Good day. We’re looking to get some compressed air up our elevator. I was looking around online and found these sweet FlexCoil hoses made by Freelin-Wade:
http://www.freelin-wade.com/coiledtubinghosesflexcoilr-c-1_27_30.html
Thing is, it doesn’t seem that you can order these hoses online through Freelin-Wade. Anyone know where I can order them from? Or something similar anyways? We’re hoping to reach 10-12 feet at the most.
Here’s a similar product: http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Overview/Catalog/Pneumatic_Components/Flexible_Pneumatic_Tubing_-a-Hoses/Coiled_Polyurethane(PUR)_Tubing
Automation Direct also ships pretty quickly.
We bought some from McMaster back in 2008…
Here’s their product…
Each one comes in a pair (red and black) which is nice if you do dual acting cylinders. We had to run two sets of them back in 2008 to operate two different cylinders. The only draw back was how stiff there are to work with (but what do you expect if it self coils). They come with ends that we just cutoff.
You can take your hose from the kit, curl it around something round, apply a little heat and make your own.
Thanks everyone! I’ll sort through these suggestions and see what works best for us.
We got our coiled tube from
I believe that is what was in the “Where to get more” file on the FIRST website. It was easy to browse and they had it delivered within a couple days.
We are also looking at getting some of the FlexCoil for this year’s robot, however the rule from the competition manual states that:
<R66> D. Additional 0.160” inside diameter pneumatic tubing functionally equivalent to that provided in the KOP, with the pressure rating clearly factory-printed on the exterior of the tubing,
However, the Freelin-Wade coil doesn’t have this printed on it, nor do any of the other sources that I’ve checked out. Any ideas?
From what I can see, the Nitra coiled tubing that Automation direct does have specifications printed on it. The black tubing seems to have the clearest markings if the pictures are accurate.
Actually, we got some grief from inspectors about doing exactly that back in 2007. There was a concern that the heat would degrade the tubing causing it to fail at a lower pressure than rated. YMMV…
I’m the marketing manager at Freelin-Wade. For five years now, we’ve donated the tubing that came in the KOP (this year’s donation was 23 miles worth!). In addition to the tubing that came in your kit, FIRST teams can purchase any of our tubing, including custom coils, at a 50% discount. We’ll print the FIRST specs on the tubing and turn it around faster than anyone. Because we’re partners with FIRST, you can count on us getting it right. Go here to get the discount: http://www.freelin-wade.com/first.htm