Cleaning a Stainless Steel, Small-Bore Tube

How about removing it and then blowing compressed air in through the outlet nozzle? Unless the blockage has hardened and caked over, it should get blown out. Best part is, when you knock off at the end of the day, you can tell your friends that you performed a blow job at work that day .....

yeah, good idea and that would be cool. But the boss wants theoretical basis, that's the most awkward part.

How much theory can be conceived about blowing compressed air through it <rhetorical question>?

Why not just replace it?

Try blasting him with a blowgun. That'll be his requested for theoretical basis in action.

Sheesh, what kind of dumbass character needs an explanation how compressed air can propel a blockage out anyway?!

Is it straight (to take a pull-through) or bent, coiled, twisted?

It's bent and can be twisted. There's a skin over it. To be honest, i don't know the exact material is. An engineer told me that it was a stainless tube. :)

If the block is because of a heat labile material like wax or grease and the skin can stand some temperature one can attempt warming the tube while applying compressed air at one end. No solvent or water can get at the block through such a small bore. Ultrasonic cleaning can do it if the entire tube can be immersed in the tank. Alternate heating and cooling under water or solvent will gradually exhaust the gas and fill with liquid. As many have suggested easiest option is to replace unless the material is platinum or some such. Alternate pressure vacuum cycling may also work. In clinical practice small bore tubes implanted in blood vessels are unclogged this way. bioramani

Piano wire can get it in a size to fit. It's rigid enough that it can be turned to let the end drill through the clog.

Many thanks to you all. Maybe we can think about some solvent to dissolve the unknown thing？？That would be easier for theory to explain....

If you don't know what material the blockage is, then you can't possibly know what solvent to use. If it happens to be a chip of stainless steel, then no solvent will remove it without also destroying the tube. Reverse air (or CO₂, if you need to avoid contamination) is your best bet. If gas doesn't do it, then the piano wire might get it started. I'd still follow with reverse compressed gas

I like your suggestion. It allows the possibility of removing the blockage intact for further examination.

Cheers

Gets my vote too.

But, speartt, what objection does your boss have to the two methods you have suggested, and, has he come up with any ideas himself?

Just submerging the whole assembly in water and trying to force water through it from a tap (faucet) might work.

yeah, i do agree with you. Since we don't know what it is, maybe we can use a pump to force water or compressed gas through to make it clear out? Thank you all~

Sounds like it comes out of an analyser?

Get a new one, the cost will be worth not compromising accuracy...

Speartt,

If your boss is not accepting your methods, what is his solution then?

Carbon will be absorbed by most of the organic solvents, benzene, toluene, formic acid,chlorinated solvents. Peroxides, sodium hypochlorite solution, acidified hypo can also help if the deposit is firm. In case of organic solvents use of a surfactant can improve solvent contact on the coating.In case you follow soaking with solvent, give considerable reaction time The final cleaning can be enhanced by pressurized air or water jet cleaning

just replace the 1 meter section, I know that this has already been said and it was the best bit of advice. You and your boss are just pissing at each other over a 1 meter stainless steel pipe. When you remove the pipe then shove it as far as you can up your bosses arse and ask him for a theory to support its removal, perhaps you can then perform the "blow job" as indicated by Dvader1000.