Assembling Braided Stainless Hose Ends

[rbattelle]

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right category, but oh well. I've recently been doing some plumbing using braided stainless steel hose and Aeroquip reuseable hose ends. Being fairly new at this, I was amazed at what a PAIN it is to get these hose ends over the hoses! New braided stainless hose comes out of the box like this:



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Please excuse the focus problem. If you can, notice the taped end of the hose. Here's the problem: as soon as you remove that tape the stainless braiding begins to unravel slowly and spreads out away from the inner rubber hose so you can't get the hose end over it without mangling (and I do mean mangling) the braiding. This is expensive stuff, so you don't want to be wasting it.



To overcome this, I had been using lots of blood and cramped hands (the stainless wire is sharp). Today I discovered a "trick" that makes it all much easier and less bloody. Just take a nylon wire tie and cinch it down over the end of the hose:



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Put some engine oil inside the hose end cap (upper left of the picture), then mount it securely in a vise:



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Next, place the hose with the wire tie up against the hose end and shove like all get-out while twisting at the same time. As the hose begins to squeeze into the hose end the wire tie will begin to slide back. Once you get the end started, pull the wire tie back along the hose a little at a time so it doesn't impede forward progress. When you get the hose fully inserted, cut off the wire tie and assemble the rest of the end. Use plenty of engine oil to keep things from binding up.



This is just a method I came up with this morning. Sometimes I think I must be the only one who has trouble with these, because no one else seems to complain about it. This is just one way, and I don't have much experience at all with this stuff, so maybe someone else has an even better way.



-Ryan

 

[tgbol]

I quess the reason you don't hear a lot of complaints about is that those of us that have worked with braided line is we have become accustom to the blood testing. I have had the best luck with electrical tape pulled really tight. If I do it right the tape will slide through the fitting.

 

[y-knot]

I guess what ever works for you and your situation? I have been making up braided lines for the last 20 something years, and now with my Supper Coolers getting ready to debut, I have been one busy braided line maker.

The key is to get a system that works for you. I personally like to wrap the braided line with several tight wraps of Scotch 33 electrical tape, and then make my cut in the middle of that taped section. I always use a 14" chop saw, it gives a nice smooth and square cut. Always blow out your hoses before use.

I think most of the top brands are about equal, with regards to construction and quality of their hoses. Personally I favor the Russell and Earls line, You just can't beat the Russell's complete line-up of plumbing supplies. I also think they have the best looking hose ends, the finish is very good.

Once the hose is cut to length, I like to add some Russell anti-seize thread sealant to the end of the hose, then slide the red hose fitting over the end and tighten. After trying different approaches, I found that the easiest way to seat the hose cap is to lock the hose into a bench vise about 3-4 inches away from the end. Then take a standard socket of the correct size, and with the help of a ratchet, screw the hose cap on. It always works very easy for me, no more slips or cuts. After the red hose end is seated, make a small reference mark just under the hose end, on the hose. This will be used later to determine if the hose pushed back while we were inserting the nipple part of the hose end. I have aluminum jaws on my bench vise, so it does not mess-up the finish of the hose ends, if you do not have them you can use a piece of cloth or rubber to protect your hose ends. Now I like to insert the red hose end into the vise, I do this with the blank or unfinished end up. Before we insert the nipple part of the hose end, apply a few drops of fitting lube to the end of the nipple where the tapper is, this will help it into the hose. Also, apply some anti-seize to the threads. Here I also use a standard length socket and ratchet, just pick the size that fits the nipple end, and while pushing down, turn the fitting with the ratchet. it should be tightened until their is no more then a 1/16" gap between the nipple and the red hose end. Then just wash out the line, test and use.

 

[rbattelle]

After the red hose end is seated, make a small reference mark just under the hose end, on the hose. This will be used later to determine if the hose pushed back while we were inserting the nipple part of the hose end.

That never occurred to me... good advice.



-Ryan