PIPES
Pressing home the benefits
There are not that many companies in the world of air conditioning and refrigeration that can point to 110 years of heritage. Fewer still that can combine such a rich history with being a global brand. Conex Bänninger has just celebrated that important milestone and its expanding ACR product range is making inroads in markets around the world. Here Dan Wild, Conex Bänninger business unit director for the UK and Ireland, provides a snapshot of the company’s history and discusses how press technology is helping to change the ACR landscape.
T
he year just ended was one of great celebration for Conex Bänninger, for it marked the 110th anniversary since the company was
founded. It was Swiss entrepreneur Carl Bänninger who laid the foundations in 1909, designing and building an iron fi ttings foundry in Giessen, a university town in Germany. Independently, in 1919, the Sanbra Engineering
Company, later to become Conex-Sanbra Ltd, was founded in Birmingham, manufacturing brass fi ttings for water applications. Bänninger became renown as the biggest producer of red brass fi ttings in Europe for decades, while Conex-Sanbra was similarly dominant in the UK and many overseas markets with its yellow brass compression fi ttings.
Eventually the two companies came together to become the Conex Bänninger of today, part of the IBP Group, with international headquarters in the UK and modern, hi-tech manufacturing centres in Spain and Poland.
The emergence of press Over time new materials and new technologies have come to market. Perhaps the most revolutionary of these has been the development of press fi ttings. They emerged in the 1990s for the heating and plumbing industry and now, following further technological advances, are becoming a preferred
18 January 2020
fi ttings solution, in the air conditioning and refrigeration sector.
Of course, the system had to be adapted, tested,
proven and formally accredited as ACR applications involve much higher pressures than in heating and plumbing. Air conditioning and refrigeration has traditionally
been the domain of the brazed or soldered joint and it still holds sway in many regions. However, where ACR engineers have been
introduced to ‘the press revolution’ we have found they have been quickly won over to the advantages of this cleaner, safer, fi t-and-forget solution. Conex Bänninger fi ttings use a three-point-press to form a secure, permanent leak-free joint, with one mechanical press either side of the bead and a hydraulic press that compresses the O-ring. Other manufacturers have diff erent systems. Benefi ts from no hot works As a mechanical form of jointing, it means that
no hot works activity is required, something that is otherwise required under COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) regulations in circumstances where any welding, cutting, open torches, open fl ames, brazing, soldering, grinding or similar activity is likely to be used. As well as obtaining the permit, pre-hot works checks have to be carried out, normally a 12-step process, provision has to be made for trained individuals to have tagged fi re extinguishers readily
available, and a fi re watch operative must be on duty while the hot works take place and be responsible for extinguishing spot fi res and communicating alarms if required.
Even if the hot works area has no fi re hazards or combustible areas a fi nal check is required 30 minutes after completion of the operation, to detect and extinguish any smouldering fi res. All these actions certainly add to the time taken and the cost of the project.
Flame-free press fi ttings also off er occupational health and safety benefi ts. There’s no need to manhandle awkward gas bottles around the site. There’s no requirement for a nitrogen purge, and the, albeit small, risk of ‘weld fume fever’ from exposure to potentially harmful fumes from brazing gas combustion is negated. Perhaps, one of the most convincing arguments for press fi ttings for use in ACR installations, as with heating and plumbing systems, is the faster speed and repeatability of each joint. Once initial preparation has been carried out, it takes just fi ve seconds to complete a joint, using the appropriate press tool and jaws. This consistency enables ACR engineers and
contractors to plan contract work with great confi dence that timeframes will be met.
Training support in person and online While some markets have fully embraced press
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