Silicone hose supply?

[Dougal]

Hi all,

Can anyone recommend somewhere in NZ for silicone hose?

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has experience with this stuff on Trademe, and how tough/rigid it is.

The other option I was looking at was INI Brew supply, which is twice the price per metre.

What are people using?

Cheers,

Douglas 

[Tim Stewart]

I've got the INI brew silicone hose , had it for over a year now and done about 700ltrs through it so far and its still in good condition ,its quite soft and very flexiable but tough I've got no signs of wear or splitting but for the price it would have to be good its medical grade I think

[mattd2]

I got a lot in from the states, only really worked out buying 30m because of shipping. Split it up and sold it off.

What I have set myself up with now is

a short hose using 1/2" tube with 1/8" wall thickness (thicker than the TM stuff) for my pump suction - to reduce the chance the hose collapses due to the suction.

and

Pump delivery hoses using 1/2" tube with 1/16" wall thickness (thinner than the TM stuff). No pronblems with bursting (I accidently dead headed my 80W pump and the tube didn't even buldge! But I don't know how it would take doing the same with mains water pressure) but it does kink easily so you need to be careful on how it is laid out. I am looking at adding 90° elbows to some of my fittings so the the hoses always hang down.

Sorry I can't be more helpful on where to get it at a good price but hopefully my experience will help you a bit with which hose to buy, my experinces suggests that the braided reinforment is not needed.

What are you using it for and how much do you need?

[Dougal]

Interesting. I hadn't thought about the possibility of collapsing under suction pressure. I'm using it for recirculating the mash, sparging, and running a whirlpool to speed up immersion chilling. I think I'll only need a couple of metres.

Tim, how do you find your reinforced stuff as far as collapsing goes?

[Tim Stewart]

It's never collapsed ,the suction would have to be massive

[David Williams]

I use both the cheapish silicon hose for gravity fed liquid and the INI hose which is excellent for use with pump as the reinforcing works well to prevent kinks and collapsing. Anything immersed in wort I use the trade me stuff as I understand the mesh can potentially harbour build up.  

[Dougal]

Thanks guys. I think I'll go ahead and get some stuff from INI for use with the pump until the rest of my new setup is built.

[Shane K]

I sell the stuff on trademe and use it my self, its good quality and everyone thats purchased it seems happy.

[craig rothwell]

I got the heavy duty silicone hose from craftbrewer.com.au; it is reasonably priced and doesn't collapse under suction pressure.