Hawle System 2000 Pipe Connector

Today Hawle System 2000 is among the trusted solutions for connecting plastic pipes for water. Since its development, over 3 million units of different System 2000 products have been installed on water pipelines around the world. 

In the mid-80s Hawle developed its System 2000, a special mechanical joint to connect plastic pipes for water. Hawle System 2000 connection was designed to connect water pipes of plastic materials, including: 

• HDPE/PE pipes (polyethylene), 
• MOPVC /PVC pipes (polyvinyl chloride). 

Plastic piping systems started to be massively used in water supply applications in the 80-s and since then have been widely used in new projects and, most importantly, for rehabilitation of water supply networks. In many European cities there can be still found many pipes older than 100 years that require replacement due to high leakage rates. In case of malfunction asbestos cement pipes are commonly replaced by PE or PVC pipes, which are characterised by lower failure rates in comparison to other materials.

A common Hawle System 2000 pipe connector represents an epoxy coated ductile iron sleeve with locking rings, which are attached to it with hexagonal bolts, separated by spacer bushes. Between the lock rings and the coupling, grip rings and lip seals are positioned. System 2000 elements include: 

• Body (1) and lock ring (2) made of ductile iron, epoxy corrosion protection coated
• Grip ring (3) made of brass (for DN 300+ of bronze)
• Hexagonal bolts and washers (4) of stainless steel
• Lip seal ring (5) of elastomer
• Spacer bushes (6) made of PE.

To install a Hawle System 2000 connector no special tools are required and a simple wrench is enough. When tightening the bolts, the lock ring with the grip ring are pressing the lip seal ring inside the body until the lock ring touches the sleeve (1). As it happens, the System 2000 grip ring starts to shrink in diameter, and its sharpened surface cuts into the PVC or PE pipe (2). Once the bolts are tightened, and the distance between the body and the fixing ring is stopped by a spacer, a rubber lip seal ring, pressed by the lock and the grip ring, completely fills up the space between the pipe and the body. The connection is successfully installed (3). Since in all Hawle System 2000 connectors lip seals and grip rings are not in contact, the sealing and restraint functions are separated to deliver a better performance.

Most PVC / PE pipe mechanical joints have grip rings with either grooves or “teeth” as a gripping element. While massive teeth or grooves may put additional unnecessary pressure on a pipe, a fine-toothed pattern would distribute the pressure more evenly.

Each System 2000 connector is equipped with a brass grip ring with machine sharpened fine teeth. This ring presses onto the PE or PVC pipe over a large area, ensuring a secure, permanent restraint connection. The special construction of the Hawle System 2000 gripping ring ensures the safe fixing of the pipe. This means no leaking problems or pipe disconnection may occur when buried in the ground.

Hawle System 2000 pipe connection can be used for both new water pipe installation, and for pipeline rehabilitation. Thus, mechanical joints like System 2000 flange adapter or Syno2000 pipe connector allow to connect a PVC / PE pipe to almost any other type of pipe, including steel, ductile iron, and asbestos cement pipes. At the same time during new installations System 2000 gate valves and System 2000 combi valves make it possible to install shut-off valves in PVC and PE pipelines without use of additional flanges.

Sometimes butt fusion or electrofusion are not optimal methods for joining PE water pipes. There can be several reasons for this: no qualified personnel are available to perform the welding procedure, weather conditions do not allow to dry the pipe for a fusion joining, or simply it is not economical to hire a welding team with complex equipment, as only few connections are to be made. In such cases mechanical pipe connections such as Hawle System 2000 are used.

Hawle System 2000 restrained mechanical joint was designed to allow a fast and easy PVC / PE pipe joining even by installers with no special training or tools like torque spanner. Overall, it takes just minutes to install the System 2000 joints, which also significantly reduces the downtime costs.