Direct Die Hose

[jack_the_ripper]

Now I know this has been asked many times, but I thought a thread specifically on the flexible hoses used for direct die chillers would be nice.

I've got a few questions regarding flexible hose. Mainly, can I use a teflon lined braided steel hose? If not, where can I find one that isn't teflon lined? And has anyone thought of using aeroquip or some other type of zero-loss connector to attach the evaperator to a system?

[BuLkHy]

teflon works great for me.....braided with stainless steel of course....

[herefishy]

Hi Jack_...

Where are you located? I don't see your location in your information....

I use stainless steel gas connect line... 3/8".

Cheers!

[jack_the_ripper]

Sorry about that, I'm from Oregon. I think that some kind of regional Cooling/ Phase-Change meetings and/or conventions should be held at some point. Would be nice to meet some fellow cooling enthusiasts face to face to trade ideas and parts

Good to hear that teflon lined stainless steel hose will work. Will pick some up this weekend and get my direct-die system going.

[SPL15]

what about garden hose?....

J/K, I've been wondering about this topic also. We need some experts to tell us the trade offs between hose designs and constructions, but I may be making it more complicated than it is as usual. For my first system, i'm just gonna go with 3/8" flexible copper tubing... any thoughts?

[chilly1]

Stainless steel teflon lined hoses leak. If you read the specs on them you will see that they are not for that type of use. Stainless braided stainless corrugated are the recommended hose. Gas Lines over time with lengthen, I tried it got two and pressurized one and not the other both were 4 ft at the start the 220 psi in the other one caused it to become 5.5 ft long in a week.

[DaBit]

The stainless steel gas connect line Herefishy mentions works great, though the 'real' stainless hose I got from a friend is an order of magnitude more flexible.

Disadvantage of teflon (PTFE): it is permeable, so it passes refrigerant slowly. Also, it's temp range is limited to -70C or so.

Advantages of teflon: it is flexible.

Disadvantages of stainless steel: it bends very well if you have a good quality hose, but you cannot twist it around the axis.

Advantage of corrugated stainless steel hose: useable from -200C to 600C, not permeable, and you can braze the hose directly onto the copper. This saves you a lot of money of the connectors.

[theshatter]

Dabit, do you happen to have a link, where I can find the type of hose you are using.

[herefishy]

Originally posted by jack_the_ripper
I'm from Oregon.

The hardware store, or Johnstone Supply. even Grainger... and surely your plumbing supply will have 3/8" stainless steel gas connectors. Those like for connecting your gas service to your stove, or maybe water heater.

The 3/8" will likely be the smallest size you can obtain, off the shelf, and works well with a 3/8" suction line copper tubing. Just cut the flare nuts off of it and use a wire brush to remove the protective coating (paint) from the steel. Then weld it in. The 3/8" O.D. copper tubing fits nicely into the I.D. of the hose.

Cheers!

[DaBit]

Originally posted by theshatter
Dabit, do you happen to have a link, where I can find the type of hose you are using.

Unfortunately not, but it is quite equal to this hose.