Hose leakage in vehicles is a problem that faces everyone in the winter months. From the cold of the morning to the heat of travelling, the hose will expand and contract so often, that leaks or 'weeping' becomes almost inevitable. Zero Clips Limited of Birmingham has an answer to this problem. CONSTANT TENSION clips. Although most people are more than aware of the spring band version currently in use in many of today’s cars, there are quiet a few other types and styles that are available.

For light duty, the popular spring band version is an almost natural choice. This offers speed, and consistency that is hard to match in terms of both fitting time and resiliency to temperature change. Made from heat treated spring steel, in size’s starting from as small as 7 millimetres and finished in compliance with the RohS European directive concerning environmental impact, the spring band is the ideal choice for the smaller hose’s which are used in used in large volumes.

Constant tension worm drive clips are a design that may not be all that well known, but is increasingly becoming the clip of choice for many companies, especially within the vehicle air conditioning market. This design offers a great deal of versatility for the user in terms of size range.


MICRO FLEX (pictured) is a design that from the smallest to largest sizes (6.3 – 15.7mm upto 17.5 – 31.7mm) employs a helical spring behind the screw INSIDE the housing, which compensates for the 'Cold Flow'. This design is available in 5/16” band width and has a lower profile, making this design far easier to fit in those confined areas.

FLEX GEAR is the MICRO GEARS bigger brother. This design enables the user to clamp from 25 – 45 millimetres upto 210 – 232 millimetres. The FLEX GEAR uses precision manufactured spring washers under the head of the worm gear to ensure ‘Cold Flow’ is eliminated. The FLEX GEAR in built from wider band width stainless steel and uses either a 5/16th hex headed worm or for the ‘Standard’ duty applications or 3/8th Hex headed worm for the heavy duty, giving the greatest confidence to both the user and the driver.

SUPRA CT. This clamp, one of the heaviest duty clamps available, is designed around the MIKALOR SUPRA clamp. Manufactured to the highest specifications, this design has a size range starting from 17 – 19mm all the way up till 239 – 252mm. Available in stainless steel with an 8.8 Hi Tensile bolt, the multitude of stainless spring washers ensure that this clamp holds the pressure in all weathers. Added to this is the band width. The smallest clamp is 18mm wide, this increases to massive 28mm.

Vehicles are used in all kinds of places today. Up high and down low: hot deserts and the Arctic cold. A clip is needed to suffer these extremes and come out the other side as though nothing had happened. ‘P’ clips are used to secure tubing or hoses, and quiet often this means the clip is going to be exposed to whatever weather is outside the cabin window. Hot or cold, sun, rain or snow, the clips must do their job. Zero Clips Limited of Birmingham once again has the answer. E. P. D. M. rubber lined ‘P’ clips are able to withstand all these extremes. Capable of taking punishing cold temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius and the oven of over 120 degrees Celsius, the rubber lined ‘P’ clip is about the best solution. The rubber liner, which is fitted to the 1/2”, 5/8”, 3/4” and 1” band widths, also protects the hose from damage from the plated or stainless steel of the clip and can even help to reduce some of the vibration noise as well.

(CD/KMcA)