joelrapp
Well-Known Member
Anyone know of a place cheaper than Midwest or Austin to get silicone tubing? I got some off Amazon for about 1/2 of what the brewstores charge but now that I need more they're out of stock.
Bobby_M said:I guess this is as good a place as any to ask. What do folks think about buying silicone tubing in fixed increments that fit flat rate USPS boxes? Part of the reason I'm so hesitant to offer tubing is that it's a major PIA to jam into the typical boxes I use for sight glasses and it throws off shipping cost calculations. If I were to fill up a medium flat rate box and make the price include the $11 for shipping, it would be a no brainer.
I guess this is as good a place as any to ask. What do folks think about buying silicone tubing in fixed increments that fit flat rate USPS boxes? Part of the reason I'm so hesitant to offer tubing is that it's a major PIA to jam into the typical boxes I use for sight glasses and it throws off shipping cost calculations. If I were to fill up a medium flat rate box and make the price include the $11 for shipping, it would be a no brainer.
Vinyl (PVC) has a practical upper limit of about 170F and it gets really soft as you approach that temp.
Silicone tops out at about 392F.
especially considering the awkward handling that goes into it.
Can you elaborate on the awkward handling? i just got some silicone tubing and dont want to mess it up.
It's not just the temperature extremes (it goes low too without getting hard like vinyl so it's used in dairy for milking - for example) but also the chemical inertness of it. They use silicone in scientific/pharmaceutical labs because of it. Nothing leeches out of it like vinyl. Leave water long enough in a vinyl hose and it, well, starts to taste like vinyl hose. The same isn't true for silicone.This might be stupid, but is the silcone tubing just designed better to withstand longevity of high temps (>350?) where as vinyl tubing will crap out after a while?
Is silicone tubing more flexible and easier to work with than vinyl? All my vinyl tubing us curly.
Silicone tubing has very little 'memory' as compared to vinyl. In other words after being coiled up for a while it doesn't want to stay coiled as much as vinyl.
Careful using silicone however on anything that is under pressure (like a cold water feed that's connected to your house plumbing). Silicone is soft and will blow up like a balloon under pressure.
Kal
For cold water supply lines (city water pressure) I would use reinforced tubing or RV water hoses, not silicone.
You will only forget one time to open that valve on the HLT.
I've been witness to the popping silicone tubing on two separate brew days and it really wakes you up!
This might be stupid, but is the silcone tubing just designed better to withstand longevity of high temps (>350?) where as vinyl tubing will crap out after a while?
The silicone tubing that I've been waiting for is back in stock. $1.60/ft plus free shipping if you're an Amazon Prime member.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FOV0MS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
1/16 inch wall is very thin. It will be very easy to kink.
If you are ok with that then brew on.
1/16 inch wall is very thin. It will be very easy to kink.
If you are ok with that then brew on.
I would also caution against this.
I recently purchased some 1/16" wall 1/2" ID silicone tubing. I didn't pay attention when I purchased it; I only bought it because I was buying other items from the vendor. The tubing is terrible. It kinks with the slightest bend.
My other silicone tubing is all 1/8" wall. I have had no problems with it at all. Well worth the extra cost in my opinion.
Fair enough. Perhaps the stuff I got was just really crappy. If it works for you, all the better.
I've used this tubing for about 70 gallons of beer so far, and the only reasons I have needed anymore is I caught some on fire and blew another section up trying to blow it out with a compressor while slightly intoxicated at the end of a brew day.
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