Hydraulic Hose Replacement on Mobile Equipment

Sounds like you need to do your own study.

You now have two data points.

It becomes a question of cost to replace on a regular schedule vs cost of unscheduled failures.

You would like us to help prevent these hose failures. Then how about some reason for the failures.

I've seen hydraulic hoses on lift equipment last twenty years. In that time never saw the OEM list a replacement time. Jest to do a good inspection on them. There are always tell tale signs that there is a problem. Like oozing thru the outer jacket. Is a sign the inner core rubber is cracked. Happens more on hoses that the fluid runs at high temperature. The heat evaporates some of the polymers that give the rubber flexibility. It becomes brittle and vibration or movement cracks this inner core. This is one reason to replace a hose if it's been remove to repair something else and you do not know how old it is. Especially if it's lost it's flexibility.

Also since down time can be costly. Store some spare hoses on the vehicle with the adapters to make up and possible combination. The hoses don't need to be the exact replacement length. A 1ft, 2ft, 5ft, 10ft so on.

I want to avoid injury more than the down time. When they are offloading, they are fairly close to the hoses.

The last 2 times have been for chaffing and we have added an extra layer of protection with the Parker Sprial Guard (PSG).

The spiral guard will help limit the amount of chaffing.

If the hoses failed due to chaffing then nobody is doing little to no inspection at all on those hoses.

Sounds like this is some type of service vehicle. Don't know where you are in the world but in the USA DOT makes it the responsibility of the driver in his walk around. Though the hydraulic may not be part of the vehicle controls and have no function in it's ability to be driven. There is the chance that oil leakage on the highway may cause an accident.

If you want to avoid injury have them inspect the hoses on a regular bases.

Also there are carriers that will contain the oil from blown hoses to reduce injury.

I have seen where some manufactures of fork lifts have placed what appears to be thin rubber tubing loosely over the hoses on the mast. Tubing like that of a bicycle tire . So if they sprang a leak the would not spray in to the drivers face.

You have to check your suppliers......

in our area, if a piece of equipment goes don't..... and its before 7:00 pm, we can still have a hose made up and pick it up 60 miles from us by 9:00 pm.

If its earlier in the day say 2:00 pm, we have suppliers (that close at 5:00 pm) with in minutes of our plant.

Start your Preventive Maintenance.......... check your hoses, and when was the last tinme your replaced them....... we can't answer that for you.

We have started a PM program on the hose, it's new equipment for us. So, we don't have a last time of replacement. They are fairly new, 1-2 years old.

The last step to complete a comprehensive PM program is the replacement frequency.

We added protection, introduced inspection frequencies but don't have the knowledge of what a good time frame to just replace them. I was looking to see if anyone in the field has had theses kinds of problems. I'm leaning towards replacing every 3 years.

Dan

than as an example

you look at the costs of what it would be to be down, if there is not a supplier that makes hoses readily .......... to justify having one on the shelf....

We can give examples, but we can't make the decisions.

the other thing, get a hose making machine, if you have enough equipment. They are not that expensive, (it may be the hose and fitting you have to stock, but that is not that expensive either.......

By 'protection', I assumethink you mean the chafing strips you mentioned earlier, which is a good move. You might also consider spray shields to protect nearby personnel from the inevitable break. For a reliable PM program, I would urge you to label/tag all the hoses now with location/date of manufacture/etc. so that data can be recorded in a way that a meaningful decision can be made.

We have implemeted tagging and labeling on the hoses. Until we have enough history, it's very difficult to assume a specific time frame. I was looking for anyone with the same sort of problem that could give me insights.

Dan

My feeling is that both a marginal material and insufficient safety factor exists in your hose specification.

I would up the hose specification to a minimum of 3000 psi (I would use 5000), and include an overall stainless steel braid cover.

Dan,

Consider hoses as a consumable and replace them before you have a failure. I am sure the product loss, downtime, potential for injury or worse is worth more than a steel braided HP hose. If you buy the hoses in quantity you may be able to negotiate a good buy out. Really hard to apply any formula to your issue. You are using length of time. Perhaps measurement of flow should be considered? Shooting in the dark here. Certain your hose application is suitable for propane? Forgive the simple question but perhaps it needs to be reviewed. Error on the side of safety. Build the cost of hoses into the charge to your customers and just replace them in a scheduled maintenance to be safe in half the 3 yr duration you are thinking?

It is simple, less wear from- mechanic pulling/leaning on hose, driver using when slips from connection spill at joining/undoing- all equates to longer service live, Australian limits on costing to supplier quote is 12 month replacement on ever hose on trailer. 6-18 months on steel pipe work? What are the limits on the contract to trailer gas filler( supply from main contractor). Are you a driver or owner. Sounds like employee being blamed on breakage timeline of pipe to me, replace it and laugh stress free at those who get sued from negligence. I have heard of6 month replacement In arid conditions, daily visual inspection is a drivers safety. Visual only- truck drivers are not engineers or mechanics, make sure they will not use it if suspect line exists - aim big in profit not hole.

There could also be a case for user training: Where does the chafing occur, what can be done to reduce the incidence of chafing. Are the hoses simply being pulled through any rough obstacles when a different approach would give better results?

I would have to agree with WJMFIRE. The manufacturer of the vehicle only has to sell it and a limited time for warranty. Talk to a reputable hose supplier. Parker, and Aeroquip have made a living manufacturing hoses. They are experts on hoses.

There are many variables. If the hydraulic system is run at high speeds, heat is generated at a higher rate. That heat is sent directly to the first pressure hose. Elevated temperatures will shorten the life of any hose. Impulses, the speed of the opening and closing of the valves will ad impulses to the hose. There are special designs for high impulse machinery.

Save the old hose. It can tell you why it failed. In the front of the Parker or Aeroquip hose catalogs is a section explaining why a hose failed, and what to look for. Talk with a reputable hose supplier, or hydraulic repair shop, and you should be able to install a nearly permanent hydraulic hose on your equipment. Good luck.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

I was able to confirm that we are on the right track.

Dan