The 4” Flex Tap Tee, a product collaboration between Central Plastic Products Inc. and Fratco, is a new tap tee option for drainage systems.
The patent pending Push-to-Lock design allows drain tile installers to make connections in half the time and with less effort. The tap automatically compresses the ridge line when pushed forward into the connection hole and fully secures itself inside the dual wall or single wall main with one easy motion.
Curt Yoder is a fifth generation farmer and third generation drainage contractor who came up with the design when looking for a way to make tap tees easier to install. Growing up and throughout his college years, Yoder was responsible for making connections on the job for his family’s drainage business. Frustrated with how difficult it was to install the tap tee, Yoder started chopping up fittings and gluing them back together to create a working prototype for a new tap tee design.
After coming up with a working design, Yoder teamed up with Fratco and a local fabrication shop to build the prototype in a computer aided design program. From there, the prototype was 3D printed and tested numerous times before finalizing the design.
The final design of the Flex Tap includes a series of tabs forming a contoured flexible ridge line that is tapered to the front so the installer can ‘push-to-lock’ the tap into the hole with one motion. The motion automatically compresses the ridge and secures the tap tee inside the dual wall or single wall main.
The Flex Tap comes in a long neck that fits 10″,12″, and 15″ main sizes single wall and dual wall. Yoder says a short neck version that fits 6″/8″ main sizes will be available in the fall. Video demonstrations of the product are posted online at www.flextaps.com.
Print this page
