Straigthen Vinyl Tubing????

[FearTheTerps]

I have tried just about everything i can think of to straighten out some vinyl tubing I have. Was just wondering if anyone else had some tips on how to straigthen it out. I got some from home depot and it was near the end of the spool so it has a really sharp curve to it. Its 1 inch diameter clear tubing, 3 feet long. I have tried bending it the oppistite direction of the curve. I also put it in a tub of very hot water hoping that would soften it up and then i could bend it into shape, but that really didnt help that much. One other thought i had has attaching with zip ties to a dowel rod or something, and after letting it set for awhile it would straighten on its own. Cant think of anything else, and cant find answer anywhere else either. Any Help???

 

Thanks,

-Steve

[PK3]

I used a hair blowdryer and put the vinyl tubing directly under it to get it very hot, while bending it the other way to straighten it out. Once you do that for a minute or two while it's really hot, quickly run the part of the tubing that you were bending under some cold water. Worked with some success for me.

[OUsnakebyte]

I get a large pot of boiling water - has to be boiling. Larger the pot the better, b/c you can fit more of the tube in at a time. Also, it helps if you have some thick gloves - leather, ski gloves, whatever. The thicker the better.

 

Start with one end, as much of the hose as you can safely fit. Let it sit in the water for a minute, maybe two. Then, slide in the next section of hose. Eventually, you will have it in a U-shape as you are running through the water. Repeat until you have run the entire length through.

 

Since you are trying to straighten it, as you are running the hose through the water, I would take it through against the shape of the coil.

 

Make sense?

 

Cheers

Mike

[lanman]

Oh, you're all working too hard.

 

Throw it in the dryer for about 15 minutes. Noisy - but won't hurt anything. Pull it out warm, and straighten it out, and put something heavy on each end.

 

bob

[jason the filter freak]

Oh, you're all working too hard.

 

Throw it in the dryer for about 15 minutes. Noisy - but won't hurt anything. Pull it out warm, and straighten it out, and put something heavy on each end.

 

bob

 

good call, rather than something heavy just tie something around it either end and stretch it as you let it cool, stretch it straight

[Vader]

Oh, you're all working too hard.

 

Throw it in the dryer for about 15 minutes. Noisy - but won't hurt anything. Pull it out warm, and straighten it out, and put something heavy on each end.

 

bob

 

LOL....sorry but I couldn't help it...I just could see my wifes face now as she is coming home from work and the dryer is making all kinds of noise and she ask's me what's in the dryer...and I tell vinyl tubing. Can you say hair on fire.

[OUsnakebyte]

Oh, you're all working too hard.

 

Throw it in the dryer for about 15 minutes. Noisy - but won't hurt anything. Pull it out warm, and straighten it out, and put something heavy on each end.

 

bob

 

You're assuming I have the luxury of a drier in my apartment...??? Not a chance...

[FearTheTerps]

Tried the hair dryer method first, it worked ok and got most of the curl out of the tube, but not all of it. So then i tried the boiling water, and it worked pretty well. Before I just used really hot tap water, it helped but not much. the boiling water made the tube really soft and i was able to roll it very tightly back onto itself it in the oppisite direction of the curl. I tied some string around it to hold it in place, then let it cool down like that for about 2 or 3 hours. was kinda wavy at first, but after a few more hours it became fairly straight.

 

Thanks for the tips. The dryer would have been fun to try, but i got the tube installed already.

 

Next project, Finish my sump build.

 

 

-Steve