group purchase of viton vac line?

[Mike Veglia]

Not a bad idea Brett. Several years back I made this suggestion--only Avi
was interested at the time though. My "day job" is Technical Service Manager
for an electro-mechanical equipment mfg. that builds microprocessor
controlled chemical dispensers for commercial laundry and dishwashing. The
pumps are "peristaltic pumps" that use elastic tubes of various materials,
including Viton. When I dug deeper into this (mostly browsing the rubber
supplier catalogs and querying some reps) I found there is a reason why
(besides cost--Viton tube is insanely expensive) automotive grade EPDM tube
is used for automotive applications. It not only is the most cost effective,
but also has the best resistance to oil and heat for vacuum applications.
Viton is better suited for fuel resistance though, usually. It had better
last a *whole lot* longer than automotive grade EPDM because it will cost
easily four times as much (or more) than automotive vacuum lines. I would
take a WAG and suggest we're looking at somewhere around $3 per foot which
is pretty spendy for vacuum lines. Also, you'll not likely find it with the
cloth braid that automotive vacuum lines in German cars often have.

Mike Veglia
Motor Sport Visions Photography
http://www.motorsportvisions.com