Once again, where can I get peristaltic tubing?

[PiNaPLeX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7178852#post7178852 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vincerama2
yes, the Compat Enteral Feeding Pump is similar to the ones in your second link. In fact, the ones in the second link ARE medical dosing pumps!

My pump;
1) Uses "Feed bag sets" which are those IV drip type bags, which you would fill with liquid food for patients. The "feed sets" have a piece of peristaltic tubing in the line, which fits into the doser.
2) the dosing mechanism IS PERISTALTIC. There are 3 rollers that "stroke" the peristaltic tubing and administer the food to the patient
3) It has a battery backup, because you don't want patients to starve if the power goes out
4) It has ALARMS which go off and shut down the pump if the bag is empty OR liquid is "free flowing". This is, of course, to protect the patient
5) You can adjust the dosing rate from 1 to 295 ml/hour.

The pumps in your second link are modified so that the alarms don't go off (I think). Another issue with my pump is that you can't just plug it in and unplug it to make it work. You have to plug it in, press the ON button, then press the RUN button. This means you can't just hook it up to a float valve and control the flow by switching power to the pump. Some simpler peristaltic pumps do that and might be better for dosing if you use a float valve.

The only complaint I have about mine is that I haven't found a good replacement peristaltic tubing source (YET), and I've been buying the feed sets and taking the tubing from them, but each feed set is like $5. (though they last for like 4-6 months). Not a problem really, if I could find them locally in a medical supply place, but I haven't found a place (not really looking that hard) that sells the feed bags (I bought some off eBay that I've been using for the past 2 years, but I've run out now).

I'm going to try some of the tubing sold by US Plastics and see if it works. I'm sure it will mess up the ml/hr settings, but that's not important, since I'm feeding my kalk mixer, not a person!

V

haha, that's exactly what I was thinking..

 

[Qwiv]

Those pumps you linked to are not peristaltic pumps, well the first one might be, but the pic is bad, so I can't tell for sure.

A peristaltic pump has (2) contact points with the tubing. An outer shell/ring and a roller that compresses the tubing against the outer shell/ring. It works similar to you placing a tube on the counter and taking a rolling pin and running it along the tube. It pushes fluid through the tube by compressing the tube. Go back and read your wiki definition. There are no rollers on a medical doser. True peralistic pumps can use a wide selection of tubing. You can use airline tubing on some. Not true with a medical doser. You can reverse a peristaltic pump, not a medical doser.

The medical dosing pumps works be stretching a tube around a wheel that has normally (3) ridges (not rollers). It works by stretching the tubing. You could recreate this by bending a piece of tubing around some object so that the tubing pinched, then pulling one end of the tubing arounf the object. This is one contact point with the tubing, not two. These require special thin wall tubing that stretches. This tubing wears out rather quickly. Not much selection in tubing either.

If you really want to be technical, I guess a medical dosing pump can not be considered a peralistic pump by the definition of peristaltic, which comes from the word used to described the method in which food is passed through your intestines. This work by compression, which is not the method used on a medical doser. If you worked in a lab and your boss asked you to buy a peristaltic pump and you returned with a medical dosing pump, your credibility would be gone. If he asked for tubing and you gave him the thin walled stuff used on a medical doser, he/she would hang you with it.

Here is a pic of a peristaltic pump
http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/large_image.asp?img=7712020.jpg
If you look hard, you can see the rollers which compress the tube against the outer ring.

 

[Vincerama2]

Qwiv, I understand what you are saying. My doser has rollers BUT it does not pinch the tubing against another outer ring. The tubing is pretty thin, and the feed sets aren't made to run for as long as I run mine. The tubing is basically pinched against itself. I'm going to see if thin diameter peristaltic tubing works anyway, as I can't seem to find where the feed sets are sold in reasonably quantities (obviously people who need enteral feeding buy them in bulk, not one or two at a time, every 6 months!) If the peristaltic tubing won't work in my feed pump without the outer ring, I'll make one up.

V

 

[PiNaPLeX]

vincerama,

you might find what you're looking for on this page:

http://www.innovativeaquatics.com/Pages/access.html

good luck....

 

[orientalexpress]

how about this pump on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/Cole-Parmer-Mas...1QQcmdZViewItem

thanks


lapsan

 

[Vincerama2]

I've been experimenting with 3/16" surgical tubing. So far it is working! I'm not sure how long it will last, but it's better than buying the feedsets!

It's funny how I found it. I was walking in Big 5 with my wife, who was looking at running shoes. I walked past the fishing lures and noticed that, for some reason, they sold a 3' section of 3/16" surgical tubing (for $3 or something, maybe a rip off, but I have no other convenient source!)

Anyway, it's definitely working as a replacement for the small piece of (whatever) tubing that is used in feeding pumps! Durability is yet to be determined (but I'm sure you can pick up a lot of this tubing somewhere, and you only need about 3 inches of it).

Now ... how do you use surgical tubing to catch fish???

V

 

[Vincerama2]

Ah, good ol' google! This is how you use the tubing while fishing ...
http://www.canoekayak.com/kayak-fishing/tube/

V