Parts Dept Dairy Equipment - Silicone Milk Tube & Hose

Silicone Inflations

Finally an affordable, high performance silicone inflation: the SP6000 Experts agree on the superiority of silicone inflations, they are impervious to milk fat, extremely long lasting, uniform in elasticity, and totally resistant to temperature.

Silicone versus Rubber

Every end of a silicone molecule bonds completely with the silicone molecule next to it. This uniform bonding gives silicone inflations certain advantages over rubber. Rubber molecules have unbonded stray ends sticking out from them. As milk passes through the rubber liner these stray ends bond with milk fat molecules, which also have stray ends. This bonding forms a new molecular structure and the chemical properties which make rubber a good inflation - softness, elasticity, responsiveness - are lost. The chemical breakdown of rubber by milk fat is what makes liners brittle, cracked and whitish in color. Silicone is absolutely impervious to milk fat: the stray ends of the milk fat molecules find nowhere to bond in silicone. The deterioration observed in rubber liners does not occur in silicone ones. Silicone also affords superior clean-up.

Cycle of Stress

The deterioration of rubber liners creates a cycle of stress for cows. A rubber liner with 1000 to 1500 milkings on it milks differently from a rubber liner that is new: response is slower, collapse less complete, general elasticity is missing. When new liners replace the old, the sharp contrast in milking can cause cows discomfort until they get used to the new liner's more forceful milking action. Alternating and frequently changing rubber inflations minimizes teat stress, but requires management time for planning, labor for changing and money for extra inflations. Silicone slows significantly the cycle of deterioration in inflations. The stage of deterioration reached by a rubber inflations after 1200 milkings (mainly due to its weakness to milk fat) will not be reached by a silicone liner even after 7000 milkings. The good milking characteristics lost by rubber liners in weeks, stay with silicone liners for months. To equal the constant softness and elasticity of silicone liners, rubber inflations would have to be changed every week.