how do i clean dusty tubing?

[veryhumid]

I just got some soft silicone tubing from mcmaster, and there is quite a bit of dust inside and out. Would it be acceptable to clean it in a sink with warm water and dish soap?

[princeofdarknes]

the first thing i thought was, if the tubing isnt too rubbery, use some compressed/canned air maybe?
But i dont think warm water and dish soap would hurt silicone, but i could be wrong

[veryhumid]

it's pretty much too rubbery, compressed air doesn't get it off.

[Luftwaffle]

Lick it! :D

I just take off the big particles with a dust cloth like Swiffer and then use a paper towel with some warm water to rub off the rest.

[skotti]

How long is it? A piece of string and cotton piece knotted in the middle. Rifle cleaning 101.

[veryhumid]

okay, so warm water is okay, just no soap?

it's actually about 15 ft. long, but once i cut it into the lengths i am going to use i could try the rifle method.

[voigts]

regular dishsoap is fine folks and won't hurt a thing.

[Adragontattoo]

You can use dishsoap on it and it wont hurt at all.. You wont need much at all and might want to try to do the rifle cleaning method before even looking at the soap.

[veryhumid]

can i do the rifle method wet? or does it need to be dry?

[Adragontattoo]

do it wet to increase the chance of getting the dust out.. one problem may be (depends on how dusty) that you may have to do it a few times to get the dust from one side to the other and out.

[Adragontattoo]

also depending on the tubing, uhh silicon IIRC has a higher evap rate then vinyl or tygon (amount of liquid or gas escaping through the walls of the tube). Sorry remembering from setting up fishtanks.

[veryhumid]

yeah, it is regular soft silicone, i am sure i will have to top it off every month or so. thanks for the cleaning tips :thup:

[ƒÓÒl]

Back in the day, when watercooling was just getting started, we used to use a drop or two of dishsoap in the water to break surface tension...IMHO that's how waterwetter & purple ice does it. Dishsoap for pre-cleaning is the only way to go.
I ran for years like that with silicone tubing.

BTW, I only had to add an ounce or two of water every six months and I was using ~15 feet of silicone tube with a remote rad...don't know where the idea that the silicone tube looses water teribly fast came from....it's awesome stuff and makes wonderful bends without kinking.

[Adragontattoo]

Fool, I am coming from the aquarium side of pumps etc, and Silicon tubing is much more porous then vinyl or tygon. Not that the tubing leaks like a sieve or anything like that but it does allow more interaction between the environment and the contents of the tubing (especially in a fishtank if you are using Co2, the length determines the amount of potential escape/intermingling between the air outside and the Co2 inside)

[veryhumid]

actually viperjohn mentioned i may have to top it off every month instead of every 3 or something with vinyl. I'm hoping to not use all the 15 ft. I have, so it might not even be that bad. I'm going to try a little water and dish soap on the tubing today to see how it looks.

BTW fool, what did you use to clamp the tubing onto the barbs? I was told it was too soft to use those steel worm drive clamps?

[ƒÓÒl]

The steel worm-drives are okay, just do not overtighten them as they can tear the silicone while forcing it out of the band slots. They can also pull silicone tubing around to one side of the barb, actually causing a leak.
I gave up on those quickly.

I used those plastic snap clamps for a while with the silicone, like the ones on DangerDen's site.
They get old after a while...meaning they're an incredible pain to remove them when you want to change something.
I ended their life by cutting them off with some diagonal cutters one afternoon.

My all time favorite, always recomended clamp is the spring steel band clamps you can find at Lowe's/Depot in the same drawers as their barbs. They never loose their tension and are a snap to remove with needle nose pliers by pinching the tabs together. Car makers use them too for the same reasons.
Just make sure to buy the size that matches the outside diameter of your tubing.