Monday, August 18, 2008

So, now you have your pump, pump head and now you need tubing. What tubing are you currently using? If you are just setting up your pump system you will need to ask yourself some questions I hope you know the answers to. What is your application? What is your ID (Inner Diameter) tubing requirement. What is your OD (Outer Diameter) tubing requirement? Do you need a rigid or flexible tubing? What are you running through the tubing? You will need to know what your media is so that you can find the correct formulation of tubing. Do you have cleaning or sterilization requirements? Some of the tubing formulations are; Red Rubber,Latex Rubber, PVC, Polyethylene, Silicone, and Tygon tubing. The list can go on, but correct tubing material is crucial when building your pump system. The material is very specific to what you are running through it. Some of the familliar manufacture names of laboratory tubing are Dow Corning, Kent Elastomer, Kimble/Kontes, Nalge Nunc, and Saint Gobain. Unless your pump comes with a fitting, you will then need to select a fitting that will fit securely into your tubing. Again most of the same questioins apply for your fittings as with the tubing above. What type of configuration are you looking for? an Elbow, T or Y-Connector, Plug, or Straight fitting? you will also need to know what temperature you are working with to make sure that the fitting can handle it. So, now you should have the basic tools needed to make better informed choices when having to select tubing and fittings for your pump.