Everyone seems to be ignoring Teflon (PTFE) tubing. Any reason for this?
Other than generally costing more than silicone tubing, virgin PTFE/Teflon seems to offer some advantages for vaporizer use. It is much smoother (more sanitary and cleanable) and unlike silicone, dirt will not stick to it, and thin tubing may be more or comparably translucent/transparent. Virgin (pure, non-recycled) PTFE is essentially absolutely inert/nontoxic, tasteless and is food grade or better (e.g., used in chem. lab. and pharmaceutical applications); and as shown at the CleanAir site, is the preferred tubing for chemical gas analysis, including vs. silicone tubing. About the only thing PTFE lacks that silicone offers is extreme flexibility, but thin tubing should more than flexible enough.
PTFE is more temperature-stable than silicone, with PTFE often cited as providing somewhat higher constant service temperatures (with this upper limit due to softening, not degradation), and being able to withstand temperatures over 1000?F before chemically degrading. While silicones start to chemically degrade above 500?F, PTFE only starts to soften above 500?F, while still probably providing comparable or more structural strength than heated soft silicone (with these temperatures unlikely to ever be encountered in normal vaporizer use).
As far as the much hyped health hazards from Teflon/PTFE putting particles into the air (essentially vaporizing), this does not occur until well above 600?F, with many sources citing much higher temperatures, such as above 800?F (temperatures which can readily obtained by exposure to flame or direct contact with red-hot electrical heating elements). But even 600?F is several 100 degrees or more hotter than ever likely to be encountered in vaporizer use. On balance, with PTFE chemically stabler, smoother, more sanitary, etc., it is probably is even safer for vaporizer use than silicone (which poses no hazards at normal vaporizer temperatures).
Does anyone have any negative experience using PTFE/Teflon tubing for vaporizer applications? Does anyone see any potential downsides to use of PTFE/Tefon? Or am I simply off-base and there are good reasons not to use PTFE/Teflon?
[Note, although I have been exclusively vaporizing since 1994, I have no personal experience using tubing with vaporizers, other the the Magic Flight Launch Box. In the past, I have used Teflon tape (plumbing grade) to wrap around the connections of heating elements (resistors) in vaporizers I have built; with the tape surviving intact after months of use -- it didn't noticeably vaporize, despite being thin and right at the heat source].
I'm not sure so ill PM you with paypal info n such
