XQTM WIRELINE CORING ROD
Patented XQTM wireline coring rods feature a combination of exclusive heat treatments and innovative engineering to provide the ultimate in performance and longevity. XQ drill rods are stronger, last longer, and offer easier make and break. Featuring innovative self-aligning, double-start threads, rod joints engage smoothly without wedging or jamming. XQ threads significantly improve depth capacity, productivity, and wear life.
STRONGER
A unique combination of -20 degree self-locking reverse flank angle on the threads and symmetrical load distribution when combined with W-WallTM double-annealed mid-body, make XQTM wireline coring rods some of the deepest rated coring rods in the market.
Self-Locking Reverse Flank Angle
XQ has an increased negative flank angle from of -20 degrees compared to -10
degrees in RQTM rods. The increased negative flank angle combined with the double-start threads, nearly eliminate box
bulging and provides greater strength in high torque applications. Symmetrical Load Distribution Patented XQ joints have opposite double-start threads that are self-aligning so mating engages smoothly. This provides a balanced load response and double the contact area, which means half the contact pressure. This symmetrical load distribution increases load capacity significantly for stronger rods with deeper capacity.
W-Wall TM Double Annealed Mid-Body
W-Wall has a more uniform bend distribution like straight wall, stiffness comparable to Boart Longyear’s variable wall rod, V-WallTM. The result is a rod with flexibility for ease of directional work that holds up better than V-Wall. Boart LongyearTM rods are put through a proprietary process during manufacturing to remove all residual stress and maximize strength and resistance to bending.
LASTS LONGER
Longer lasting rods means getting more meters per rod and replacing rods less often, directly adding value to the bottom line.
Pin Case Hardening
Case hardening is unmatched in protecting threads from wear. Other drill rods are typically through-wall hardened to 32 HRC. Boart Longyear coring rods are case hardened on the pin thread to maximum hardness – 60 HRC, creating a significant hardness difference between pin and box. This difference minimizes wear compared to the rapid galling that other threads experience. In repeated “make and break” field testing, other non-case-hardened rods were shown to fail at between 12 and 73 cycles, whereas XQ joints withstood more than 600 cycles.
Double-Start Threads
XQ double-start mating threads engage smoothly with innovative self-aligning geometry providing decreased wedging and
jamming. Smooth starting, in combination with case hardening, significantly improves both productivity and wear life for the longest lasting rod threads. The double-start threads on XQ rods balance out the drilling load stresses. Combined with the double-start thread, the increased negative flank angle virtually eliminates box bulging and results in better box wear. Box and thread wear are typically why well-maintained coring rods are retired.
Mid-Body Wear
Often variable wall rods used in directional drilling work are retired for thin mid-bodies prior
to other failure modes. Thicker mid-bodies (standard wall thickness material in the center of the mid-body) virtually eliminates this failure mode in W-Wall. In directional work, other variable wall rods will wear thin in the mid-body
center and need to be retired. W-Wall has the same mid-body wear life as straight wall rod so you can take advantage of all of the benefits of a lighter drill string and faster wireline tripping and still have longer lasting rods.
EASIER MAKE AND BREAK
Patented XQ Mating Joints
Opposite double-start threads are self-aligning so mating engages smoothly. XQ mating joints
nearly eliminates jams for the best make and break around. They also eliminate the driller
assistant back-turning thread joints during manual rod handling for better safety and
productivity.
Imagine not having to send the driller assistant back near energized components to have them
unjam rods because the rod handler misthreaded them. XQ rods keep workers safer by keeping them away from rotating equipment more often. Plus, more meters can be drilled because less time is spent mating threads.
Thread Coarseness
XQ rods have two threads per inch for reduced rotation and easier manual make up. When
making joints by hand, rotation places stress on the wrist. Threads with less rotation are faster to make up and generate less fatigue and potential for repetitive use injuries. The driller assistant spends less time trying to mate threads – for more meters and core in the box.
ADDITIONAL PRODUCTIVITY
Improved Wireline Tripping Speed
Wireline time, especially on deep holes, is a significant portion of time spent drilling. Measurable savings in wireline time adds significant productivity. The larger inner diameter of W-Wall tubing has more space to allow drilling fluid to pass by inner tube assemblies during wireline tripping, making wireline tripping up to 50% faster. On an 800 meter hole, simply changing from straight wall to W-Wall rod can save 2 shifts or put 20% more core in the box.
HANDS-FREE AUTOMATION
Rod handlers improve safety by keeping helpers away from energized components and potential injury. Coring rod threads will jam in 20-30% of joint make-ups, requiring the helper to work near the rotation unit to apply a back turn or to clear jams, reducing safety. These jams add significant unproductive time either to unjam threads or rotate threads backward 100% of the time when manually making joints. The patented XQ rods feature a unique thread entry, nearly eliminating jams, upgrading safety for hands-free rod handling, where making and breaking of rods is mechanized. XQ threads also feature a coarser pitch with less rotation, making them faster to make up by hand, generating less fatigue, lower stress on the wrist and less potential for repetitive use injuries.
W-WALLTM RODS
Boart Longyear’s V-Wall tubing option on RQ rods made drill strings up to 30 percent lighter, thanks to its thin-walled mid-body. The lighter drill string increased drill rig depth capacity and reduced fatigue in driller’s when manually tripping. The enlarged inner diameter also significantly reduced inner tube tripping time for improved productivity. On an 800 meter hole, this means finishing the hole an estimated 26 hours, or 2 shifts faster. The new NXQTM and HXQTM W-Wall coring rods feature patent-pending, double-upset tubing, with the same overall weight reduction and faster wireline tripping speed as V-Wall. However, the standard wall thickness in the middle of XQ rod eliminates premature mid-body wear and resists bending, performing like straight wall tubing. As with all Boart Longyear coring rod, XQ W-Wall tubing is cold-drawn from high quality, North American alloy steel, uniquely processed to Boart Longyear specifications.
