1/4" Plastic Tubing Normal Life???

[mjwalsh]

It has been almost 36 years since we added presoak, tire/motor, spot free etc & started using some 1/4" plastic or nylon tubing. We also use the same tubing to lock & unlock our overhead doors. We notice that we are getting more frequent leaks lately.... do any of you think it would be a good idea to buy some large capacity reels of the various colored & clear tubing & go to work & replace all of the tubing ... some of which seems to have some slight brittleness.

I know there are other factors but we protect the tubing from sunlight-ultraviolet light etc running it through 4" PVC. We might have been a bit careless on having more than 100psi on some of the lines ... especially the overhead door locking air cylinders that a machine shop assisted us with custom setting up the air cylinder locking pins etc.

I don't believe the john guest fitting are the problem ... it appears to point more towards the tubing getting older etc???

 

[MEP001]

1/4" plastic or nylon tubing

Nylon is plastic.

We notice that we are getting more frequent leaks lately.... do any of you think it would be a good idea to buy some large capacity reels of the various colored & clear tubing & go to work & replace all of the tubing ... some of which seems to have some slight brittleness.

As opposed to continually making repairs?

We might have been a bit careless on having more than 100psi on some of the lines

1/4" N11 and N12 Nylon tubing is rated to 250 PSI working pressure. Polypropylene is 100 PSI.

I don't believe the john guest fitting are the problem ... it appears to point more towards the tubing getting older etc???

What's failing, the fittings or the tubing?

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Our 1/4" polyethylene tubing is rated at 217 psi at 70F. It is very inexpensive - I'd expect the cost of new tubing would not be the issue here - running new lines on the other hand might be a PITA.

 

[Don B.]

It has been almost 36 years since we added presoak, tire/motor, spot free etc & started using some 1/4" plastic or nylon tubing. We also use the same tubing to lock & unlock our overhead doors. We notice that we are getting more frequent leaks lately.... do any of you think it would be a good idea to buy some large capacity reels of the various colored & clear tubing & go to work & replace all of the tubing ... some of which seems to have some slight brittleness.

I know there are other factors but we protect the tubing from sunlight-ultraviolet light etc running it through 4" PVC. We might have been a bit careless on having more than 100psi on some of the lines ... especially the overhead door locking air cylinders that a machine shop assisted us with custom setting up the air cylinder locking pins etc.

I don't believe the john guest fitting are the problem ... it appears to point more towards the tubing getting older etc???

36 years old? I just replaced all of my tubing and it was 26 years old. It was popping up with leaks everywhere! I think it’s time to replace it!

 

[mjwalsh]

Nylon is plastic.

As opposed to continually making repairs?

1/4" N11 and N12 Nylon tubing is rated to 250 PSI working pressure. Polypropylene is 100 PSI.

What's failing, the fittings or the tubing?

What Car Wash distributors sells the nylon? We might consider that during our ... ugh... possible redo.

I tried turning down the pressure to <75 PSI anywhere ... that leads in & out of our 6 bays ... maybe that will buy us time if nothing else. Quality manpower tends to be more costly than it used to be.

 

[mjwalsh]

What's failing, the fittings or the tubing?

Most of the time a gradually wearing from friction the tubing itself. Sometimes it breaks off right at the fitting connection ... which does not mean the fitting was at fault. I would think that just because the tubing touches other tubing it would not wear through ... but then eventually I suppose over 36 years time it can be a factor.

I am assuming the polyethylene that Buckeye mentioned is the more common choice & includes the ability to choose colors.

BTW .. 2 of my helpers have difficulty hearing the leaks ... which means sometimes the air compressor runs & wears out faster!

 

[mjwalsh]

Our 1/4" polyethylene tubing is rated at 217 psi at 70F. It is very inexpensive - I'd expect the cost of new tubing would not be the issue here - running new lines on the other hand might be a PITA.

217 PSI sounds good... is that the tubing KR sells?

 

[MEP001]

The John Guest tubing is polypropylene, which they claim is 130 PSI working pressure, but IIRC it says 100 on the tubing. About 20 years ago I installed a trifoam system with it, all the tubing run in an attic so no UV on it, and I had to replace it at about the 12 year mark because it started springing leaks all over the place. I won't use it again.

I get Nylon N12 tubing that comes from Freelin-Wade. It's quite a bit more than PP but it lasts decades, and has a 250 PSI working pressure. I don't use push-to-connect tubing fittings at all anymore, only compression.

 

[Randy]

We buy all of our ¼” nylon tubing from this company https://www.freelin-wade.com/nylon-tubing.html good quality tubing is expensive and you’re not going to get it from KR.

 

[mjwalsh]

Randy & others,

Is this the one: https://www.freelin-wade.com/nylon-plastic-tubing/dot223

At one time I somewhat on a very small scale used compression fittings for the 1/4" OD plastic tubing at one time but I never did a comparison of reliability. I know the John Guest connectors are quicker to put on & off & possibly have a better re-use capability than compression fittings.

 

[MEP001]

Flexible Nylon Tubing | Bulk Nylon Tubing Supplier

www.freelin-wade.com

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

217 PSI sounds good... is that the tubing KR sells?

No. Our tubing is linear Low-Density Polyethylene.

 

[Randy]

No. Our tubing is linear Low-Density Polyethylene.

Low-Density Polyethylene would be my last choice.

 

[David Rolf]

Freelin-wade hose is all I used to run throughout life flight medical helicopters for air, vacuum and oxygen systems for well over 30 years. It's just the best and seems to never wear out. Just my experience....

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Low-Density Polyethylene would be my last choice.

It's certainly not the market into which we sell nearly all of the PE tubing. Good to know. What was your experience with LLDPE tubing?

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Freelin-wade hose is all I used to run throughout life flight medical helicopters for air, vacuum and oxygen systems for well over 30 years. It's just the best and seems to never wear out. Just my experience....

FW is a brand name. Are you referring to FW Nylon tubing?

 

[Greg Pack]

Thanks for the tips on freelin-wade. I've just always stayed away from natural, didn't realize one brand was head and shoulders better than the others,.

 

[MEP001]

Thanks for the tips on freelin-wade. I've just always stayed with natural, didn't realize one brand was head and shoulders better than the others,.

It's also a lot less expensive than most others. The only downside is that it's sort of "grippy" against itself which makes it harder to pull to the bays, but it's not a huge problem.

 

[Randy]

It's certainly not the market into which we sell nearly all of the PE tubing. Good to know. What was your experience with LLDPE tubing?

We’ve found that the LLDPE tubing doesn’t hold up as well as the more expensive nylon tubing does. We have some nylon tubing installed that’s 40 years old. The car wash on the other side of town used LLDPE tubing when they built it 8 years ago and they are having problems with the LLDPE tubing breaking. It’s really all about money, do you want to pay a little more up front and probably never have to touch it again or use the less expensive tubing and have to redo it after a few years. We use brass Dayco fittings on the end of the tubing.

 

[mjwalsh]

We use brass Dayco fittings on the end of the tubing.

So these the below linked fittings that tend to be proven to be more durable than the John Guest?

https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-2586-dayco-268p04x04-brass-straight-fitting-1-4in-tube-x-1-4in-mip.aspx