Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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How to clean Small Dia SS316 tubing

2005

Hi there;

I have 0.028" ID SS316 tubing and it has been contaminated with some compressor oil. I need to clean the ~ 40 feet long tubing with acetone [on eBay or Amazon]/methanol [affil links]. Do you have any suggestions about how to pass the liquid through such small dia tubing? Any sort of pump or an aspirator?

Thanks

Mert Atilhan
Texas A&M University - College Station, Texas, US

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2005

You are on a major campus. Go talk to the chemistry department about using their vacuum system. I would put 2 evaporation flasks in line, one to catch the acetone [on eBay or Amazon] and one for a safety bottle. Your solvents are very volatile and that does not go well with compressed air, so be sure to run a lot of vacuum air thru it when you are done to remove all traces of the solvent.

If you can not sell that, look for a way to hook up a food injector syringe to it with tubing. Syringe may not take acetone.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida