Are Your Plumbing Products Designed for Reliability?
By Deanna Seale, PE
Published Monday, March 1, 2021
Today’s customers, both building professionals and homeowners, have increased their expectations of manufacturers for high quality, reliable products. Product testing identifies problems encountered during construction or service life due to poor durability, strength, or performance. Increase the quality and reliability of your products by detecting failures, pinpointing probable deficiencies, and confirming your product will maintain performance throughout its lifecycle.
Conduct a plumbing evaluation to ensure your products are in compliance with CSA B45.5/IAPMO Z124 Plastic Plumbing Fixtures standard. From sinks and showers to bathtubs, Home Innovation has the experience to get you the confirmation you need. Our plumbing products laboratory is well-equipped to test your products and provide you with data specific to material properties, such as:
- Structural Integrity: Can your bathtub or shower handle 300 pounds of concentrated load without cracking or deflecting more than 0.150 inch?
- Colorfastness: Can your material endure 200 hours of accelerated weathering with xenon arc exposure and maintain a color difference under 2 delta E units?
- Wear & Cleanability: Can your material withstand being scrubbed with an abrasive slurry for at least 10,000 cycles without wear-through of the surface? In addition, there shall be no more than 5% loss of white-light reflectance after standard dirt is applied to the scrubbed area and rubbed cleaned with liquid cleanser.
- Thermal Shock Resistance: Can your material resist cracking and crazing after being impinged with 150°F hot water for 1.5 min at a rate of 1.0 gpm, followed by 50°F cold water for 1.5min at a rate of 1.0 gpm for 250 or more cycles?
Whether you are attempting to achieve certification, evaluating defects, or conducting research and development, Home Innovation’s product testing helps you improve your product. Detect design flaws early and troubleshoot defects prior to final production. Understand early in your research and development cycle how design choices can impact performance. Analyze the effects that a change in materials supplier, formulation, or manufacturing process may have on your finished product. Determine modifications for improved product design or material selection. Home Innovation helps you improve your product’s performance, helping you to create greater customer satisfaction.
With capability for hundreds of test methods, our staff of experts can help you get the results you need. If you'd like more information or to visit our laboratories, just let us know.