Why We Don't Use EPDM

Many folks contact us wanting to know why we don't use EPDM liners in our tanks.  We have been building tanks for a number of years, and have encountered many problems with EPDM.

The first tank we ever built used EPDM.  It smelled strongly of skunky rubber and we smelled just as rubbery when we finished building it.  It was a hassle to fold it into the container that we had built on site, but it worked very well intially.  EPDM is a very strong material when it is new.

However, after being exposed to hot water for a while, EPDM starts to break down.  The hotter the water, the more the EPDM degrades.  This has been seen with EPDM based radiant floor tubing as well.

The other problem with EPDM is the way it affects copper heat exchangers as the liner ages.  The by-products created by EPDM rubber as it breaks down will not allow the copper tubing to create a proper layer of tarnish.  Copper naturally produces tarnish as a protective layer that acts as a corrosion inhibitor.

An example of a heat exchanger affected by an EPDM liner.

We have tested a number of polymer liner materials over the years.  The material we currently use is custom manufactured for us.  It is field repairable, in case it is ever attacked by an ice pick wielding maniac.  To date, we have seen no aging failures in tanks using this material.  The normal type of failure for polymers similar to what we are using would be embrittlement.  As this plastic ages, it can become brittle.  We have not seen this type of aging with any of our liners.  The oldest tanks we have been into that use this material, some of which are over twenty five years old, are as flexible as the day they were installed.  Even if a liner did become brittle, it would not be an issue unless the tank needed to be drained and moved to a different location.

While EPDM is a less expensive material and EPDM liners are less time consuming to produce (there is typically no welding involved in producing a liner made of EPDM), we feel that the extra cost and extra time are necessary to provide our customers with the best heat storage solution on the market today.