Why does radiator hose collapse when cold
PVC hoses use polyvinyl chloride as their main component. They have four notable traits: bright colors, corrosion resistance, stability, and durability. However, manufacturers add plasticizers and anti-aging agents during production. These additives enhance the hose’s heat resistance, toughness, and ductility. For this reason, PVC hose products usually cannot store food or medicine.
So how do you identify the quality of a PVC hose? Follow these practical methods:
1. Test Weather Resistance
The most direct way to check weather resistance is simple. Place the PVC pipe in a high-temperature, high-light environment for a few days. Then observe how much its surface changes. The smaller the surface change, the stronger the pipe’s weather resistance. A pipe with good weather resistance will not crack, fade, or become brittle easily.
2. Analyze the Raw Materials
Analyzing a PVC pipe’s raw materials usually requires professional knowledge and equipment. But you can use a simple method to make an inference. Take two pipes with the same caliber, wall thickness, and length. Compare their weights. If one PVC hose is heavier than the other, it likely contains too much calcium powder and impurities. This means its raw materials are impure—and it is not a high-quality PVC flexible hose.
3. Check Whiteness and Color
During production, if manufacturers use too much low-quality or recycled material, the finished pipe will turn black or yellow. This discoloration directly affects the quality of the flexible plastic hose. High-quality PVC hoses should have a uniform, clean color (often white or light-colored) with no odd discoloration.
4. Inspect Thickness Uniformity
Follow the pipe diameter standards to check the PVC pipe’s wall thickness. Make sure the thickness is uniform around the entire pipe. If the wall thickness is uneven, the PVC tube is low-quality. Why? Because when the hose works under high pressure, it may burst at the thinner sections. This creates safety risks.
5. Test Toughness by Hitting
If you have high requirements for the hose’s performance, you can test its toughness with a simple hit. Hit the PVC pipe hard. High-quality PVC water hoses have good flexibility. If the hose breaks easily after being hit, it contains too much calcium. This means it is not a good-quality hose.
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