ls hardware going soft?

HAT'S happening to hardware? Do your customers, especially those who cringe at "plasticj' realize that metal is no longer a significant ingredient in a lot of plumbing hardware?

Acetal resin, an engineering plastic, has become one of the fastest growing materials in the plumbing industry today-with an annual growth rate of llv/0.

The use of acetals is growing rapidly in fittings, valves, faucet parts, showerheads, sink sprayers and drains, where strength, stiffness, endurance and low friction are important. When a chrome appearance has been necessary, acetals have been covered with a chrome-plated material. However, a number of European designers believe the material performs so well that a metal look is not necessary. They are creating highfashion faucets and sink fixtures in designer colors that totally eliminate the chrome look.

The growing popularity of parts made of acetal is attribted to several recent technological advances.

VlSlBtE as well as unseen parts of faucets are made of acetal resin. (lower photo) Faucet underbody ol Du Pont Delrin acetal resin was used daily for 17 years.

Another reason, according to Dr. Paul E. Sample, a Du Pont technical consultant, is that the polymer has been time-tested. "When we first introduced acetals to the plumbing industry 25 years ago, there was a general fear that the materials wouldn't hold up, or would hydrolyze under long-term hot water usej' he said. "Some manufacturers tried the polymer, and are reporting troublefree use in thousands of applications. Many parts have been in constant use for more than 20 years and have no deformation or hydrolysis. That news is spreading fastl'

Price/Pfister and American Standard have been using acetal resin in fixed plate shower heads since the early 1960s. Another firm, Chicago Specialties, produces several pulsating shower heads designed with components made of the material.

MCC Powers has been incorporating innerbodies made of the resin in its shower temperature-controlling valves since 1963 and, of the first half million units sold, not one was returned due to failure of the components.

Delrin (Du Pont's acetal) is used in more than half of all U.S. manufactured ballcocks and nearly all U.S. manufactured flush meters. Ballcock samples removed from a group of California homes after l7 years showed acetal components to be in excellent condition.

Price/Pfister uses acetal for l0 mechanical components in one of its single lever kitchen faucets and, along with Modern Faucet, selected the material to replace phenolic in its kitchen sink sprayer body, lever and coupling nut for toughness, thread strength, resistance to scratching and mineral buildup.

DURABILITY, strength and stiffness make the acetal resin appropriate for use in domestic hot and cold water systems.

New applications also are being commercialized with 2OO PL. England's Fordham Bathrooms & Kitchens Ltd. has replaced all acetal plumbing components with the new grade and is using 200 PL for seven parts of its ball valve. Brass-Craft Industries recently introduced fittings, elbows and tees of 200 PL as part of its newly-developed Poly-Lock potable water svstem.

Story at a Glance

Acetalplastic used in plumbing growing al1loh ... quarter cen. tury shows product durability... high style color possible ex. cellent perlormance in unseen components...