Windshield Washer Hose

[KevinC]

Last week I ordered windshield washer fluid hose from my local MB dealer. My order arrived and what I received (for $5.00 a meter) is the stiff clear plastic variety that looks amazingly like what the local home improvement center sells for $.16 per foot. Now possibly the nice, yellowed (I prefer to refer to at as patina) hose that I was expecting started off as a hard clear plastic version OR perhaps I just plain overpaid MB.

Any ideas as to what the "correct" hose would/should look like?

Kevin
Boca Raton, FL
1967 230 SL Automatic
670 Light Ivory
113 Bronze/Brown MB Tex

[Douglas]

The original material was not stiff. It's very flexible and slightly less clear than the hose you described.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[A Dalton]

Surgical tubing hose is very close. Same flex and can be found in semi-clear.

[KevinC]

Consensus is, I have really been hosed then?  

Kevin
Boca Raton, FL
1967 230 SL Automatic
670 Light Ivory
113 Bronze/Brown MB Tex

[Mark in KS]

I looked at this subject today and feel just like Kevin.  Last year, I bought some "hose" from the MBZ dealer and got this "heavy" reinforced stuff that folds over instead of flexing out of the bottle top.

So does everyone revert to surgurical tubing or is there a secondary source for the stuff?  I remember asking Ray Paul for some at the time and he said that he didn't carry it.....

[mdsalemi]

While not exactly a hose expert, as the owner of a car wash I'm forced to know something about the stuff.  Nothing is as simple as it seems...

The product is properly called tubing, not hose.  That being said, the typical tubing used in these applications is clear PVC.  One brand name is Tygon.  There are various grades of the stuff, but they all look pretty much the same.  They are chemically different.  There is high quality tubing,low quality tubing, tubing designed for pressure, those for suction, those for fixed use, and those for flex.  Some are for peristaltic pumps.  Some can bend, some will kink.  However when you go to Home Depot or other stores like them, you simply buy clear PVC tubing.  If you want to see a good selection of this kind of tubing (and a whole lot more) take a look here:

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=18308&Page=1

Since wiper fluid isn't exactly a critical item (such as a brake line)don't worry about quality.  The cheap stuff will work.  It will harden with time, turn yellow, etc.  When it does, buy a new piece then, and install it.

Some Tygon tubing I bought recently is free of plasticizers, so it can't get hard in the car wash chemicals.  It was something like $2.50 per foot which is somewhat more expensive then the MB stuff.

Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored

[A Dalton]

SLS 113 Part web site.
 Part #186040- Hose,W/Washer- per meter.

 113 Chassis/Parts Manual --Part# 002-997-59-82 - Hose, washer fluid, per meter

[KevinC]

Michael,

Thanks for the correction on the "tubing" thing...it just doesn't have the same impact saying that I was "tubed" by MB.

Two things:

1) Call me crazy, but I actually like the idea of the yellowed tubing (but I guess SLS calls it hose, too...go figure ) as my car looks more like an "original" than it does a restored car. Dont get me wrong, painstakingly restored cars like yours are awesome, but mine being a never-rusted California vehicle is cool to me as a representative of a well maintained "vintage" ride.

2)A major part of my concern is the fact that I actually paid MB $5 per meter for 1/4" icemaker tubing. If it had a three-pointed star stamped on it, I could ALMOST justify the cost.


I am going to try the SLS route as I need to order from them anyway.

Thanks!
-Kevin

quote:Originally posted by mdsalemi

While not exactly a hose expert, as the owner of a car wash I'm forced to know something about the stuff.  Nothing is as simple as it seems...

The product is properly called tubing, not hose.  That being said, the typical tubing used in these applications is clear PVC.  One brand name is Tygon.  There are various grades of the stuff, but they all look pretty much the same.  They are chemically different.  There is high quality tubing,low quality tubing, tubing designed for pressure, those for suction, those for fixed use, and those for flex.  Some are for peristaltic pumps.  Some can bend, some will kink.  However when you go to Home Depot or other stores like them, you simply buy clear PVC tubing.  If you want to see a good selection of this kind of tubing (and a whole lot more) take a look here:

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=18308&Page=1

Since wiper fluid isn't exactly a critical item (such as a brake line)don't worry about quality.  The cheap stuff will work.  It will harden with time, turn yellow, etc.  When it does, buy a new piece then, and install it.

Some Tygon tubing I bought recently is free of plasticizers, so it can't get hard in the car wash chemicals.  It was something like $2.50 per foot which is somewhat more expensive then the MB stuff.

Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored

Kevin
Boca Raton, FL
1967 230 SL Automatic
670 Light Ivory
113 Bronze/Brown MB Tex