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Re: Silicone tubing and CO2
"David Bundy" wrote:
> Can anyone give me information about using silicone tubing (100%) to
deliver
> CO2 to the tank? My main concern is wether or not the gas will make the
> tubing brittle over time, or if there is a significant loss factor thru
the
> tubing (gas permeability)? Thanks for any help.
Jean-Paul Chicheret has written an article, dated Jan. 7, 2000, in which he
encourages us all to change our silicone tubing, which he says is far too
permeable ("up to 30%"), for Tygon-brand tubing
I reply:
I have heard this repeated before but I don't buy it at all. Silicone tubing
does harden a little bit over time but it lasts many years. I have tested
the tubing by placing my yeast sugar system under water and clamping off the
end of the silicone tubing line. There were no detectable leaks at all let
alone a loss of 30% of the gas. In my test situation the silicone line was
under considerable pressure too. In actual practice the pressure in the CO2
line is vanishingly small or even negative. Perhaps silicone tubing leaks if
it is under 40 psi pressure but it sure doesn't seem to at low presssures.
Wayne