Quote:
Originally posted by FRAGN'STIEN
From the pic I don't see where it bottomed out. I think it's just a reflection off the poly, but if you take the barbs out you allways want to replace silicon with silicon never use teflon tape on a poly top.
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This is going to be somewhat of a rant.
Silicone has nothing to do with poly, it is just what they decided to use. Teflon tape works perfectly fine and serves its designed purpose on a properly tapped hole, (that's what it's made for). You will not be able to tell from the pic because there is no knowing if the barb was backed out after it cracked for picture taking purposes.
Deflection from the tape alone would not cause this, the force of actually tapping the hole is much greater than the weak fibered tape, so if it survived the tapping then it will certainly survive the application of teflon tape to the hosebarb threads. Now if there were short cracks already in the barb hole from a poor tapping procedure then that is another story, any force to the hole would cause them to spread. Could this be why they loosely screw them in, then gunk them up tight with silicone?
I am troubled by the apparent poor job they have done with the clear tops on their blocks and then just switch over to copper or aluminum without admitting there was something wrong with their procedure. The tops should have been made thicker so that customers changing barbs would not bottom out (They should have known damn well that tinkerers shall tinker) and they should have been tapped so that a tight fit with a teflon tape application would be all that was needed instead of loosely screwing them in with silicone. BTW everyone should realize that these were all money saving steps that they chose.
And yes, I use poly in my designs, so it kind of tics me off that they are scaring people away from it, all because they were trying to keep the cost down by sacrificing quality for quantity.
The maze3 copper tops are being offered for the same reason.