Burst hydraulic hose: what to send so the right hose comes back
When a hydraulic hose bursts, the machine stops and the job waits. A new hose is quick to make, but only if whoever makes it knows exactly what to make. A few photos and a few measurements, sent at once, are what get the right hose back first time.
First, make it safe
- Stop the machine and lower anything the hydraulics are holding up.
- Release the pressure in the circuit the way the machine's manual says.
- Never feel for a leak with your hand. A pinhole jet of oil under pressure can go through skin, and that needs a doctor at once.
Photograph both ends
The ends tell most of the story. Take a clear photo of each fitting, close up, showing:
- whether each end is straight, 45 degree or 90 degree;
- the thread or the face of each fitting, and any marks stamped on it;
- how the two bent ends point relative to each other, if both are bent.
Read the print on the hose
Most hydraulic hose has a line of print along it, the layline. It usually gives the maker, the hose standard and the size. Photograph it, even if part of it has worn away. Hose size is often given as a dash number: the inside diameter in sixteenths of an inch, so -8 is a 1/2 inch hose.
Measure the length
Lay the old hose straight and measure its overall length from the end of one fitting to the end of the other. If the hose is still on the machine, measure along its route.
Say where it is and what it does
Send your location pin, the machine type and which hose it is, for example "excavator, bucket ram". If you know the working pressure or that the machine runs on something other than standard hydraulic oil, say so.
The message, in one go
- Your location pin.
- Photos of both ends and of the layline.
- The overall length.
- The machine and which hose.