When Do you Have to Replace Hydraulic Hoses?

Hydraulic hoses are used in hydraulic systems to carefully transfer hydraulic fluid to hydraulic valves, components, actuators, and tools. They are designed to be flexible. And since hydraulic system operates at very high pressures, these hoses are often reinforced and usually constructed with several layers of reinforcement. Widely used in various industrial hydraulic systems, the performance of a hydraulic system depends greatly on the hydraulic hose performance as well. It is not known how long these hoses last. There is no specific answer as to when to replace these hydraulic hoses. As such it is advisable to keep a constant check on these hoses so that there are no cracks or leaks. There are certain signs that we can look for to determine whether your hydraulic hose assembly requires a replacement or not.

Old or worn hose assembly should not be used

Check the date of manufacture of your hydraulic hose. It is located on the lay line of the hose. According to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), all rubber hoses have a shelf life of 10 years from the date of manufacturer. If your hose's manufacturing date is close to 10 years, then you should not use your hose. Instead buy a new hose assembly and this turns out to be much less expensive than to use a worn out hose and spend much more in clean up and repairing of the entire hydraulic system.

Follow a regular preventative hose maintenance schedule

It is very essential that you make a close observation of your hose assemblies regularly. In most cases, replacement of assemblies every year or two is sufficient for a non disturbing service life. It is seen that most hoses are damaged by external factors like abrasion, crushing, kinking etc., which can be easily detected by a quick glance. For details check out Preventive Maintenance of a Hydraulic System

You hose assemblies require replacement if the following conditions are seen:

• There is oil leaking around fittings or along the hose
• The hoses are crushed
• There is abrasion or any exposed wire
• Twisted hoses
• Significant damage to the external cover
• Kinks
• Cracks
• Corroded or Rusted fittings

Other Factors

Keep a record of the hose replacements. It is very essential to keep a track record of how many times you have replaced your hose, how many times your hose has failed, so that you get an idea on how long your hoses may last in your equipment.

Replacement of critical hose assemblies must be done more often as they can blow out the whole system if not properly taken care of. Critical hose assemblies are those which when not looked upon at the right time can cause major failure or cost a great amount of damage.