Hydraulic hoses exist on nearly every hydraulic machine, that’s obvious. It is critical to ensure hose assemblies are fabricated with care to ensure reliability of the hose as well as the hydraulic system they’re a part of. This series covers the essentials of hydraulic hose assembly to ensure the machine is safe and dependable.
We’re going to cover how to ensure the hose assembly is free from contamination, how to measure a fitting to ensure the most secure crimp, and also discuss which fittings are required for different types of hydraulic hose, and how to ensure your finished hose length is accurate.
There is an important first step when it comes to selecting a hydraulic hose: Identify what you need. This could be: Are you doing a new hose assembly? This could be a new application, something being engineered. You have somebody coming in to measure on your machine. You’re not an automation company or a machine builder. Is that the direction you’re taking or is it a replacement assembly?
If you have a worn out hose, a busted hose and stuff like that, there are port considerations either way. If you have a new hose assembly, there could be some flexibility in how they’re selected. You have a lot more options. If you’re replacing a hose and your components on a machine are already in specific locations that can’t deviate from their position, then your replacement hose has to be very exact.
When you select a new hydraulic hose, the assembly should take in some considerations specific to the application. If some of you are involved with the industry or are familiar with creating hose assemblies there is a familiar word, STAMPED. This is an acronym that’s going to describe all the different characteristics of a hose that you need to consider before you make your selection. Once again, this is mostly for when you’re designing from new, but also for making sure that the hose that you select to replace an old one adheres to all these criteria as well.