The winters, they tell us, are getting colder and trace heating systems for vulnerable water pipes are finding greater demand. As part of their development process STOPFREEZE were looking for a superior way of protecting their in-line thermostat from water ingress and physical damage in its outdoor situation. Their solution came in the shape of a polyurethane potting compound from us, together with appropriate metering and mixing equipment for production filling of the thermostat housing.

Although primarily focused on  boiler condensate discharge lines, both the STOPFREEZE KIT and STOPFREEZE COMBI, which feature an IP67 weatherproof in-line thermostat with integral LED indicators, can both be used for a number of pipe frost protection applications such as farms, caravan parks and camp sites, stables, lofts, garages, holiday homes and lodges, nurseries, outbuildings and sheds etc.

Given the often arduous environments, we recommended IRS3071 Potting Compound, which is a semi-rigid, room temperature curing, flame retardant polyurethane resin system. It is specifically designed for the cost effective encapsulation of a variety of low to medium voltage electrical and electronic applications. The system offers medium viscosity, flame retardation to UL94 V-O at 6mm and excellent adhesion to a wide range of substrates. IRS 3071 is resistant to UV, water based cleaning chemicals, motor oil, lubricants and most dilute acids and alkalis.

Paul Whitehead, our Technical Manager, describes his thoughts:

IRS3071 was suggested because it is a cost-effective way of environmental protection and void free encapsulation. It has the added benefit of adhering to the enclosure making it difficult to disassemble the enclosure without damage.

Explained Neil Fairburn of STOPFREEZE Eltrace:

We were looking for a potting system that was going to be superior to others used in the industry while being easy to use so that we could ensure consistently high quality, performance and reliability. The Intertronics system has been key to market acceptance of our STOPFREEZE in-line thermostat kits and allowed us to offer a simple and inexpensive solution especially suited to the residential market.

IRS 3071 Potting Compound is available in convenient twinpacks or in bulk. It is shown here in a trace heating thermostat protection application.