McMaster-Carr synthetic silicone tubing. A mini review.

...Get this ball rolling...

Recently I decided to explore tubing options found off the beaten path. I was looking around www.mcmaster.com, and stumbled across their selection of synthetic silicone tubing.


From left to right: 1/8", 3/8", 1/2",and 3/4" ID synthetic silicone and 1/2' ID ClearFlex60

Upon further investigation and tinkering, I learned a couple of things.

What we know as silicone tubing is actually natural latex rubber. It is the softest, most resilient, and kink resistant tubing you can get. The only reason I can think of why it hasn't become the tubing of choice is because it's butt ugly. I've only seen it in the natural flat amber color, but it can be had in black.

The synthetic silicone tubing I purchased is blue in color. Yellow, red, black, white, and semi-translucent clear is also available. The coloration isn't a pure tone (at least for the blue). This is because of its native color of semi-translucent clear (milky white) causes a washed out look to the color.

The synthetic isn't quite as soft and flexible as the natural variety. I can best describe its physical properties as "really stretchy, freshly boiled ClearFlex60". The 1/2" went right over a 3/4" barb with no problems. Bend radius is slighly better than its respective size ClearFlex60.

Overall I'm tickled pink. This stuff is the best of both worlds. I have near the flexibility of natural silicone without the ugly.

The exact stuff I bought can be found at the very bottom of page 98, of the online catalog, under "Silicone Rubber Tubing ".

Nice find. And Im loving that blue color. Which exactly did you get? The firm, soft, or NSF-51 soft? Also, what do you think the effects of additives such as Dex-Cool would have on this tubing?

There's one thing that's getting kindof mixed up here. There's synthetic silicone rubber (what you show here) and there's natural latex rubber (the amber or black stuff).
They are two totally different compounds, derived from different methods and from different base materials. Natural latex, from the sap of the rubber tree, and silicone rubber is completely man made. They call rubber's natural color amber, but it's more of a tan. Amber is orangish.

Pyros, the firm and soft versions come in different colors, the nsf-51 comes only in translucent white.

I've used the translucent white soft tubing for years, and love the stuff. It's just clear enough to see air bubbles in the tubing, and is pretty easily stretched over larger fittings. It's pretty grippy, so I rarely need hoseclamps.

It is $2.83 per foot though (1/2" ID 3/4 OD), the price used to be about half that...wonder what happened. I'd bought mine from DangerDen a few years back for around a buck-and-a-half.

Excellent stuff!, and love that bloo...

Nice bro, Thanks

Looks like good stuff, I might try it out for my next watercooling revision.

Could you get another pic with the tubing bent as tight as possible, compared to the clearflex?

It looks nice enough... I would probably get the semi-transluscent one since I need to see the liquid inside and see if there are still bubbles inside when I'm bleeding with my T...

So I'm assuming that semi-transluscent stuff is Syntethic silicon?

Cool beans Blue.

Here's another article that some may find interesting.
http://www.procooling.com/articles/html/silicone___vinyl_hose_comparis.php

The bend radius difference between the different tubing thicknesses looks minimal as well as listed on McMaster. I would guess most of us would want the soft tubing also.

Hm nice, I've sorta been wondering what the pros and cons are of particular tubing, I'm sure people have written stuff on it, but I dunno *looks around* *shrugs* ah well...

Hey UberBlue, you got any pics of the blue tubing installed?
Dying to see...I'm almost out of the slow season, and the checks are getting back up to 40 hrs.+ so it's nearly time for some shopping!

Just ordered 30 feet of it... great find ^_^. Should go well in my case that's progressing at an amazingly fast pace.

Diggrr said:

Hey UberBlue, you got any pics of the blue tubing installed?
Dying to see...I'm almost out of the slow season, and the checks are getting back up to 40 hrs.+ so it's nearly time for some shopping!

Click to expand...

Nope. Not installed.

I'm in the same boat as vonk. Grand plans take time.

So does procrastination! YAY!

i thought silicone didn't take chemicals very well for extended time or am i mistaken?

From mcmaster.com...Use for food and beverage, water, and chemical transfer lines.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't pump solvents through it like acetone or turpentine, but what fool uses that?

Procrastination is my first level hobby that consumes all the others. It's amazing really that I've gotten around to building as many rigs as I have. I should be a rotting gelatinous mass in my desk chair....

vonkaar said:

Just ordered 30 feet of it... great find ^_^. Should go well in my case that's progressing at an amazingly fast pace.

Click to expand...

So you just bought $60 of tubing?

If you're lazy to look:

Silicone Rubber Tubing

• Temp. Range: -94° to +392° F
• Color: See below
• Durometer, Shore A: Firm: 70;
Soft and NSF-51 Soft: 50 • Tensile Strength: Firm: 1350 psi;
Soft and NSF-51 Soft: 1100 psi
• Elongation: 375%
• Sterilization: Steam (autoclave)
• Material Meets: FDA (food and beverage),
Firm: ASTM D2000 M7GE 707; Soft and
NSF-51 Soft: ASTM D2000 M3GE507
• Fittings: Barbed (see pages 111-118 )
Able to handle more extreme temperatures than natural rubber, this synthetic rubber tubing maintains its flexibility and resiliency over time, making it a good choice for peristaltic pumps. It won't impart odors and tastes. Peroxide used in the forming (curing) process. Use for food and beverage, water, and chemical transfer lines. Soft- The softest silicone we offer. NSF-51 Soft- Lengths are individually bagged to meet NSF-51 (food) rating for material. Color is semi-clear (translucent) white. To Order: Please specify length from the available lengths listed. For Firm and Soft tubing please specify color: opaque black or red, or semi-clear (translucent) blue or white.


(ID - OD - Wall - BendRadius - MaxPSI - $Firm,$Soft,$NSF51Soft)


1/2" - 5/8" - 1/16" - 5/8" - 6 - $1.48, $1.33, N/A

1/2" - 11/16" - 3/32" - 11/16" - 6 - $2.22, $1.97, $1.54

1/2" - 3/4" - 1/8" - 3/4" - 12 - $2.83, $2.83, $2.69


Easier to compare? Quick conversion..

1/2" - 10/16" - 2/32" - 10/16" - 6 - $1.48, $1.33, N/A

1/2" - 11/16" - 3/32" - 11/16" - 6 - $2.22, $1.97, $1.54

1/2" - 12/16" - 4/32" - 12/16" - 12 - $2.83, $2.83, $2.69


When compared to Chemical PVC Tubing...

1/2" - 3/4" - 1/8" - 3.0" - 30 - $0.65 (Clearflex 60)
1/2" - 3/4" - 1/8" - 1.5" - 30 - $3.80 (Tygon)


Elongation: 375%. LOL.

Friggin expensive tubing, but methinks it'll work well in my case... it's really hard to work the tubing in an SLK3700AMB, especially with a White Water (the WWout -> Y -> Mag3 is killing me.)

Edit: Oops, mixed ID & OD. Fixed now, thanks 0

I think you mixed up the ID and OD columns for the silicon tubing. But wow look at the turn radius, 5/6" that is just insane. I may have to get some as this stupid vinyl tubing is putting lots of stress my my mobo/GPU since it's making some tight turns.

I would guess we'd want the thin wall stuff then. Cheaper than the thick wall, better bend radius and we don't have high PSI setups anyway.

DON"T GET THE THIN WALL!

This stuffs bend radius is barely better than Clearflex. The thin wall stuff will fold over on its self.

Then why do they advertise a small bend radius if it folds over?

Love that av Blue.