Anyone Crimp Their Own Fittings?

[wvpolekat]

Thinking back to my youth where I worked in an auto parts store that made hoses.....

The crimper doesn't just crimp down the fitting. It kind of swages it. At least ours did. It was a radial and linear action relative to the fitting.

 

[J_J]

My opinion on hyd crimper's machine, is that if you do not do a lot of hoses using the manufactures dies, hose, and fittings, you will not be getting a certified product. The home owner is likely to mix parts from different manufacture, and hope for the best. That is not to say that he can not get a good crimp. He just might over do it, or not enough. How is he going to test his product? The hoses have been tested for a greater pressure that is stamped on them. I have never seen where you can select fittings for a particular presure. How about cleaning the hose, getting a clean cut on the hose. Just not as easy as some of you think. I have one of those hand crimper's that roll a groove in the barrel, and you have to use a micrometer to get it right, and you have to use a specific hose.

Hosecomatic hose repair system

About half way down the page.

Welcome to Farm Stuff Inc

 

[wdchyd]

Thinking back to my youth where I worked in an auto parts store that made hoses.....

The crimper doesn't just crimp down the fitting. It kind of swages it. At least ours did. It was a radial and linear action relative to the fitting.

Yes, What you had was a swaging process instead of crimping....swaging is like forcing the fitting into a funnel the get the same basic results....unlike crimping that sqeezes from the sides....we still use swaging for thermoplastic hose assys and I have an old Couplematic machine.....not the same as crimping but it used to work for Couplematic (Well I think they are out of business tho...):confused2:

 

[brain55]

Weatherhead's Coll-O-Crimp system is about as simple as possible. I usually just use an abrasive cut-off saw to cut the hose, put a little chamfer on the end after I cut it, knock the loose rubber grinding out of the hose, spray some kind of lubricant (like PB Blaster or WD-40) on the end of the hose to help when I push the end on, make sure the end is bottomed, line up the hose and end in the crimper with the right die and top plate, and push the button, when it reaches full pressure I hold it there for a couple of seconds, let go and move on the the next end. I have made hundreds maybe even thousands of hoses over the years, as far as I know I have never had a failure. There is no critical measuring to do. The most important things are, using the right ends with the right hose, and making sure the end is bottomed on the hose. I have seen them pop the ends off the hose if they are not bottomed. I had a co-worker that was just learning how to make hoses that didn't get some ends bottomed, and the failure was immediate. The first time the top & tilt was operated it blew the ends right off. Luckily it was still in the shop and had not been delivered to the customer.

 

[wdchyd]

what hoses usually go the most often? the front end loader or maybe the backhoe? or maybe something else. a hose should last for years on a machine should it not

:laughing::laughing:The ones with the oily stuff squirting out:laughing::laughing:

 

[kennyd]

what hoses usually go the most often? the front end loader or maybe the backhoe? or maybe something else. a hose should last for years on a machine should it not

:laughing::laughing:The ones with the oily stuff squirting out:laughing::laughing:

Or the one that the local shop is out of fittings for

 

[brain55]

what hoses usually go the most often? the front end loader or maybe the backhoe? or maybe something else. a hose should last for years on a machine should it not

A lot of the time it is an abrasion issue. Loader, backhoe, top & tilt, anywhere two hoses can rub against each other or the machine. Bobcats will build up dirt, rocks, and other debris under the cab and create an abrasion situation that way. Sometimes it is a weathering issue, the outer layer of rubber will crack, then the steel braid will rust to the point of failure. Other times it's an impact issue. I have a landscape contractor that breaks the ends off of hoses in transport or loading and unloading equipment or implements. Guys in too big of a hurry, not paying attention, or not really caring. Typically though, hoses do last many years and thousands of hours of operation.

Brian

 

[brokenot]

There is a Coll O Crimp setup available for shop presses, here's a link to Eaton's info for it:

http://www.eatonhydraulics.com/products/pdfs/W-HYOV-MC002-E2_Equipment_368-447.pdf

They aren't inexpensive though. I was watching one with four die sets on eBay a while back and it ended up going for ~$400. That's not outrageous, but we paid about $700 for a complete portable Coll O Crimp with three dies on eBay. We use it every day at work....very handy. The portable ones are available with hand pumps, or pneumatic hydraulic pumps. Ours is pneumatic, and we use it on jobsites with a carry-around DeWalt gas powered air compressor. Our crimper is like this one:

Used crimpers are on eBay all the time for under $1000, and can be found elsewhere as well. Before we bought the machine we are using now, we were dealing with a gentleman here on a couple of used, (but like new), machines:

Used Surplus Crimpers

Couplamatic is still in business too....the CarQuest in town uses their equipment, hose, and fittings and we get stuff from them from time to time. This just ended on eBay today....a complete Couplamatic crimper with a stand and tooling. Look how cheap it went:

NICE!! COUPLAMATIC HYDRAULIC HOSE ASSEMBLY SYSTEM - eBay (item 360267216852 end time Jun-02-10 17:04:05 PDT)