2-LIFE®
and 4-LIFE® Wire
Smarter farming is
all about thinking ahead and getting the best
performance from your soil, stock and farm resources.
As most successful rural practitioners will tell
you, short term gains will usually come at a cost
further down the track. That's why farmers, with
an eye on the future, will be taking more than
a passing glance at 2-Life and 4-Life wire range
from Spec Trellising.
In simple terms -
it lasts longer and costs less.
The superior longer
life characteristics of this new range come from
a zinc and aluminum coating that delivers markedly
greater protection than can be achieved with zinc/galvanized.
This makes it last 2 to 4 times longer than its
galvanized predecessor.
To best understand how the new technology
works lets first compare it to galvanized wire
which has a 100% zinc coating on the steel wire
which protects the steel wire in two ways.
- Firstly it provides a protective
barrier over the steel because it corrodes much
more slowly than the bare steel. It does corrode
though, eventually forming white oxide on the
surface. .
- Secondly, but most importantly,
zinc also provides protection even if the coating
is damaged. As you know unprotected steel will
form red oxide shortly after contact with water
or moist air. With a zinc coating, when a scrape
or cut in the wire exposes the steel, the zinc
surrounding that bare steel will protect that
damaged area. The zinc corrodes in place of
the nearby bare steel. This is because zinc
is more reactive than steel, so the elements
that cause corrosion attack the zinc first.
Zinc aluminum alloy
technology used for 2 and 4 Life Wire, gives users
the best of both worlds. Aluminum that quickly
forms a protective oxide to slow corrosion, and
zinc that protects the bare steel if it gets damaged.
Blended together they give you a coating that
offers outstanding long term resistance to corrosion
out in New Zealand's extreme condition.
2 - Life high tensile
wire (coating weight : 130 grams per square meter)
2 life Wire has a 130
gram Zinc/Aluminum coating with delivers twice
the life of galvanized wire. It is suitable for
inland mild corrosive environments where there
is a light marine, thermal or copper/sulphur influence.
4 - Life high tensile
wire (coating weight : 260 grams per square meter)
4 life, which has a
heavier 260 gram Zinc/Aluminum coat-weight, provides
4 times the life of galvanized wire. Manufactured
for marine coastal and other high corrosion areas,
it is especially suitable for thermal/industrial
areas as well the horticulture /viticulture industries
where copper/sulphur rich sprays are used.
The
following table compares the performance of the
4-Life coating compared to class 3 galvanized
coating:
| Environment |
Rust
on heavily galvanized wire |
Rust
on
4-LIFE Wire |
| Agricultural |
8
to 10 years |
More
than 40 years |
| City |
5
to 10 years |
More
than 18 years |
| Industrial |
1
to 3 years |
3
to 8 years |
Zinc-aluminum fencing
wires are coated utilizing 95% zinc / 5% aluminum
alloy coating. The new zinc-aluminum alloy retains
the renowned protection of hot-dip galvanized
coatings (excellent barrier coating, metallurgically
bonded to the steel and providing very effective
cathodic protection to any exposed steel). The
small aluminum addition however, enhances the
anticorrosion performance of the coating by making
it more weather resilient. The dull, grey oxide
layer formed on zinc-aluminum is more durable
than the soft, white layer formed on pure zinc.
This oxide layer itself acts as a barrier, retarding
corrosion of the zinc-aluminum alloy.
The practical and economic
advantages:
- A four times longer life than
that of heavily galvanized thanks to the zinc
plus aluminium 4-LIFE® coating.
- An anti-corrosion coating thickness
greater than that heavily galvanized.
- A smooth durable surface.
- Perfect adherence and concentricity
of the zinc plus aluminium coating.
- A tensile strength greater than
that of heavily galvanized wire.
- A breaking strength greater than
that of heavily galvanized wire.
- Reduced elongation.
- More useful metres per roll for
an identical weight.
- Guided rolls, easy to use.
- Substantial economy per hectare
installed, in association with absolutely reliable
quality.
- A product which respects the
environment because there are no heavy metals
in its composition.
2-life Coating weight
: 130 grams per square meter
4-life Coating weight : 260 grams per square meter
|
