July 26, 2016 Put This in Your Pipe

Volume 4 | Issue 8

R.W. Lyall has three decades of experience in the manufacture of fittings and accessories that help bring energy to American homes.

Thirty years is a short history in the grand scheme of U.S. industry, but it is one about which R.W. Lyall & Company, Inc., can boast. At its Corona, Calif., headquarters, R.W. Lyall’s emphasis is on products that provide quality, safety, convenience and value to the customer. The company has earned high marks in all of these areas since its opening in 1970, and it continues in the tradition to this day. In fact, it enjoys an industry-wide reputation for innovative engineering and high-volume manufacturing of quality gas-distribution products.

R.W. Lyall’s extensive product line centers on the distribution and use of natural and liquefied petroleum gas, and ranges from fittings to barriers to the tools needed for installation. It includes the mechanical fittings used in below-ground polyethylene gas pipe connections, which the company guarantees to be gas-tight and stronger than the pipes to which they are connected. Innovative in their design, these fittings use a patented barbed spigot to seal the inside diameter of the pipe, ensuring a positive seal between the coupling and the pipe, regardless of the pipe’s outside condition. LycoFit® fittings eliminate the need for O-rings or rubber gaskets, which could leak on scratched pipe or deteriorate under adverse conditions such as chemical corrosion.

R.W. Lyall also manufactures an innovative line of transition fittings, which are used with threaded and welded steel outlets to connect to polyethylene pipe. These fittings are factory-assembled and coated with an electrostatically applied epoxy that resists underground corrosion. Leakproof tapping tees, which are cost-effective solutions for commercial service connections; and risers that offer safe and dependable transition from below-ground polyethylene gas pipe to above-ground liquefied petroleum tanks round out the product line for commercial applications.

Good Fit
R. W. Lyall is also a market leader in the production of the fittings used in domestic propane service. The company’s gas-grill risers come in a variety of sizes, including very short bends for those small outdoor applications. This line also includes regulator assembly kits that provide a quick, safe and ideal means of transferring propane gas to a residence. These regulator kits reduce the number of components, decreasing costs and increasing safety.

The kits also include guard rails and guard barriers to protect regulator sets and propane tanks from vehicular damage. The rails and barriers are visually appealing and come with a polyester fusion coating to ensure years of low maintenance. Other options include mounting brackets for the tank, service and gas-grill risers; and four-port, corrugated stainless-steel tubing manifolds that allow parallel installations.

With R.W. Lyall’s shut-off valves, these systems can act much like a circuit breaker when installing or repairing appliances. R.W. Lyall developed those shut-off valves using the latest technologies for polyethylene and homopolymer resins, resulting in the most rugged and reliable shut-off valves on the market today.

Into the Deep End
R.W. Lyall’s entree into pool and spa gas piping is a relatively new marketing venture for the company. The company’s prebent risers and other devices make pool- and spa-heater installations easier and less costly. As is normal for all of R.W. Lyall’s products, innovative design, durable material, excellent engineering and a commitment to service and customer satisfaction have contributed to the success of this new operation.

Finally, the company produces the tools necessary to install its products. LycoFit® bolt-on mechanical tapping tees provide a safe and low-cost solution for commercial service connections. R.W. Lyall produces a compact, ratchet-drive field assembly tool for use with all of its smaller mechanical fitting configurations. For larger configurations, a hydraulic tool called the LAP-100 does the work well.

R. W. Lyall does its work at a 70,000 square-foot facility. The company employs 120 people, all of whom think “safety first.” Some of its products have to last, literally, a century, so the company places a huge amount of emphasis on delivering products that will not leak. The patented barbed spigot is just one chapter in this story. Other safety measures emerge from the ideas of the employees, from the designers to the customer-service representatives.

Part of R.W. Lyall’s success in keeping the product line at the head of the class in terms of safety is the level of quality that is present from assembly to installation. After conducting safety and durability testing to verify that all applicable standards have been met, the company performs practical field trials for several years. Combining the results of the field tests with customer input and the substantial experience of R.W. Lyall personnel, the level of its products’ safety is as good as it gets and long-lasting.

Second only to safety is the emphasis on keeping costs down for the customer. The LycoFit® connection system, which requires no pipe preparation or special training, is much easier and faster to install compared to other mechanical fittings. More important is that installation failures due to bad pipe cuts, poor fusion and weak connections are eliminated in the process. Add to that the durability of R.W. Lyall’s chemical-resistant fittings, and there is no longer a concern with re-installations due to typical joint failures.

R. W. Lyall’s future includes new products in existing industries, new industries to market to and a world which is experiencing some transition from oil- to gas-based utilities. All of these factors should converge to help R.W. Lyall last even longer than its products.

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