Our standard HydraSleeves and SpeedBags are produced at a facility and on the same line that fabricates medical IV bags, liquid specimen bags, blood bags and flexible food packaging. All of these items, as well as our products, must be flexible and have a high integrity water-tight seal. But, the maximum working length for products produced on this equipment is 38 inches. For our products made on this equipment the restriction on the length, combined with the limited internal diameter of a 2-inch well results in a maximum sample volume of about 1.25 liters for 2-inch wells.
For our larger volume samplers used in 2-inch wells (the longer SuperSleeves and SkinnySleeves) we must go to a different manufacturing process which results in a lower integrity seal on the sides of the sleeve. Most of the time these longer sleeves function fine, but occasionally, again due to the production process, some units have had pinhole leaks and may even burst along the side seam when full. (Note: Once they leave the water table the internal pressure at the bottom of the long sleeves is substantial and will usually be the location where the side seams will fail.) Although SuperSleeves have been used since 2009 with very few failures, we still would like to address the issue and improve or product line.
Unfortunately we cannot see the presence of pinholes or determine the integrity of the side seams on these units during the inspection and assembly process. We do conduct regular spot pressure tests of the sleeves at regular intervals, but the leaks are not consistent from run to run and will intermittently appear in the same run.
So, as an option, to assure you don't lose your sample when using the longer Super/SkinnySleeves we have found a production facility that makes the same material but it is extruded so there is no seam. This means that the possibility for pinholes and tearing along the seam has been drastiaclly reduced. Also pressure tests show that when compared to the old material the new extruded material takes about double the pressure to burst. The manufactured SpeedBag bursts at 10 psi; the old SuperSleeve material bursts at 8 psi; and the new extruded SuperSleeve material bursts at 20 psi (the equivalent of 46 feet of water). It should be noted that the extruded material did not burst or blow out, it separated from the connection to the pressure hose.
We have made these new heavy duty sleeves universal, in that they will fit both Schedule 40 and Schedule 80 as well as metric 50 mm wells. The difference will be which top weight or collar you choose. The dimensions are actually the same dimensions as our standard SkinnySleeves, but the material is flexible enough that it will also work with the schedule 40 hardware. As you can see in this photo the material is more opaque than the standard SuperSleeve material but that is hard to determine when they are folded and inside the normal packaging. So until we get permanent packaging, to differentiate between the assembled sleeves, these will come sealed in a generic green Ziploc bag as pictured here.
We also think it's nice to have the blue check valve just for visibility.
The dimensions are 1.75 O.D. x 66 inches long and they hold ~2 liters of sample. Using the SuperSleeve top weight they compress to within 20 inches from the bottom of the well in 24 hours; with the SkinnySleeve top weight they compress to within 24 inches from the bottom of the well. Since the Heavy Duty SuperSleeve compresses farther than the standard units, even though, these are 6 inches longer they still fill in 7 feet of saturated screen.
These new heavy duty bags are only available in the 2-liter size. They are $27.00 ($5 more than the standard units) and are optional for now. Order now.
The standard 2-liter Super/SkinnySleeves will be available while supplies last.
We encourage you to make the switch to these new heavy duty 2-liter bags. We have much more confidence in this material for the longer sleeves.
Please note that the shorter 1-liter and 1.5-liter bags do not normally experience the pinholes and leaking because there is not enough pressure in the bag to make them fail. If you would like the heavy duty version in the smaller sizes, they can always be shortened as with any HydraSleeve. See instructions here.