Maintenance
Making your pipe last: UV, storage and handling
Most pipe does not fail — it is killed. Sunlight, sharp bends and bad storage account for most of the failures we see.
18 March 2026 · 1 min read · REDYPLAST
A good quality pipe that fails in two seasons has almost always been damaged rather than worn out. The three culprits are sunlight, sharp bends and careless storage, and all three are avoidable.
Ultraviolet light is the main enemy
Sunlight breaks down polymer chains. A UV-stabilised pipe resists this far longer than an unstabilised one, which is why the stabiliser is worth paying for — but "UV-stabilised" means slowed, not immune.
Where you can, bury the line or run it under the canopy. Where you cannot, accept that an exposed line has a shorter life and plan for it.
Do not force a bend
Every pipe has a minimum bend radius. Force it tighter and you kink the wall, which both throttles flow and creates a stress point that will split later — often a season later, which is why the cause is rarely recognised.
Use a bend or an elbow fitting at corners. A fitting costs less than the pipe it saves.
Store it flat, store it shaded
- Keep coils flat and off hot ground, not stood on edge where the bottom deforms
- Store under cover, not in the yard under direct sun
- Keep solvent cement tins sealed; once the solvent flashes off, the tin is scrap
- Drain lines before a cold snap and before long idle periods
- Flush filters and laterals at the start of every season, before pressurising
Keep reading
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