PE100 Socket Fusion Equal Tee - dn20 to dn63, SDR11

热熔承插三通 · SDR 11 · socket fusion tee · BRANCH

A three-mouth body for a run that needs to branch

A tee is the fitting that makes a network out of a pipeline. Until a run is branched it is only a line between two points, and every connection that turns it into something that serves more than one address starts with a three-mouth body. The equal tee is the version where nothing changes size: the run arrives at one diameter and leaves at the same one, and the branch leaves at that diameter too.

Keeping all three mouths the same size is what makes this the most forgiving tee to specify. There is no pair of numbers to read and no question about which figure is the run and which is the branch, because on an equal tee every one of the three sockets takes the same pipe. Whatever diameter the run is, the branch is the same, and the order line is one figure.

How the three sockets are laid out

Three sockets on one moulding

The body is a single shot with a through-way and a branch set at right angles to it, and all three mouths are cut to the same socket dimensions. The interior is not three tubes meeting in a void: the mould forms a smooth junction in the middle, so there is a continuous wall from any mouth to any other and no thin corner where three walls would otherwise meet.

The branch takes the wall thickness of the run

Nothing about the branch is lighter than the run. It is the same socket, the same depth and the same wall, so a branch line is not a weaker line by virtue of being a branch. What does change at a tee is the direction of the load: pressure tries to push the branch off the run, and the moulded junction is what resists it rather than any external anchor.

Two mouths opposite, one at right angles

The run sockets face each other along a straight axis, which means the through-way is a straight line with no crank in it. That matters for pigging, for rodding and for anything that has to pass along the main, and it is also why an equal tee can be installed in either orientation along the run: there is no upstream end and no downstream end on the through-way.

Branching a gas service without a joint at the branch

The commonest use in a gas distribution network is taking a service off a main. The main continues in the same diameter, the service leaves at the same diameter and is then reduced further along its own route, and the tee itself does not decide anything about the service size. Putting the reduction downstream of the tee rather than inside it keeps one spare part on the van instead of two.

The second common use is dividing a line into two equal legs, where a branch off a road has to serve two properties or two directions of a new estate. Because the tee does not reduce, both legs inherit the full bore of the incoming main, which is usually the intention when a line is being divided rather than merely tapped.

A third case is worth knowing about because it is easy to get wrong: an equal tee is not a way of joining two runs of different size. Where that is needed the part is a reducing tee, and using an equal tee with a separate reducer at each branch adds a joint that the moulded part would have avoided.

Equal tee or reducing tee: decide before you order

The decision between an equal tee and a reducing tee is made by asking what the branch has to carry, not by asking what is in stock. If the branch line is the same diameter as the main, the part is an equal tee. If the branch is smaller, the part is a reducing tee and the mould already contains the step.

The temptation to standardise on equal tees and add a reducer where a reduction is needed is worth resisting on a buried line. Every extra fitting is an extra pair of fused joints, and on a branch that is one joint deeper than it needs to be. The reducing tee costs more than the equal tee but less than the equal tee plus the reducer plus the labour for two more joints.

Six equal sizes, no reduction inside the body

Six diameters are published, dn20 through dn63, and all six are SDR11. Each size has one part number because all three mouths are the same, so the schedule for this fitting is the shortest in the range.

Because the range is built as a set, a tee in one diameter will always mate with the couplings, elbows and caps in the same diameter. The whole family is moulded to the same sockets and the same wall series, which means a network assembled from this range has no size transitions hidden at the fittings.

Equal tee schedule

The schedule below is the complete published list for this fitting, exactly as it is held in the product list. All three mouths on every entry take the same SDR11 pipe.

Three joints to make, and the order to make them in

A tee makes three joints instead of two, and the order they are made in matters more than the technique used for any one of them. The through-way should be completed first, because it is a straight joint between two pipe ends that can be laid out and checked by eye. Only once the run is solid does the branch go on, and by then the tee is already held on two sides and cannot move while the third joint is pushed.

• Chamfer and mark all three pipe ends before the heater is lit. Three marks, three depths, and on an equal tee all three depths are the same.
• Fuse the through-way first, working from one end to the other so the run stays straight.
• Check that the branch socket is still clean after the through-way is complete. Debris from the first two joints is the usual cause of a poor third one.
• Fuse the branch last, pushing along the branch axis and holding it in alignment while it sets.
• Do not use the branch pipe as a lever to align the run. It will load the branch joint while the melt is still soft.

Where a tee is buried, the sequence above also decides how much trench has to stay open at one time. Doing the through-way first lets the run be backfilled and the branch excavated later, which on a road crossing is often the difference between one closure and two.

Socket fittings in this size band are injection moulded, one cavity per shot.

Testing a branched service

All three joints carry the same acceptance evidence, and they are checked independently: a continuous bead round each socket mouth and a witness line flush with the face of the fitting on each side. The branch is the one to look at first, because it is the joint that was made last and the one that was made with the fitting already fixed at two points.

A branched line is normally pressure tested after the branch has been completed at its far end, and the tee is then part of a longer test section. If a section fails, isolating the branch joint from the two through-way joints is worth the effort before anything is dug out, because the three joints fail for different reasons and only one of them is likely to be the cause.

Sizing a branch off an existing run

One diameter per line is all an equal tee needs. There is no pairing to state and no thread to specify, which makes this the quickest item in the range to put on a purchase order.

What is worth adding is the quantity per branch rather than per tee. A bill of materials for a distribution job is normally built by counting branches, and the tee count is the branch count. State the medium as well, since that decides the certification pack, and confirm the pipe wall series so the sockets can be checked against your pipe before dispatch.

Cartons are labelled by fitting type, size and SDR series.

Manufacturer details

ECM Type Approval certificate 1N240805.PTSQC86

Issued to: PTS Tech Solutions Sdn Bhd, Malaysia

HDPE electrofusion and butt fusion fittings, DN20–DN400, including elbows. Standards BS EN 1555-3:2021, BS EN 12201-3/-4:2024.

Valid to: 04 Aug 2029

ECM Attestation 1N241120.ZQPSW72

Issued to: Zhejiang Qingfa Pipe Technology Co., Ltd.

PE pipe fittings DN20–DN1200. Issued under a non-notified procedure and expressly for markets outside the EU.

Valid to: 19 Nov 2029

WRAS material approval 251155041

Issued to: Zhejiang Qingfa Pipe Technology Co., Ltd.

PE100 black injection moulded fittings for contact with wholesome water, up to 65 °C. Machined sizes fall outside this scope.

Valid to: Nov 2030

CNAS-accredited test data

Issued to: Own test laboratory

Coil resistance, fusion joint strength and dimensional checks, reported per batch on request.

Valid to: per batch

Buyer questions about the equal tee

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