MILTON, Fla. (June 7)—The California Air Resources Board has approved a rubber fuel hose recently introduced by Mold-Ex Inc. for use on small off-road vehicle engines in California.
The wholly owned subsidiary of Specialty Elastomer Technology Inc. received a component executive order from CARB allowing Mold-Ex's new SETiFLEX II low permeation barrier hose to be placed on the market in the state.
To accommodate additional manufacturing needs created by the new hose, the Milton-based producer of rubber components spent about $1 million to buy an extrusion line to make the product, said Rick Pluff, vice president and general manager of Mod-Ex.
The line's four dual-axis-measuring systems scan each step of the manufacturing process, measuring the full circumference of the hose for the proper layer size, he said.
CARB issued the component executive order after it determined that the new hose meets a 15-gram per square meter per day maximum permeation requirement mandated by the organization's board, the company said. Results from tests conducted by CARB showed that SETiFLEX II averaged a permeation rate of about 5 grams per square meter per day, Mold-Ex said.