Sourcing 2mm ID fuel pipe

[pcatterall]

Plastic or copper!! This is needed for fuel supply to eberspacher and other heaters. I did get a coil of copper once but it came from a model maker supplier and was expensive. I can find plastic stuff but it is always sold by the meter and very expensive, I need at least 20 meters. BES and the like seem to only stock down to 4mm ID.
Any ideas please?

 

[pvb]

Plastic or copper!! This is needed for fuel supply to eberspacher and other heaters. I did get a coil of copper once but it came from a model maker supplier and was expensive. I can find plastic stuff but it is always sold by the meter and very expensive, I need at least 20 meters. BES and the like seem to only stock down to 4mm ID.
Any ideas please?

See here - 30 metres for about £32 inc shipping.

 

[sailorman]

Plastic or copper!! This is needed for fuel supply to eberspacher and other heaters. I did get a coil of copper once but it came from a model maker supplier and was expensive. I can find plastic stuff but it is always sold by the meter and very expensive, I need at least 20 meters. BES and the like seem to only stock down to 4mm ID.
Any ideas please?

do you have a Pirtek or similar company locally

 

[David2452]

Seems it's in a bit short supply of late, a recent Webo service buletin advised that the stuff supplied in kits (plastic) may vary in colour due to having to source it in various places.
I get the cupro nickel and plastic stuff direct from Webasto or Mikuni at a decent price anyway so no need to look around. You could get 20m of platic from Mikuni at less than £15 even at the retail price they will charge you, also 10m of 1/8" O/D copper tube is about £25 at the going rate but copper is all over the place at the moment. It never ceases to surprise me that people go elsewhere for a lot of stuff when the proper stuff is cheaper even at dealer retail, stuff like, spare parts, vents and fitting often appear on ebay at well over the odds and used units at over what I would charge for a properly refurbished unit.

 

[pcatterall]

Thanks guys, some good leads!! PVB that would have been good but their OD was 4mm.
Some time ago eberspacher pumps had the delivery side connecter at 4mm but then changed to 6mm. it is difficult to find 2mm ID with 6mm OD.
Pirteks catalogue was great ( spent lots of time browsing) and worth remembering.
David2452 I will follow your lead, and yes, I have seen Eberspacher parts on ebay for far more than I can buy them at my local agent, easy to be fooled but then you can often find bargains.
Thanks all.

 

[SHUG]

Plety of small bore copper tube here. http://www.bes.co.uk/products/139.asp#6938
Would recommend that you use copper throughout as plastic is liable to kink, compress or break.

 

[pcatterall]

Thanks all...............had to give up as my eyes are going square!!
Cant find the Webasto or Mikuni stuff except through their agents and at high prices £6per meter etc! The 'main' company contact pages just refer to the dealers.
BES dont go down to mmID

 

[akyaka]

Noting that you are based in East Lancashire speak to Andrew Pike at Ribblesdale Auto Electrics in Preston. Their bespoke kits( which include fuel pipe) are very competitive and when I replaced my eberspacher unit last year they were very helpful;I'm sure they will sell a few metres of piping

http://www.ribblesdaleauto.co.uk/html/promotions/product.php?id=2

 

[pvb]

Cant find the Webasto or Mikuni stuff except through their agents and at high prices £6per meter etc!

The Webasto fuel hose is only 5mm OD, I think. It's easily available at "reasonable" prices from people like Mellor Auto Electrical (£1.48 a metre, see here) or Webasto dealers should be able to supply a standard 8 metre length for about £15 (part number 4157900 on page 7 of Webasto catalogue).

 

[David2452]

Thanks guys, some good leads!! PVB that would have been good but their OD was 4mm.
Some time ago eberspacher pumps had the delivery side connecter at 4mm but then changed to 6mm. it is difficult to find 2mm ID with 6mm OD.
Pirteks catalogue was great ( spent lots of time browsing) and worth remembering.
David2452 I will follow your lead, and yes, I have seen Eberspacher parts on ebay for far more than I can buy them at my local agent, easy to be fooled but then you can often find bargains.
Thanks all.

All this stuff is available at prices far better than has been mentioned, plastic pipe at 54p a metre, 6mm to 4mm O/D reducers for the old Ebo pumps, copper pipe and compression connectors both equal & reducing it’s all there. And those are retail prices.

http://www.mikuniheating.com/Results.cfm?category=27&secondary=35

 

[colhel]

Will this do? if you scroll down you'll 3/32" which is about 2.4mm.
No connection with the company... I just work there!

 

[electrosys]

If I were plumbing-in a 2mm ID copper tube for oil - I wouldn't (if you get my drift) ...
I'd much prefer to run the lion's share of the tube in (say) 4mm ID, and fit a reducer to 2mm ID only at the appliance end. Any Tee-offs etc., all in the larger bore pipe.

My reasoning is that there would be less of a viscosity problem in cold weather with the larger bore pipe, plus it is probably less likely to suffer damage. And it is probably much easier to source.

If there's a reason why this is a bad idea, perhaps someone would kindly let me know - 'cause I can't see one.

 

[David2452]

If there's a reason why this is a bad idea, perhaps someone would kindly let me know - 'cause I can't see one.

a) 2mm is easy and cheap to get hold of
b) 2mm is robust and has similar wall thickness to slightly larger bore
c) 2mm is what the manufacturers specify.
d) I have never (with modern fuels) had an issue with flow problems in cold weather.
e) if you do use 4mm, don't expect any onsite warranty cover.

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Copper car brake pipe is very small bore, that is what I used for part of the pipe run on mine.
20 mtrs seems like a very long run!
C_W

 

[pcatterall]

Thanks again. I dont really understand the hydraulic flow side of this. The 2mm pipe from the supply to the pump ( no, I only need a couple of meters for each installation not 20 ) The manufacterers specify 2mm and not more than a certain length or rise.
I can see that 4mm would take much longer to prime than 2mm and that the pump may not be able to 'lift' the extra volume of fuel, sticking a section of 2mm in the system would only seem to help by limiting the fuel flow.
Perhaps I am not seeing things clearly?
Colhel...? is there a link that I am not seeing as well?

 

[Anchorite]

Chapter and verse

From the Webasto manual: Air or gas bubbles will accumulate in lines with an internal diameter of more than 4 mm and these will cause malfunctions whilst the heater is operating if the lines sag or are routed downwards...
Re the 2 mm ID clear plastic tube (Web supply): what is the max ambient temperature for this material? The fuel inlet is very close to the exhaust outlet!

 

[colhel]

Perhaps I am not seeing things clearly?
Colhel...? is there a link that I am not seeing as well?

That's because I forgot to put it in It's flexible stuff for model aircraft installations. Just scroll down a little.

http://www.justengines.co.uk/acatalog/Just_Engines_Online_Fuelling_Gear_72.html

 

[David2452]

Thing is, 4mm bore pipe, though double the dia actually is carrying more like four times the weight & volume of fuel and the diameter also allows for much easier backflow, as the pumps are really designed as pushers rather than “suckers” they have difficulty pulling through much more than 2mm consistently and effectively. If we are discussing 2m of pipe for each install we really are talking bus fares here and coming close to spoiling the ship for a hap’orth of tar. You are looking for a solution to a problem that does not really exist by simply not using the right cupro nickel stuff, for goodness sake, I would be charging about £6.00 for that run as part of an install, and that’s at my normal dealer prices. The stuff on the model site is three times the price of the stuff I use from Webasto and Mikuni.

 

[SAMYL]

Try a local dental equipment supplier, they uaually have loads of small bore tubing of different sizes.