Flexible drain pipe

[ian]

I have a bit of old guttering I want to fix to a shed to collect rain into a water butt. Buying downpipe, bends and joins isn't feasible as there is a tree in the way and too many turns.

All I want to do is fix some flexible hose to the 68mm diameter gutter down-pipe exit with a hose clip and manoeuvre the hose round bends and squeeze through gaps into the water butt.

Where on earth can I buy flexible hose of this diameter? It doesn't need to be an exact fit - it's only a shed and I can bodge something I'm sure.

Unless I've missed something really obvious, hours of web searching hasn't revealed anything suitable. Surely I'm not the only person who would find such a product very handy?

Thanks...

Ian

[Gazz]

garden pond/fish breeding type shop possibly, they use large bore pipes and valves to control the water flow thru filters etc,

once place you can get it from, a boat chandlers or place that does american RV parts, used for sewer lines etc, but take a chair with you when you ask the price.

[Jeff Gaines]

I used to think plumbers were the experts at a sharp in-drawn breaths until I visited a boat chandler...

[Owain]

Coolant hoses for commercial vehicles?

Tumble drier vent hose?

Owain

[Nick]

You could try a commercial vehicle spares outlet/factor (rather than main agent). 2-5/8 or 2-3/4 inch bore flexible radiator hose might do the trick. Depending on lengths available you may need joining tubes and pipe clamps. HTH Nick.

[ian]

Thanks for the ideas so far.

As far as I previously discovered, fish-pond type hose comes in various diameters but no where near 68mm. But I'll have another look.

Caravan sink pipe looked promising, but it's on the small side - I'll have to lash up some reducer arrangement. If the pipe is too narrow it'll just block with leaves etc.

A boat chandlers is a possibility, but I don't want to spend a fortune

- it's only a shed!

Coolant hoses for commercial vehicles sound a possibility, though no doubt expensive if they operate under pressure.

Tumble dryer vent hose is too wide and I think and too flimsy, and probably not UV stable.

I'm really surprised that what I thought would be a simple job has turned out so bothersome. I guess fire hose would be ideal - flat and flexible and in 100m reels...

I expect I'll just stumble over something suitable at a car boot or junk shop. But it CAN'T be this difficult, surely...

Anyway, keep the ideas coming and thanks for your help.

Ian

[Steve Firth]

Builders' merchants seem to hit new heights, outside the UK that is.

I turned up with a neat plan for my sewage system, with appropriate measurements etc at my local place and at another with a requirement for the plastic trays used for underfloor heating. At both I was treated with the sharp intake of breath, and at the first a screaming of abuse that (a) they didn't want to deal with me and (b) the drawing was all wrong because I hadn't shown every single length of tube with separate measurements for each length. When I pointed out that a run of 60 metres just meant that I wanted 10x6 metre lengths of tube I got more intake of breath and more insults. I went elsewhere.

If you think that the UK is bad, try living in a country where it is a crime to criticise the unions, where every trade has a guild dedicated to preserving the status of "professionals" as untouchables whose word must be trusted implicitly, and where the entire social structure is set up to exclude outsiders. It makes part P look like permissive legislation.

[Chris Bartram]

Not quite 68mm, but machine mart sell 3" dia suction hose.

[Zapp Brannigan]

Water pump discharge hose - like ebay 250812816087

3" diameter, flexible, sturdy & cheap.

[Tabby]

Alkyd paint can deal with the uv issue. Use topcoat, no undercoat.

I hesitate to say this, but it seems you're having trouble finding what you want, so... if you took 68mm downpipe and saw a spiral cut in it, it cant be bent to fit, then a layer of fibreglass & resin would skin it.

NT

[newshound]

Machine Mart "suction" hose goes up to 3 inches; £5-99 per metre.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , ian writes

Google dust extract hose.

Probably get 65mm. Around £7.50/m though!

regards

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember ian saying something like:

Get a square funnel and some more easily available smaller dia hose. Affix the funnel under the downspout/end of the gutter and fix a portion of mesh on top of it. Lead the cheap hose to your barrel. Bob's yer odd old uncle that nobody talks about.

[Nightjar]

This place does suction hose up to 6 inch diameter. The 2.5 inch hose is the closest to 68mm, but you need to buy at least 5 metres at £8.11 + VAT per metre.

Bignell