Coiling questions answered
Below is a collection of questions and general interest queries we commonly receive.
In addition, the sub menu to left offers links to more detailed explanations of some of our technologies.
If you have further questions regarding coiling or coiling equipment, please contact us and we will be pleased to give you an answer.
- Why coil?
- What products can be coiled?
- What is the optimum coiling technology to use?
- Is it better to make finished coils on line, directly as the product is extruded, or to wind onto drums at the extrusion line and produce coils on a secondary off-line coiling process?
- What coil packaging method is most suitable?
- How do I select which coiler is best for me?
- Why purchase from Pipe Coil Technology?
Why coil?
The coiling of extrusions such as pipe, hose and tube enables long continuous lengths of product to packaged into a small volume.
For many products, supplying in coils rather than straight lengths is beneficial typically due to reduced number of joints and reduced installation time.
What products can be coiled?
Any product that has a bend radius small enough to allow a movable coil to be formed can be coiled.
The limitation on coil size is usually the constraints imposed by the likely transportation method, such as road transport limits.
What is the optimum coiling technology to use?
This will depend upon several factors such as:
- the product characteristics
- coiling speed
- type of coil packaging required, and
- the overall volume of coils to wind per annum.
For very flexible products that are manufactured in low volume and at low speed a manual or semiautomatic coiling method will be adequate.
For applications involving high volume production of flexible products or any level of production of semi-rigid products a semiautomatic, or fully automatic coiling system should be used.
For high volume coil production the initial investment associated with automatic coiling should be weighed up against long term cost savings made through reduced labour and increased extrusion output.
For most cases the automation of coiling will result in 100% payback in two to four years. For offline coiling the payback time can be as low as 12 months.
Is it better to make finished coils on line, directly as the product is extruded, or to wind onto drums at the extrusion line and produce coils on a secondary off-line coiling process?
If production from only one extrusion line is being considered for coiling, or for coiling of products larger than 90mm in diameter, in most cases it will be better to coil direct online. Exceptions being if the production process prevents coiling directly, or if extrusion speeds are too high for coiling on line.
If product diameters are less than 90mm and if two, or more, extrusion lines are running a similar range of product sizes, it will usually be more cost effective to wind onto process drums at the end of the extrusion line and produce finished coils off-line using on a high speed rewind line.
Offline coiling allows one automatic coiler to handle up to 35 million meters (112 million feet) of product per annum which can represent the output from many extrusion lines.
The greater the number of extrusion lines that can be handled by one offline coiling system, the bigger the savings will be.
What coil packaging method is most suitable?
For coils where the coil section is small, typically less that 60mm square, packaging using adhesive tape is recommended.
For coil section sizes from 60mm square to 300mm square it is possible to use stretch film or PP strap packaging.
We recommend film wrap packaging as a preferred method due to it's many benefits. Film packaging is not suitable for products whose stiffness is so high that the film is unable to restrain the pipe end. Typically the cut off for film packaging is 32mm HDPE pipe, or equivalent.
Strap packaging can be used for much larger coils, typically up to 1800 wide x 750mm deep.
How do I select which coiler is best for me?
Use the selection guide to find the coiler model that is most appropriate for the product that you want to coil.
If you are making a product under 90mm diameter and you have two or more lines running similar products, an offline coiling system will probably be more cost effective that putting a coiler at the end of each extrusion line.
If you do not see a coiler model that meets you requirement, give us a call. We regularly produce coiling machines that are tailored to individual customer requirements.
We can design and manufacture one-off machines if required; see Special purpose solutions.
Why purchase from Pipe Coil Technology?
Our business is coiling and we are the leaders in coiling technology. This is demonstrated by the many unique products in our range that have been developed to benefit our customers, such as offline coiling and low ovality coiling technology.
We offer a high quality product designed to give many years of operation backed by excellent after sales service.
Contact us
If you would like to discuss your specific requirements, please contact us.