Clear Breather Line

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Hungry J0e

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In the process of replumbing my oil lines. I have the XS650 reed valve in the breather line, and read how some people have been putting a clear line in before that to see what's going on. That seems like a good idea to me, but where are people sourcing a clear 1/2" ID line that will hold up there? Will standard vinyl fuel line hold up okay to the heat? That doesn't seem much more solid that what's in my aquarium... or am I overthinking this?

Cheers,

- HJ

'75 Norton Commando 850 Mk III
'09 Buell Ulysses XB12X
 
My local Ace Hardware has that size clear hose. Not critical............ IMHO


Tim_S
 
I think I got mine from Home Depot or Lowes. If it melts I have more problems than melting hose. :mrgreen:
 
Standard vinyl tubing doesn't like gasoline very much so I would wonder about using it with oil as well. Use Tygon tubing if you can find it. My local Ace Hardware carries it but it has an orange tint to it. It also comes in red and yellow , but they do make it in clear, I have seen it in use often in laboratories. I am just not sure what your best source for it would be.

Russ

PS-if it is rated as fuel hose...go for it.
 
+1 for clear vinyl. Available at any hardware store for about 75 cents a foot. If it starts getting hard or yellow, replace it for about 2 bucks. You will need 1/2 inch and 3/8 for the xs650 if I remember corretly.
 
YIKES! Stop the presses!

Tygon is only rated to 125 degrees F! Your oil will surely run at least that and the attachment point to the crankcase will be upwards of that also.

If you want to get higher temps something like clear silicone tubing is going to be better.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#tubing/=bwiqgr

One of the problems with saying "vinyl" tubing is that it is very a broad spectrum of plastics. The stuff at the aqarium shop and the stuff from Home Depot may or may not be the same composition.

Here is another from the McMaster-Carr catalog that shows a higher temp rating.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#tubing/=bwit29

I realize this just adds to the controversy rather than helping it...but since I suggested Tygon I thought I should point out the low temperature rating.

Russ
 
All plastics are not created equal!

The reason I brought up Tygon is that working in the maintenance department in a research laboratory, I know that whenever I need some tubing that will handle fuel I head over to the chemistry department and get into their Tygon selection. But chemical resistance and temperature resistance do not necessarily go hand in hand. So I went to the Tygon website to see what they had to say. They do make a number of different types of tubing and each should be selected dependent upon the application. They do make a "fuel" line that resists swelling when used with fuels and oils.

http://www.tygon.com/tygon-f4040a-tubing.aspx

There is a link in the upper right corner for a .PDF document giving specifications. This tubing is still only rated to 165 degress F. You would probably get away with that on a breather. But despite the tempation to use it on the rocker feeds, I would be reluctant to attach it to the head. In short I know that I have had "vinyl" tubing that became unusable in a short period of time due to its reaction with fuel and/or oil. I would still look for something that was rated as a fuel hose in the very least. Just my two cents...OK, maybe it was a dime by now!
 
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