Vacuum and Drain Hose (Sold Per Foot)

This is vacuum pump hose sold by the foot: plain black hose with a 13 mm (about 0.51 in) inside diameter, a 21.3 mm outside diameter and no wire in the wall. Blue Alpine lists it as part H00101-00, for both vacuum and drain lines. It’s $4.50 a foot, so you pay for the length you need and nothing more.

Vacuum pump hose specs

• Inside diameter: 13 mm (0.51 in)
• Outside diameter: 21.3 mm (0.84 in)
• Wall: roughly 4 mm, worked out from the two diameters
• Color: black
• Construction: no wire reinforcement
• Price: $4.50 per foot
• Blue Alpine part number H00101-00

The listing doesn’t carry a temperature or chemical rating, and we won’t guess at one. It’s sold as vacuum and drain hose, and that’s how we’d use it.

How many feet of vacuum pump hose to order

Measure first. A tape measure works, or lay a piece of string along the route and measure the string. Follow the path the hose will really take, around the edge of a shelf or down off a cart, rather than the straight line between the two fittings.

• Measure from one fitting to the other along that path.
• Add about an inch at each end for the part that slides over the barb.
• Allow a little slack so nothing pulls tight when someone nudges the pump.
• Round up to the next whole foot. Extra comes off with a sharp blade.

For quick math: 2 feet is $9.00, 3 feet $13.50, 4 feet $18.00 and 5 feet $22.50. Enter the number of feet as the quantity.

Keep the vacuum pump hose under 5 feet

Blue Alpine warns that hoses longer than 5 ft tend to cause errors with freeze dryers. So if your tape says six, don’t buy six. Move the pump closer. A low shelf or a small cart right next to the dryer can often get the run down to three or four feet.

There’s general vacuum sense behind keeping lines short, too. Every extra foot adds internal volume to pump down and a bit more resistance to flow, and every added joint is one more spot where air can sneak in. A short vacuum pump hose gives the pump less to deal with.

Cutting and fitting vacuum pump hose

Cut it straight across with a fresh utility blade or a tubing cutter. A square end seals better on a barb than a ragged or angled one. With no wire in the wall, there’s nothing to snip through.

Barbs are sized by the inside diameter of the hose they take. 13 mm is within about 0.3 mm of 1/2 inch (12.7 mm), and the premium pump’s fitting is a 1/2 in barb. Connecting to something else? Check that barb’s size before you cut.

Push the hose fully over the barb, past the last ridge. If it’s stiff, dip the end in hot water for a minute; that often softens it enough to slide on. Don’t grease the barb. Lubricant makes it easier for the hose to creep back off later.

Route the hose in gentle curves. Without wire reinforcement, a tight bend can kink or flatten, and a kinked line acts like a blocked one. You can read more about barbed connections in the hose barb article.

When a vacuum pump hose is due for replacing

• Cracks or fine crazing on the outside, worst near the ends
• Ends that have split, or stretched so they sit loose on the barb
• Sections that have gone hard, or stay flat after a bend
• Soft, swollen or sticky patches

If the damage is only in the last inch, you can often trim that off and refit the shorter piece. That works as long as what’s left still reaches without pulling tight. Otherwise, order fresh vacuum pump hose and cut it to your measured length.

This hose lives with our other plumbing and filter parts. Not sure which fittings you’ve got? Call +1 (443) 514-5708, or send a photo through the support page and we’ll take a look.