners area of Utah,” he said, “And we don’t often get suppliers or vendors this way. So when we saw Viega years ago, and they came in and demoed the tools, I had regrets that I hadn’t known about it before! Just seeing it in action, I knew it was going to be a tremendous cost savings to us, so we were all in.” First he used ProPress on a hospital in Moab. Shumway said putting in all the copper with Viega was a “nightand-day difference.”
Having just finished the hospital, Redd Mechanical was hired for a hotel, so Shumway and crew demoed Viega products for the hotel engineers and owners. “They took turns making presses, and we showed them the warranty and all, and they were on board,” Shumway said. Since then, Redd Mechanical has done work for the local school district, including retrofits, and has worked on multiple hotels in Moab, including the most recent five-star location. There, all the gas lines are run with MegaPressG, large water heaters and main lines are run with ProPress, and all the guest rooms are plumbed with PureFlow. Redd uses Viega’s transition fittings to go from copper to PEX. “Viega is such a tremendous time savings,” Shumway said. “When MegaPress came out, we jumped on board, knowing that press technology cuts down on time tremendously. We like doing demos and showing people and getting them on board too.” ■
Viega. Connected in quality. | 25
INDUSTRIAL
PRESS CONNECTIONS MAKE WASTEWATER PLANT EXPANSION SIMPLE With a need for increased capacity at the Loveland (Colorado) Wastewater Treatment Facility, Garney Construction utilized Viega’s ProPress Stainless 316 line in a new digester complex and for some retrofit work. The $35 million capital-improvement project for the city helped to nearly double the capacity of the two digester tanks already in the system. In large wastewater treatment plants, such as in Loveland, anaerobic digestion is often used to break down organic waste. The process produces digester gas from the decomposition of sewage sludge. An EnviroMix large bubble system, a bio nutrient removal system, was installed and needed to be retrofit to the existing six aeration basins at the plant. Viega 2" ProPress Stainless fittings were used. “We attached pipe to the compressors, and it was all Viega fittings from the compressors to the source,” said John Hirsch, project engineer with Garney. “The basins were existing – just retrofit work on our end.” When working in a facility such as a wastewater treatment plant, time is of the essence. “This is where we really saw the benefits of Viega,” said Hirsch. “Wastewater never stops. The flow keeps coming in, so shutdowns don’t work well. We’d have to do some short shutdowns and press onto the existing copper lines, but there’s a huge benefit here to pressing instead of sweating, like you would typically do.” The large bubble system came as a vendor package supplied by EnviroMix. It included compressors, valve panels, tubing, fittings, nozzles, etc., along with the specified 2" ProPress Stainless fittings for connection. With some training from Viega reps, everyone on the project got up to speed with Viega fittings, whether they’d used them before or not, to get the project rolling. “It was at least three times faster to press instead of sweat” said Josh Ivaska, mechanical foreman on the job. “Just cut and go. I love it. It’s time efficient.” Hirsch estimated that there's approximately 1,000 linear feet of piping that used Viega fittings, and he applauded the ease of ProPress Stainless. “The simplicity of the whole system, and the versatility that helps us out when we have time crunches like this, is great,” he said. “It also looks good. You get a clean system, and the aesthetics are good, without glue dripping down the pipe or anything like that.” ■ 26 | Viega Voice | November 2019
IT WAS AT LEAST THREE TIMES FASTER TO PRESS INSTEAD OF SWEAT. – Josh Ivaska, Mechanical Foreman, Garney
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT VIEGA TECH TALK
Q Can a MegaPress fitting be used as a swing joint? A Yes. There are differences in ProPress and MegaPress fittings and, therefore, in their abilities. Rotation of a ProPress
copper fitting requires re-pressing due to the physical deformation of the fitting and the pipe, which provides the mechanical strength for the connection. When rotated, the deformation process must be repeated to maintain the strength of the mechanical connection. Always check with the local authority having jurisdiction for any restrictions or requirements.
Q Can I mount a Viega ManaBloc upside down or horizontal? A Yes. The ManaBloc is designed for use in any configuration as long as the cold and hot water lines are piped
correctly. Installing a ManaBloc vertically, as described in the installation manuals, is the best practice for ease of installation and use; however, where space or piping is limited the ManaBloc can be mounted vertically, horizontally or overhead if necessary.
Q Can I use stainless steel pinch clamps to connect Viega polycrimp fittings to Viega PureFlow PEX tubing,
and is this approved? A No. The use of ASTM F2098 stainless steel pinch clamps is not permitted in Viega plumbing systems. Such uses are
not covered by any written Viega system warranty, and the use of the clamps is not allowed in accordance with Viega’s installation guidelines. Viega LLC has several concerns with the ASTM F2098 pinch clamp system: • ASTM standards for Viega PEX Crimp fittings (F1807 and F2159) do not recognize the use of any compression mechanism other than the standard copper crimp ring. • The pinch clamps do not necessarily provide as uniform a compression as copper crimp rings, which has been confirmed by both internal and third-party testing. • The pull-off strength of pinch-clamp sizes larger than ½ does not meet Viega LLC’s internal standards. • ASTM F2098 allows a wide range of material thicknesses for clamps. Testing on clamps made from the thinner allowed material has produced elongation of the stainless material beyond its yield strength, which could result in failure of the connection. This is a concern especially in cold-weather installations. • A recent update to the ASTM F2098 standard removed the critical pinch tool closure dimension and “after pinching” dimensions,leaving it up to the individual clamp manufacturer to specify these respective dimensions. This drastically increases the potential for leaky joints in the field. • Some pinch-clamp manufacturers use forming oil when producing the clamps, which can have an adverse effect if it comes in contact with F2159 polysulfone fittings. Viega LLC does not promote or warrant the use of plumbing systems containing Viega products with ASTM F2098 stainless steel pinch clamps. This position is based upon the items above and testing, which shows that such connections do not always meet stringent Viega quality and performance standards.
Tech Talk provided by Viega technical experts Dave Holden and Aaron White
Viega. Connected in quality. | 27
VOICE Viega LLC 585 Interlocken Blvd. Broomfield, CO 80021 USA
Change Service Requested Phone (800) 976-9819 viega.us insidesales@viega.us
The term Viega, as used in this publication, does not apply to a specific company within the various separate and distinct companies comprising the Viega group of companies. The term Viega, as used in this publication, refers to the Viega brand itself or generally to the Viega group of companies. References to activities in North America specifically refer to activities of Viega LLC. A green dot on a Viega ProPress, MegaPress and PureFlow Press fitting indicates the Smart Connect feature with an EPDM sealing element. A yellow dot on a MegaPressG fitting indicates the Smart Connect feature with an HNBR sealing element. A white dot on a Viega ProPress (304 FKM) fitting indicates the Smart Connect technology with an FKM sealing element. For a current list of applications, please visit www.viega.us/applications. Zero Lead identifies Viega products meeting the lead-free requirements of NSF 61 through testing under NSF/ANSI 372 (0.25% or less maximum weighted average lead content).
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©2019. Climate Mat®, Climate Panel®, Climate Trak®, FostaPEX®, GeoFusion®, ManaBloc®, MegaPress®, ProPress®, PureFlow®, Radiant Wizard®, SeaPress®, Smart Connect®, SmartLoop®, S-NOICE®, Viega®, Viega. Connected in quality®, Viega Eco Plus® Visign®, XL® and XL-C® are registered trademarks of Viega GmbH & Co. KG. Eco Brass® is a registered trademark of Mitsubishi Shindoh Co., LTD. RIDGID® is a registered trademark of RIDGID, Inc.
