Hoses are an important part of a lot of products and machines. They have a lot of important uses to keep these items working the way they should. Even the most premium hose clamps will not help you if there is an issue with the hoses themselves.
Hydraulics andamp; Pneumaticsandnbsp;put out their guide to testing these important parts. They note that most reputable equipment manufacturers will make sure their hose choices will either meet or go past the appropriate standards. No matter how great hoses of the different types of hose clamps are when they are first installed, proper maintenance is essential. As new technology is developed, engineers are always looking better performance and reliability. Often hydraulic hoses are often pushed to work in more and more difficult conditions.
It is crucial that testing be done regularly.
When it comes to hydraulic hoses and premium hose clamps, all parts of the assembly must undergo routine and regular testing. They need to be checked for durability and compatibility. By doing the testing on a regular basis, the chances that there will be some kind of failure. This will also help you save yourself the hassle and expense of downtime, makes operating the machinery safer and just makes good sense. The more consistent your testing is, the more effective it will be.
Marry up testing with the correct audits.
Many industries that use hydraulic hoses and premium hose clamps are always changing in a lot of ways. It is therefore important to include a regimen of audits alongside your testing routine. You will need to make comparisons to current industry standards, which do change from time to time. There are some considerations you will need to make when you are planning your testing and auditing routine:
- New materials: It is not unusual for hose and adjustable hose clamp manufacturers to switch the materials that they use. You have to think about changes both to the hoses themselves but then to what they will be used to transport.
- New processes in manufacturing: Hose manufacturers are always on the lookout for newer and better ways to crimp their products. That may impact how these products perform.
- Environmental changes: There may be a number of factors that can affect the hose performance. These can include changes to the pressure, temperature or what liquid is being used.
- There may be problems with the design of the hoses or the premium hose clamps. Manufacturers work to avoid these but they do still happen. The hoses also may not have been manufactured correctly.
- Pay attention to the way you are testing.
There are different ways to test hoses. Here are a few of them:
- Check the dimensions: The hoses you need should be designed to have the right dimensions for the task it is expected to do and the equipment that is is being used with.
- Check for leaks: This should go without saying but a hose that leaks is not doing its job. When you push through a liquid at double the pressure it will go through under normal circumstances, you will make sure that there are no leaks and that it will not break during use.
- Check its performance in the cold: Cold temperatures can be deadly for hoses but it is not unusual to push a cold fluid through the hoses so they need to be able to hold up to that.
- Check the performance under high and low pressure pulses. This will give you an idea of how it performs when it is in both on and off cycles.
- Check how it deals with oil: You need to make sure it can withstand the pressures of the hydraulic fluid that you will use.
- Check its electrical conductivity and resistance: You need to know how it resists and conducts electricity otherwise you can have some safety issues with the hoses you are using.
- Check how the hoses withstand being in a vacuum. You want to make sure there is no problem with it collapsing or blistering.
No matter how great your hoses or premium hose clamps are when they are first purchased and installed, without the proper testing, auditing and maintenance, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. This can lead to expensive failures and safety problems that no one wants.