This one is a goodie! After a "few" y ears and a boo-boo or two, here is what I do for tubing insertion onto (and removal from) glass barbs:
Tygon tubing: inserti on onto glass is done by wearing cloth gloves (not nitrile). A small applic ation of hexane to the tubing itself will soften (but not degrade) the tubi ng to allow a easy, quick insertion. The tubing will form a nice fit on the barbs. Removal is done (wearing the above gloves) carefully by (unfor tunately) making a vertical notch along the tubing with a razor (or a sciss or blade). Place the glassware on a firm surface (not in your hands) when d oing this.
This will take time and practice, but once this is done no problems shou ld occur. But always anticipate the glass will break. With gloves, it is be tter to have the glass break than your fingers getting sliced.
PTFE tubing: ins ertion onto glass is done by wearing cloth gloves (not nitrile). Here I pas s the tubing over a heat gun, which warms the tubing enough to glide over t he barb. Removal can be accomplished in the smae (and careful) manner as de scribed above.
Final note: Upon placing the tubing onto your barbs, please use a hose clamp to secure them. I would suggest to NOT use simple copper wire i n a trash-bag tying form as this will break down over time.
It would be nice if I could upload a video of these procedures to a shar ed server....Seeing it is better than writing it down.
Hope this helps!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kimberly B. Jeskie" <jeski
ekb**At_Symbol_Here**ORNL.GOV>
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Sent: Tuesday, November 10,
2009 12:16:30 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Tool s
election for removing hoses from glassware
We=E2=80=99ve been looking hard at our hand injuries l ately and are focusing on cutting tool and glove selection. One thing in particular that we haven=E2=80=99t been able to come up with a good sol ution for is a tool that works well for removing tubing that has basically seized or "become one with=" the glass connections on conden sers, cold fingers, etc. I=E2=80=99m sure you=E2=80=99ve seen this be fore and most people reach for their pocket knife or a razor blade. I t generally ends badly. Either the blade slips or the glass breaks an d in either situation we end up with stitches. Anyone found a tool th at works better under these conditions?
Kim
Kimberly Begley Jeskie, MPH-OSHM
Operations Manager
Physical Sciences Directorate
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(865) 574-4945
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