You might be sitting there, reading this blog post about silicone hoses and the benefits thereof, wondering if you should choose Flex Technologies Incorporated for all of your custom silicone hose needs.

You might be sitting there, reading this blog post, wondering if we are the type of silicone tube manufacturer that ensures each custom hose we produce is up to the highest standards. You’d probably be thrilled to learn that our own internal standards of excellence (not to mention our in-house testing for both raw and finished goods) take care of any doubts you might have.

You might be standing, walking, or even running on the treadmill, while you research various silicone hose manufacturers that you can partner with. You are a distributor looking for custom silicone hoses at wholesale prices, and you don’t think you should have to sacrifice anything in terms of quality to get value. Simply put, we at Flex Tech offer creative, innovative solutions that are catered to the unique needs of our clients. If you are a distributor looking for a manufacturer who you can work with on custom silicone hose orders, we’ve got you covered with a talented, experienced, and energetic team of engineers. If you are ready to become a distributor (or you’d like to improve what you are capable of as one), we strongly recommend considering us to be your partner. From concept to creation, we will walk with you through each step of the process.

What Are The Benefits Of Silicone Hoses?

Now that we’ve sufficiently gone through all of the realistic possibilities as to how and why you’d be reading this blog post, we believe it’s time to address the topic at hand: the many benefits of silicone hoses and tubes for your vehicle. If you’ve been wondering if upgrading your hoses is a worthwhile undertaking, read on — this post is for you!

General Usage

Let’s start big picture here. The reason we exist as a company in the first place is that there are plenty of reasons to use silicone hoses — for a wide variety of applications at that. But pretty much regardless of the application, folks use silicone hoses because they perform admirably under both temperature and environmental extremes. When compared with rubber tubes, silicone tubes are much more durable and therefore long-lasting. When compared with bent metal tubes, silicone hoses are a much more affordable option while still maintaining their status as a “premier” option. What’s more, design engineers are using silicone more and more if for no other reason than there now exist more strict emission requirements (for a range of vehicle types) that lead to increased heat generation. Because silicone can handle higher temperatures than rubber, it is a natural choice in many circumstances.

Temperature Extremes

Whether we are discussing the transfer of water, ethylene glycol, or another kind of media, a massive benefit of using silicone hoses is that it boasts high temperature resistance. Silicone hoses can handle high temperatures of up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, maintaining its properties with no trouble at all. From a low-temperature perspective, it can maintain its dynamic flexibility while enduring temperatures that drop down to as low as -65 degrees Fahrenheit. This capacity to handle temperature extremes vastly outperforms black rubber or EPDM alternative materials.

Chemical Resistance

In addition to being able to handle a wide range of temperatures, silicone tubes are known for their remarkable resistance to common chemicals, along with some fluid and oils. Among them are:

• Citric acid
• Heavy water
• Vegetable oil
• Water zinc salts
• Ethylene glycol (also known as anti-freeze)
• Vegetable oil
• Potassium chloride
• Natural gas
• Water solution detergent
• Sodium hydroxide
• 3 mole methanol
• Many others!

Being able to resist chemical corrosion is a vital characteristic for a great many applications.

An All-Weather Material

Come rain, sunshine, atmospheric gases that cause wear and tear, or even ozone — silicone is a material that will remain in peak condition for much longer than other alternatives. It will perform well in extremely dry environments, whereas other materials might be subject to cracking in a similar setting.

Flexibility

Speaking of cracking and stiffness that can occur in rubber hoses, another “pro” in silicone’s column is its natural flexibility. Silicone is very stable in its flexibility. This leads to its durability in that it is far less likely to rupture or leak even years after it has initially been installed. For those of our readers who have had to diagnose and fix a leak in their rubber tubes, you know what kind of hassle this can be. For those of our readers who haven’t had the pleasure of dealing with such aggravation, take our word for it — start with the high-quality material from the onset, and you won’t have to pay (both time and money) for it down the road.

Easily Make Custom Shapes

Another feature silicone boasts is that it can easily be made into custom shapes. If it weren’t, and required much more labor to mold into unique shapes, it would be much more costly than it is. Luckily, it’s a malleable material (at the time of manufacturing) so it can be made into custom shapes without trouble. When you have a custom silicone project that requires a hose to be bent at a unique angle, this is a good thing.

In terms of what we are capable of here at Flex Tech, we have pretty much seen it all and made it all in terms of custom silicone tubes. That being said, we will likely be able to produce the certain shape of hose you are looking for. However, there are instances which require us to make a totally unique hose. For these cases, we have a team of experienced design engineers who are happy to put their expertise to good use for a custom silicone hose solution!

Color Options

Silicone tubes come in more colors than alternative hose materials. While we can make custom colors here at Flex Tech, our standard color options are red, black, and blue!

Water Resistance

Silicone rubber is vastly superior to other materials in that it is exceptionally resistant to water. Due to its low degree of water absorption, silicone tubing shows very little change in properties, even after extended periods of exposure to water. That is a very useful quality to have, in case you were wondering, since water is one of the most common media pumped through silicone hoses in the first place!

Resistance To Deformation

When silicone is exposed to prolonged periods of pressure, it is able to maintain its mechanical properties quite well. It has a better resistance to compression set than other elastomers, which is a polymer that has elastic properties (like rubber), in case you were wondering.

Cost-Effectiveness

In case you couldn’t tell, we could go on and on about the wonders of silicone hoses. Among the many benefits we didn’t have time to list in today’s post, you should know that silicone doesn’t conduct electricity. Finally, it’s an affordable option as much as it is a premier, “performance” material. Of all the performance upgrades you can choose to implement on your vehicle, going with silicone hoses is probably one of the most cost-effective. Yet it’s a practical one at that!

Silicone easily beats OEM hoses for vehicle performance almost every single time. Shop Flex Tech for a blend of quality and value that’s unlike any other.