Brain Teaser

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

What's the difference between tube and pipe?

[JESParticipant @jes]

I would think a tube is straight whereas a pipe can be bent?

But I really don't Know!

JES

[Simon Williams 3Participant @simonwilliams3]

Weight!

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

"That's good, but it's not right!"

Neil

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

One is spelt T-U-B-E and the other is spelt P-I-P-E

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

ISIHAC fans will cry , in unison, Mornington Crescent!! … but, of course, the answer is – tube gets you from Piccadilly to Leicester Square, underground, while pipe is what you pack your tobacco in! Simple – next, please

rgds

Bill

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Posted by Cornish Jack on 04/03/2016 15:18:50:

ISIHAC fans will cry , in unison, Mornington Crescent!! … but, of course, the answer is – tube gets you from Piccadilly to Leicester Square, underground, while pipe is what you pack your tobacco in! Simple – next, please

rgds

Bill

(All groan!!!)

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

I believe that tube is small bore and pipe is bigger. Don't know where the cutoff point is though.

Edited By Brian Hutchings on 04/03/2016 15:24:01

[TrevorhParticipant @trevorh]

Tube is measured by OD Pipe is measured by ID

i hope

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Close to Brian's answer, but not quite …

I think the distinction comes with the 'aspect ratio' of wall thickness to diameter.

Likewise, I don't know the transition point ; and I don't know where 'Hollow Bar' comes into it.

MichaelG.

[pretty useless today ]

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

GIYF

[dave george 1Participant @davegeorge1]

This is my view

Tube

Tube is normally used for structural purpose. Sizing is based on the exact outside diameter and wall thickness of the tubing

Pipe

Pipe is normally used to transport gas and fluids. Sizing is based on the nominal outside diameter ( nps ) and the wall thickness

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

When go-karts (as they were called then) were just becoming the latest craze, a few of us got together to build one. Another friend (not mechanically minded) suggested that the chassis would be stronger if we made it out of "solid tube"!

John

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Posted by Trevorh on 04/03/2016 15:29:51:

Tube is measured by OD Pipe is measured by ID

i hope

+1

Jon

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Posted by Jon Gibbs on 04/03/2016 16:03:08:

Posted by Trevorh on 04/03/2016 15:29:51:

Tube is measured by OD Pipe is measured by ID

+1

and, confusingly, domestic plumbing copper "pipe" is actually tubing since the OD's of 15mm, 22mm and 28mm are the outside dimensions. In the old days 1/2" and 3/4" copper pipe was pipe.

Jon

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

It is to do with manufacture. tube has a seam – albeit welded after manufacture- pipe is extruded

So your copper pipe is extruded & your steel pipe will have either a butt joint or a welded seam

[TrevorhParticipant @trevorh]

but sam you are forgetting that you can get seamless pipe in stainless – I use it for my solvent installations, and I think there is also the seamless Black pipe

cheers

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Is this just the English language playing games with us again?

English has upwards of 250,000 words happily stolen from just about everywhere in the world. So I can say "I pulled a full-on schadenfreude haka outside the bungalow's gazebo when I saw the naff old-school henna tattoo on that hooker's derriere. " English is a complete mongrel and all the stronger for it, but it's not always consistent or logical.

Pipe is Old English and Tube is Latin. They have similar root meanings. Over the years english speakers have used both to to add subtle meanings to their blatherings. That's why we need ducts and conduits as well

[JAParticipant @ja]

I worked at Corby steel works (BSC, Tubes Division) in the mid 1970s.

There is no difference.

JA

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I think in plain English there is no meaningful difference as JA says, however as a few folk have pointed out

"Tube is measured by OD Pipe is measured by ID"

Good example is BSP threads which confuse all beginners as they appear much toe big for the sizes quoted – beacuse these are the bore sizes of the pipes they are used with.

I'm sure there are exceptions – plastic drain and waste 'pipes' come to mind.

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 04/03/2016 15:34:18:

GIYF

.

Neil,

I thought you were just recycling the very recent explanation that I linked ^^^

MichaelG.

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

Where I work we refer to nominal sized pipe (NPS) as pipe and outside diameter tube as tube. They are both seamless. Once we make something from the tube or the pipe either by bending it or welding fittings to it the part produced is called a pipe (or sometimes a manifold). I think this is purely our own way of differentiating between the raw materials rather than something written in stone somewhere.

Martin

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

we had it easy… everything was a tube .. drip tube, test tube, drain tube… except when it was a stent…

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

Posted by Trevorh on 04/03/2016 16:31:45:

but sam you are forgetting that you can get seamless pipe in stainless – I use it for my solvent installations, and I think there is also the seamless Black pipe

cheers

You have just confirmed it – seamless is pipe

Jointed or just butted at manufacture is tube

[Author]

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