Is Your Tubing Failing?
Whether you use tubing for seals, connections or liquid transport the last thing you need is for your tubing to fail. The safety of your employees and customers depends on it. And, not all tubing is created equal. It’s important to consider several factors before you order tubing. We’ll go over some of the most common considerations below, but it’s always a good idea to get an individualized consultation before proceeding.
Tubing Vs Hose – What’s the Difference
While sometimes used interchangeably, rubber hose and tubing are different. Tubing is used for low pressure applications. Hose is used in high pressure situations and is reinforced with fabric or wire.
Tubing Performance Factors
Do you struggle with extreme temperatures? Have tubing slipping off assemblies? Or find ozone, UV or chemical exposure is a problem? Any one of these factors could degrade rubber tubing and cause unneeded failures if an incompatible elastomer is chosen.
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Environmental Factors
- Temperature
- Ozone & UV
- Abrasion
Chemical Exposure
Chemical contact, both inside and outside the rubber tube impacts performance. Always consider the factors your tubing will encounter before choosing a type of rubber. Using Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) tubing for ozone or UV exposure is ideal. But, run petroleum products through the tubing, and it will quickly deteriorate and become fragile.
Special Standards
As we said earlier, no one tubing meets all needs. . Dairy, food, medical and military manufacturers all have unique needs. And, Aero Rubber can provide the material you need. Spec grade materials such as 3A Dairy, ASTM, MIL SPEC, AMS and more are available in many different elastomers. And to further meet your needs we also provide Hi-grade, Mid-grade, and economy grade rubber formulations to ensure that your tubing choice can also fit your budget.
Sizing
While the size of the tubing is always your choice, fit and function must work together to ensure the best performance. For instance, if the tubing needs to fit on an assembly, then the inside diameter (I.D.) must be sized correctly for a secure fit. In addition, the wall thickness (WT) will influence the flexibility, the bend radius and the degree of kinking.
Fortunately, there are many good choices to extend the expected life of rubber tubing if you factor environmental factors, chemical exposure and size into your decision. By choosing the best rubber tubing for your needs you can improve efficiency, lower costs and provide safer conditions. Take a few minutes today to inspect your tubing. If it looks worn, has cuts, looks corroded or seems like it’s underperforming give us a call.
Aero Rubber specializes in custom industrial high volume rubber tubing as well as custom rubber hose and sleeves and can help. Our consultative sales teams can give you appropriate rubber choices for your needs, so you can make an informed decision about your rubber tubing needs. Aero will not engineer nor specify the total requirements for your tubing but will discuss the environment and use of the tubing to offer you a choice of materials, elastomers and specifications.