Another Silicone tubing alternative

[bendavanza]

I really like my 1/2"x3/4" silicone tubing and I needed a bit more. I came across this Tygon stuff on Amazon, it comes out to be about the same price, ~$2 ft but it's a little more rigid (less likely to kink or collapse) and a little more clear than the milky silicone. I think I might like it better. Maybe someone sells lengths longer than 5'
Translucent Tygon Tygoprene Tubing
I'll be brewing in the next couple days and I will give it a whirl, and take some pics.

description and link from Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FOYM5K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Product Description
This tubing was designed specifically for peristaltic pump applications and has a pump life over 500 hours. It is extremely flexible and exhibits superior flex life, reducing downtime due to tubing failure. Tygoprene can also be used as a substitute to silicone and PVC where longer pump life is required. Tygoprene tubing is translucent and has excellent chemical resistance to a wide range of fluids including acids and bases. This tubing remains flexible at -40 F and is temperature resistant to 250 F. Tygoprene pump tubing complies with FDA CFR 2:1,177.12:10 criteria for food contact applications; is NSF listed under standard 51 and has also passed the UL 94-HB flammability resistance classification. Tygoprene tubing has low extractable making it ideal for applications like ink transfer, soap and detergent delivery. It also does not impart taste to fluids making it an excellent choice for cold or hot beverage delivery and food transfer. It is also used for general chemical transfer and laboratory applications requiring long pump life and/or low extractable.

 

[bendavanza]

more info:
http://www.tygon.com/uploadedFiles/...bing/ThermoElastomerTubing-Tygoprene-XL60.pdf

 

[bendavanza]

Update:
It is clearer and slightly stronger than the silicone but it's a little less resilient to being marked by barbs. I like it on the recirculating mash for the clarity. Pictured here the 2 short darker tubes on the pump box are tygoprene, and the milky tube going from the pump box to the BK is silicone. I was brewing a Black IIPA.

 

[emjay]

Only good up to 250°? I'd be concerned about the part closest to the kettle valves which tend to get hotter than boiling.

Also, I have to think there's a reason that silicone is the absolute standard for not just the brewing industry, but also the dairy and medical/pharmaceutical industries as well. Plus, I am 100% satisfied with the 50 or so feet of silicone tubing that I have (except for ONE thing, which this tubing wouldn't help with anyways.)

In fact, I love silicone so much that I replaced all my original vinyl racking/bottling tubing with silicone as well, and am strongly considering replacing my reinforced vinyl water/chiller hoses with $7/ft Silbraid (braid-reinforced silicone), as the one thing I mentioned earlier that neither silicone nor this stuff can do for me is handle the pressure from a municipal water system.

But obviously, MOST people like me who already has all the silicone tubing I need have no reason to switch, though I guess it's something to consider for people who need to buy some tubing. I didn't really look around, but if you can't really get lengths longer than that 5' at a reasonable price (or at all), I'd have had to buy a lot of silicone anyways.

Speaking of reasonable prices, the price YOU cited is very different from Amazon link you provided, where it's currently selling for about $4.50/ft!

 

[vince805]

Speaking of reasonable prices, the price YOU cited is very different from Amazon link you provided, where it's currently selling for about $4.50/ft!

I came into this thread hoping for a cheaper alternative to the silicon for a different application then brewing, and this was definitely not the case. The search for the best deal on silicon tubing continues...

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

McMaster-Carr also shows silicone tubing with a wall thickness of 1/16" to 3/16". They also show silicone tubing with braided reinforcement.

I've been using the 3/8" ID-5/8"OD (1/8" wall I reckon!) and that stuff is plenty stout and doesn't bend too easily. In fact it tends to be a bit unruly and will sometimes "spring out".

M_C

 

[bad coffee]

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=41958&catid=864

Let me know if you order a roll. I only need 2'

B

 

[LandoLincoln]

I came into this thread hoping for a cheaper alternative to the silicon for a different application then brewing, and this was definitely not the case. The search for the best deal on silicon tubing continues...

Silicon tubing is only $2.30 a foot at Rebel Brewer. How much tubing do people need for brewing? 6 feet? That's a pretty small investment for a good quality hose.

 

[audger]

6 feet??
i dont know how small your setup is, but i use about 20 or 30 feet worth of hose (2 or 3 longer sections and one or two shorter sections, with camlocks... extra pieces are always handy).
even silicone needs to be replaced every once in a while, so $2.30 x 30 feet is a considerable amount of money every few years.

 

[weirdboy]

I bought my silicone tubing in a 50' roll from some bulk supplier. I don't remember exactly how much I paid, but it was definitely less than $1/foot.

 

[LandoLincoln]

6 feet??
i dont know how small your setup is, but i use about 20 or 30 feet worth of hose (2 or 3 longer sections and one or two shorter sections, with camlocks... extra pieces are always handy).
even silicone needs to be replaced every once in a while, so $2.30 x 30 feet is a considerable amount of money every few years.

Yeah, 6 feet. I use a two foot hose to go from the mash tun to the kettle. I use the same two foot hose to go from the kettle to the CFC. I use a four foot hose to go from the other end of the CFC to the carboy.

30 feet worth of hose? How many rooms do you brew from?

 

[Tinga]

Northern Brewer has some thermo plastic rated up to 275 with a quarter inch wall for $1.50 a yard 1/2" diameter $1.30 for 3/8"

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-equipment/siphoning-equipment/tubing

 

[xtype]

Silicone is probably the gold standard because it has been around longer.

Tygoprene does have a narrower temperature window but what it does have going for it over silicone is it's ability to handle higher pressures.
15psi vs 10psi with 1/8in wall thickness 1/2in ID hose.
Tygoprene is also much less permeable than silicone; So if you are running Star-San through your system to sanitize the hoses will likely last much longer. Which sounds like the best part to me, since I've tossed out sticky, gummy silicone hoses more than a few times.

The link that the OP posted has the 5ft lengths on sale right now and it comes out to $1.08/ft!

At that price I can afford to melt a bunch of it on burners.

 

[Homercidal]

I priced it at $5 something for 5 feet, which is about $2.12 per foot after adding shipping.

Seems reasonable. I'd like to know what the temp of the spigot is before committing to this, but is seems a reasonable alternative if it can handle the bends without collapsing.

 

[emjay]

I priced it at $5 something for 5 feet, which is about $2.12 per foot after adding shipping.

Seems reasonable. I'd like to know what the temp of the spigot is before committing to this, but is seems a reasonable alternative if it can handle the bends without collapsing.

Yeah, that's actually a great price. Unfortunately, I need longer lengths, and only the 5' lengths are priced so well.

 

[xtype]

Yes, only the 5ft sections are currently priced that low. The prices seems to swing widely according to the reviews there and here in this thread (all of the way up to $4/ft) so i decided to grab some while the price was so low.
I ordered five 5 foot lengths and got free shipping. $27.15 for 25ft

I have all of my pumps on a rolling cart and, luckily for me, only 2 hoses in my system longer than 5ft. 1 for water in from a propane on-demand water heater and 1 to transfer to my fermenters (which are sometimes in another room). And that second hose I re-use for things like cold transfer with the diaphragm pump and I just roll the cart near the source.