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Top User
 Oxygen Tubing Barbed Couplers?
Can anyone currently on medical oxygen answer this?
All I want to do is join two lengths of standard oxygen tubing as if you cut the tubing in the middle
and wanted to shorten it.
I can't find anything online that addresses this.
There are plenty of connectors but they seem to be all for the 'factory end'.
Comments from 'O2 people' would be greatly appreciated.
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Senior User
Well, I Googled the above item, and came up with three pages of nothing. Lots and lots of fittings, but no barbed couplers for oxygen tubing. While there are lots of tubing fittings for plain old laboratory tubing and other types of tubing, including the barbed kind, there are NONE for oxygen. I suspect this has to do with legal liability for that particular part, due to a number of reasons. First, pure or enriched oxygen is a huge fire hazard if it gets out and the patient is smoking  , and sadly I am sure this situation comes up. Secondly, selling a part which could be used improperly by a sick, senile, elderly person such as myself will make a cheap lawyer drool, and the real danger here is that with a leak in the tubing, the oxygen getting to the patient will not be correct. So, multiple failure modes exist for this simple part, which can be found in laboratory supply catalogs, but I suspect NONE of them will be rated for oxygen tubing.
Edit: However, if one wanted to do something on their own, they should get a stainless steel barb because the SS is MUCH stronger than plastic, so the walls of the barb can be thinner. From what I know about oxygen tubes, they are pretty small diameter, so you need a connector that doesn't use up all the bore space. (DUH?) The only other thing that comes to mind with small gauge tubing is that you might look into whatever fittings they have for automobile windshield washers. These fittings will be relatively cheap, and most importantly, be easy to connect or snap together, because they are part of an automated assembly line process. This message will self destruct in 10 seconds....
Last edited by Dead Man Walking; 06-08-2017 at 10:34 PM.
05/6/16 pre-op physical for surgery show low WBC & RBC
5/22/16 [Birthday] Results of BM biopsy: AML 25% blasts with inv t(3:3) mutation, HIGH risk
5/30/16 Undergo 3+7 chemo, but it doesn't touch AML, infections nearly kill me. Blasts 65%
7/04/16 Diagnosis now Refractory AML. [:tombstone:]Six cycles of azacitidine, 21 shots over 7 days w/ 1.5" needle into gut + below navel. 
11/05/16 Move to NOLA - Infusion center 4 minutes away. 15 shots for 5 days with 5/8" 25 ga. needle Huge increase in quality of life.
12/28/16 BMB shows blasts 12% 
4/16/17 BMB shows CD34 16%, cycles dropped to 4 weeks
7/20/17 Diagnosis changed to "indolent leukemia", aka MDS
7/27/17 BMB shows CD34 17%
8/15/17 Venclexta chemo in PILL form added Onc estimates survival time now 2 - 4 YEARS.
10/26/17 BMB results show 17/20 metaphases with inv(3:3) mutation-low blood cell counts - transfusions ineffective
12/4/17 Diagnosis: Uncontrolled refractory AML 
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Top User
Hi Dead Man,
Thanks for the input! I strongly suspect you're right about the legal ramifications.
I got basically the same results you did and I searched way more than 3 sites.
It's interesting that they offer bulk tubing without the factory flared ends but don't tell you how to connect it! Lol!
I may try the stainless idea if I can find any. Cheers! --- Dave
Age At Diagnosis: 59
Pre-Op PSA: 4.5
Diagnosis: Prostatic Adenocarcinoma
Surgery: Retropubic Radical Prostatectomy (RRP) 07/16/2012
Stage: pT2c,pNO,PMX
Gleason Grade: 4+3=7 (Not-So-Good Cancer)
Extraprostatic Extension: Neg.
Lymph Nodes: Neg.
Seminal Vesicles: Neg.
Positive Margins
Tumor Quantitation: <5% Of Prostate
Tumor size: 1.1cm.
High-Grade PIN
Perineural Invasion: Present
Post-Op PSA: 0.4
Completed 35 sessions adjuvant IMRT on 12/13/2012
PSA as of 01/10/2013: 0.2
PSA as of 04/12/2013: 0.1
PSA as of 07/10/2013: <0.1
PSA as of 10/08/2013: 0.1
PSA as of 01/15/2014: 0.2
Still holding at 0.2 7/15
0.3 as of 12 month ago.
0.8 as of 9 months ago.
1.8 as of 6months ago.
1.6 as of 3 months ago
7.3 as of 05/15/2017
Bone Scan 06/08/2017 Negative
9.3 as of 06/14/2017
0.8 as of 01/22/2018
'Archaeologist of The Forum Archives'
"Every day above ground is a good day". -- Scarface
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Senior User
Just to make sure that we are all on the same page, the issue here is how to lengthen/shorten the clear plastic oxygen tubing that goes from the smallish tank/nosepiece that the patient wears, right? The point here is that this plastic tubing has some flex to it, so the right sized barb can be forced into the tube diameter and produce a tight seal. The other thing that should be noted is that the stiffness of most any polymer is related to its temperature, so if the clear plastic tubing were immersed in boiling water for one or two minutes, it would become much more stretchy, and the barb more easily inserted. This also permits a greater mismatch between the tube ID and the barb OD to work, and when it all cools down, that bond is damn near permanent.
05/6/16 pre-op physical for surgery show low WBC & RBC
5/22/16 [Birthday] Results of BM biopsy: AML 25% blasts with inv t(3:3) mutation, HIGH risk
5/30/16 Undergo 3+7 chemo, but it doesn't touch AML, infections nearly kill me. Blasts 65%
7/04/16 Diagnosis now Refractory AML. [:tombstone:]Six cycles of azacitidine, 21 shots over 7 days w/ 1.5" needle into gut + below navel.
11/05/16 Move to NOLA - Infusion center 4 minutes away. 15 shots for 5 days with 5/8" 25 ga. needle Huge increase in quality of life.
12/28/16 BMB shows blasts 12%
4/16/17 BMB shows CD34 16%, cycles dropped to 4 weeks
7/20/17 Diagnosis changed to "indolent leukemia", aka MDS
7/27/17 BMB shows CD34 17%
8/15/17 Venclexta chemo in PILL form added Onc estimates survival time now 2 - 4 YEARS.
10/26/17 BMB results show 17/20 metaphases with inv(3:3) mutation-low blood cell counts - transfusions ineffective
12/4/17 Diagnosis: Uncontrolled refractory AML
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Top User
 Originally Posted by Dead Man Walking
Just to make sure that we are all on the same page, the issue here is how to lengthen/shorten the clear plastic oxygen tubing that goes from the smallish tank/nosepiece that the patient wears, right? The point here is that this plastic tubing has some flex to it, so the right sized barb can be forced into the tube diameter and produce a tight seal. The other thing that should be noted is that the stiffness of most any polymer is related to its temperature, so if the clear plastic tubing were immersed in boiling water for one or two minutes, it would become much more stretchy, and the barb more easily inserted. This also permits a greater mismatch between the tube ID and the barb OD to work, and when it all cools down, that bond is damn near permanent.
Hi Deadman,
Great minds think alike! 
Yes, we are all on the same page here. O2 tubing usually comes in two lengths, 25' or 50'.
In my house, I have two long lines, one for me and the other for my CPAP.
Amusingly, 25' is too short and 50' much too long.
When I buy 50' lines with factory ends, I wind up with two big coils of unused tubing sitting on my concentrator.
When the length of tubing on the floor gets past its useful life, I would like to be able to cut it off and use the remainder
of the coil. Seems like such a waste not to do that.
Speaking of waste, my supplier screwed up on the last order and gave me 50' of greenline terminating in a high flow
nasal cannula which is not replaceable. I usually change cannulas every couple of weeks and the greenline every couple of months. Now I have to trash 50' of perfectly good tubing just to change the cannula. Go figure!
I'm just glad I don't have these issues with my portable units! LOL!
Cheers! --- Dave
Age At Diagnosis: 59
Pre-Op PSA: 4.5
Diagnosis: Prostatic Adenocarcinoma
Surgery: Retropubic Radical Prostatectomy (RRP) 07/16/2012
Stage: pT2c,pNO,PMX
Gleason Grade: 4+3=7 (Not-So-Good Cancer)
Extraprostatic Extension: Neg.
Lymph Nodes: Neg.
Seminal Vesicles: Neg.
Positive Margins
Tumor Quantitation: <5% Of Prostate
Tumor size: 1.1cm.
High-Grade PIN
Perineural Invasion: Present
Post-Op PSA: 0.4
Completed 35 sessions adjuvant IMRT on 12/13/2012
PSA as of 01/10/2013: 0.2
PSA as of 04/12/2013: 0.1
PSA as of 07/10/2013: <0.1
PSA as of 10/08/2013: 0.1
PSA as of 01/15/2014: 0.2
Still holding at 0.2 7/15
0.3 as of 12 month ago.
0.8 as of 9 months ago.
1.8 as of 6months ago.
1.6 as of 3 months ago
7.3 as of 05/15/2017
Bone Scan 06/08/2017 Negative
9.3 as of 06/14/2017
0.8 as of 01/22/2018
'Archaeologist of The Forum Archives'
"Every day above ground is a good day". -- Scarface
-
Senior User
05/6/16 pre-op physical for surgery show low WBC & RBC
5/22/16 [Birthday] Results of BM biopsy: AML 25% blasts with inv t(3:3) mutation, HIGH risk
5/30/16 Undergo 3+7 chemo, but it doesn't touch AML, infections nearly kill me. Blasts 65%
7/04/16 Diagnosis now Refractory AML. [:tombstone:]Six cycles of azacitidine, 21 shots over 7 days w/ 1.5" needle into gut + below navel.
11/05/16 Move to NOLA - Infusion center 4 minutes away. 15 shots for 5 days with 5/8" 25 ga. needle Huge increase in quality of life.
12/28/16 BMB shows blasts 12%
4/16/17 BMB shows CD34 16%, cycles dropped to 4 weeks
7/20/17 Diagnosis changed to "indolent leukemia", aka MDS
7/27/17 BMB shows CD34 17%
8/15/17 Venclexta chemo in PILL form added Onc estimates survival time now 2 - 4 YEARS.
10/26/17 BMB results show 17/20 metaphases with inv(3:3) mutation-low blood cell counts - transfusions ineffective
12/4/17 Diagnosis: Uncontrolled refractory AML
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