Material for hydraulic hard lines, Copper-Nickel or only steel?

[joea99]

I would probably use Stainless lines and look for something with a 3,000 psi working. I would encourage you to go with 3/8" tubing as it will be close to 1/4" hoses in size. Tubing is measured by the OD and hose is measured by the ID. 1/4" tubing is extremely small and will be very very slow, the valve will basically be on or off with no feathering ability. A Ridgid 375 is a commonly used hand flaring tool however for 1/4" or 3/8" tubing I would suspect most flaring tools would work. For fittings Parker TX-S sleeves and BTX-S nuts would be the most economical choice.

Zoro has some reasonable tubing prices.
Strong & Resilient Stainless Steel Tubing | Zoro.com

Fittings for 3/8"

Triple-Lok 6 BTX-S $1.11 Nut | Zoro.com

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Triple-Lok 6 TX-S $0.83 Sleeve | Zoro.com

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This is what is used on industrial equipment all the time and is a proven and durable approach.

I'll take a look. There is a 5/16 listed that has an ID of 0.272 which might be good enough. I would have to buy a flaring tool as I only have 45 degree tools.

It's for a top and tilt, with rather small cylinders. I've heard of people needing to put in flow restrictors to prevent slamming.

 

[joea99]

What are you using to bend the lines? Whenever I have had to bend small diameter stainless, brass, or copper tubing I used a tubing bender and had no trouble with kinking or distorting the round shape of the tube.
Eric

Have a couple styles of hand held tubing benders that more or less work OK.

More I look into this, may just go with flexible hoses. By the time I get the materials and a decent flaring tool, I'll be even older and poorer than now.

 

[kennyd]

More I look into this, may just go with flexible hoses.

Probably a good choice, hardlines for a one-time project rarely makes sense.

 

[joea99]

Probably a good choice, hardlines for a one-time project rarely makes sense.

One of my concerns is the "bend radius" as the hoses will be under a foot long. Dawns on me I should get one made up locally and see how it looks, then go from there. I'll only be out about $30 if it does not work out.

 

[kennyd]

A 3/8" hose can bend pretty tightly.

 

[etpm]

Have a couple styles of hand held tubing benders that more or less work OK.

More I look into this, may just go with flexible hoses. By the time I get the materials and a decent flaring tool, I'll be even older and poorer than now.

For bending tubing, especially when the wall thickness is pretty thin, a good fitting tubing bender will is almost a must. I think you're correct in looking into flexible hoses.
Eric

 

[Egon]

Proper rated tubing and compression fittings!

 

[joea99]

Proper rated tubing and compression fittings!

Compression fittings for a 2100 PSI system? I was having a hard time convincing myself to use them on the tank return line, which I have have to resort to.

I tried removing the JIC male adapter threaded into the tank return on the hydrostatic, to figure out a replacement, so I could insert a T in that space, but managed about three turns before it got very hard to turn. Discretion VS VS Valor convinced me to thread it back in and go a different route. Guessing it is one of those tapered pipe threads and is well and truly distorted.

 

[kennyd]

Compression fittings for a 2100 PSI system?

I'm assuming he used that as a general term, and what he really means is "swagelock" style fittings, they are made for high pressure use.

FLARELESS BITE TYPE FITTINGS | Trausch Dynamics

Flareless Bite Type Fittings are designed for leak-proof tube connections. These fittings will effectively withstand high pressure, vibration and temperature. Plated Steel for corrosion resistance No special tools needed for assembly Cut tube squa...

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[wdchyd]

Joea99, if you were closer I could bend and flare steel lines while you wait, I have .250” to 1.500”.
Some types of stainless tubing doesn’t like to bend or flare, you would need to specify annealed tubing.