Conclusion

All of the EPCO anodized aluminum Zero-Leak Gold Plugs, with the exception of the –2 size, successfully completed the 2,000,000 cycle impulse test. All of the plugs, including the -2 successfully completed the proof and burst evaluation.

The EPCO Anodized Aluminum Zero-Leak Gold plugs sizes –3, -4, -5, -6, -8, -10, and -12 passed the one million-cycle impulse requirement by NFPA fatigue standard T2.6.1R2-2000 and were run an additional one million cycles and passed with no failures. The test ran continuously 24 hours a day, seven days a week with the exception of being shut down for equipment maintenance and failures should they occur. The marks placed on the plugs and manifold concluded that there was no movement of the plug relative to the manifold for the entire two million cycles. The burst pressures ranged from 18,853 psi to 32,040 psi, with the requirement of 12,000 psi to pass. The client requested all plugs be pressurized beyond the 4:1 requirement (12,000 psi) and continue increasing pressure until failure of the fitting or limitations of the equipment are reached. The plugs also passed the proof test.