Plastic Hose Clamps

Has anyone seen these plastic hose clamps or anything similar around town? I've checked Home Depot, Lowes and Ace.

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Edited by Fatman - November 10 2013 at 10:57pm

laynframe wrote: ive used them and im not a fan. they go brittle after a little bit and break. if your connections are above water use stainless steel clamps from depot.ÂÂ

How long until they went brittle? They will be submerged...

They don't have a lot of crimping power at all. Under water they last longer for some reason. Just buy the right size tube and the right size barbed fitting and your good. Depot sales reducing barbed fittings.

Zip ties work good. I snug the zip tie around the tubing first and then push it on. That way I don't have to wonder if it's too loose because I can feel how tight it is when pushing it onto the fitting. If the zip tie is too tight and the tubing won't slip onto the nipple, I try again with another zip tie one notch looser. Alternatively I use two pliers, one to pull on the zip tie end and the other to hold the ratchet joint while I listen for the last click.

Actually though, I stay away from vinyl tubing if at all possible, especially in areas that are hard to reach. Not only is there the risk of the tubing slipping off, but Vinyl shrinks and hardens over time. As you might know, shrinking reduces the OD and ID and restricts the flow, but that's not the worst of it. The worst thing about vinyl is the tubing OD shrinks at the fitting, actually making the clamp looser. You would think that a slightly smaller ID would hold it to the fitting even better, but that I have found that is not always the case. What can happen is that the hardened tubing more easily slips off of both barbed and smooth fittings.

On the other hand, Flexible PVC is awesome because it can bend a little and still be cemented in place with normal PVC purple primer and medium body cement. I have used 3/4" and 1" Flexible PVC. There are PVC male fittings that can screw into the same threaded holes as fittings that came with the aquarium equipment. It may take some looking but in the end the plumbing is secure and leak free for the life of the tank. Flexible PVC can also be glued onto barbed fittings if necessary. (prime the inside of the pipe and spread glue around the barbs) Sharp bends can be made with 45's which I like better than one 90 degree bend.

This is what I have learned after a "few" years of setting up and maintaining my own and commercial systems.

Aloha,
Mark

I have used them for 1 year, still strong but I have big ones, I do agree with Mark, vinyl tubing WILL shrink as it clearly did in my tank and i had to tighten the clamp another notch. I dont know if i would go so far as to say stay away from it but be aware it will shrink and have the effects Mark discussed but it also mean it shrinking around the fitting and becoming tighter...mine cant really slip off as its has no room to do so as its just a 5" piece between a pump and pvc..pvc has a quick release union that would have to be undone for it to have any wiggle room (but I get what Mark is saying). However your clamps will have to be tightened down eventually (took 8 months for me).

Edited by Bryce - October 12 2013 at 10:07am

Okay I see now that I took off the zip ties when I reworked the plumbing and did not replace them. I have some tubing underwater and some in the open air and have nothing holding the tubing on besides the barbs on the fittings. No leaks, no problems. Mostly 1" barb/vinyl tubing.