Hydraulic hose - RudiFlex

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS

Hose assemblies require caution in use not only to pro- vide long service life but also to guard against potentially dangerous failure. Serious injury, death and destruction of property can result from the rupture or blowingapart of a hose assembly that is damaged, worn out, badly assembled or installed incorrectly. Users should follow good maintenance practices. Avoid expensive downtime by establishing a program of inspection, testing and re- placement of hose assemblies before failure occurs; taking into account factors including: severity of applica- tion, frequency of equipment use, past performance of hose assemblies. Document your maintenance, inspec- tions and testing. Only properly trained persons should inspect, test or service hose assemblies and this training should be updated regularly. Users should carefully ob- serve the precautions listed below as well as following closely our recommendations for the selection of hose and couplings. In addition, care should be taken not to go below the minimum bend radius listed for each hose size and type. Maximum operating pressure and temperature should not exceed the pressures listed. Instruction for as- sembling fittings to different hoses should be followed carefully to ensure the safe performance of the complete assembly. By following the recommendations on hose assembly routing and installation, improved safety and longer service life of any hose installation will result. Fluid under pressure can be potentially dangerous! A fluid leak can cause damage to equipment as well as serious injury to persons nearby.

SALIENT INFORMATION
Highly pressurized gas and/or oil escaping from a small pinhole can be almost invisible and, yet, exert extreme force capable of penetrating the skin and other body tissues, causing possible severe injury. Hot fluids or chemicals can cause severe burns. Pressurized fluids, if released uncontrolled, can exert a tremendous explosive force. Some fluids are highly flammable.

PRECAUTIONS
Always position a shield between you and any pressurized lines when working next to them or shut the pressure off. Wear safety glasses. Do not use your hands to check for leaks. Do not touch a pressurized hose assembly with any part of your body, if fluid punctures the skin, even if no pain is felt, a serious emergency exists. Obtain medical assistance immediately. Failure to do so can result in loss of the injured body part or death. Stay out of hazardous areas while testing hose assemblies under pressure. Use proper safety protection. If an injury or reaction occurs, get medical attention right away.Hose (and hose assemblies) has a limited life dependent on service conditions to which it is applied. Subjecting hose (and hose assemblies) to conditions more severe than the recommended limits significantly reduce service life. Exposure to combinations of recommended limits (i.e. continuous use at maximum rated working pressure, maximum recommended operating temperature and minimum bend radius) will also reduce service life.

PRESSURE
After determining the system pressure for a system, hose selection must be made so that the recommended maximum operating pressure specified by a given hose, is equal or greater than the maximum system pressure. Continuous use at maximum temperatures together with maximum pressures should always be avoided. Continu- ous use at or near the maximum temperature rating will cause a deterioration of physical properties of the tube and cover of most hose. This deterioration will reduce the service life of the hose. Pressure surges which exceed the maximum working pressure (pressure relief valve setting) affect the service life of system components, in- cluding a hose assembly and therefore need to be taken into consideration. Hoses used for suction lines must be selected to ensure the hose will withstand the potential negative pressure of the system.

BURST PRESSURE
These are test values only and applied to hose assem- blies that have not been used and have been assembled for less than 30 days

TEMPERATURE
Care must be taken to ensure that the operating temper- ature of the fluid being conveyed and ambient tempera- tures do not exceed the limitations of the hose. Special care must be taken when routing near hot manifolds or molten metal.

COMPATIBILITY
Hose selection must assure compatibility of the hose tube, cover, reinforcement, and fittings Some fire re- sistant fluids require the same hose as petroleum oil. In some case it could be necessary to use a special hose.

ROUTING
Attention must be given to optimum routing to minimize inherent problems. Restrain, protect or guide hose with the use of clamps if necessary to minimize damages due to excessive flexing, whipping or contact with other mov- ing parts or corrosives. Determine hose lengths and con- figurations that will result in proper routing and protection from abrasion, snagging or kinking and provide leak re- sistant connections.

ENVIRONMENT
Care must be taken to ensure that the hose and fittings are either compatible with or protected from the environ- ment to which they are exposed. Environmental condi- tions including but not limited to ultraviolet light, heat, ozone, moisture, water, salt water, chemi-cals, and air pollutants can cause degradation and premature failure and, therefore, must be considered.

MECHANICAL LOADS
External forces can significantly reduce hose life. Me- chanical loads which must be considered include exces- sive flexing, twist, kinking, tensile or side loads, bend ra- dius, and vibration. Use of swivel type fittings or adaptors may be required to ensure no twist is put into the hose. Unusual applications may require special testing prior to hose selection.

ABRASION
While a hose is designed with a reasonable level of abra- sion resistance, care must be taken to protect the hose from excessive abrasion which can result in erosion, snagging, and cutting of the hose cover. Exposure of the reinforcement will significantly accelerate hose failure.

PROPER END FITTING
VITILLO hoses have been designed to be used exclusive- ly with genuine VITILLO fittings.
Using third party fittings, may cause malfunctioning of hoses, with consequent risk of leakages of fluids, as well as damage to equipment and serious injury to persons nearby.

HOSE-ASSEMBLY FABRICATION
Persons fabricating hose assemblies should be trained in the proper use of equipment and materials. The manu- facturers’ instructions must be followed. Properly assem- bled fittings are vital to the integrity of a hose assem- bly. Improperly assembled fittings can separate from the hose and may cause serious injury or property damage from whipping hose, or from fire or explosion of vapour expelled from the hose.

LENGTH
When establishing proper hose length, motion absorp- tion, hose length changes due to pressure, as well as hose and machine tolerances must be considered.

SPECIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS
When selecting hose and fittings, government, industry and manufacturer’s specifications and recommendations must be reviewed as applicable.

STATIC-ELECTRIC DISCHARGE
Fluid passing through hose can generate static electric- ity resulting in staticelectric discharge. This may create sparks that can puncture hose. If this potential exists, select hose with sufficient conductivity to carry the stat- ic-electric charge to the ground.

MINIMUM BEND RADIUS
Installation of a hose at less than the minimum listed bend radius may significantly reduce the hose life. Par- ticular attention must be given to avoid sharp bending at the hose/fitting juncture.

TWIST ANGLE AND ORIENTATION
Hose installations must be such that relative motion of machine components does not produce twisting.

SECUREMENT
In many applications, it may be necessary to restrain, protect, or guide the hose to protect it from damage by unnecessary flexing, pressure surges and contact with other mechanical components. Care must be taken to en- sure such restraints do not introduce additional stress or wear points.

PROPER CONNECTION OF PORTS
Proper physical installation of the hose requires a correct- ly installed port connection while ensuring that no twist or torque is transferred to the hose.

EXTERNAL DAMAGE
Proper installation is not complete without ensuring that tensile loads, side loads, kinking, flattening, potential abrasion, thread damage, or damage to sealing surfaces are corrected or eliminated.

UNINTENDED USES
Hose assemblies are primarily designed for the internal forces of conducted gas and/or oil. Do not pull hose or use it for purposes that may apply external forces for which the hose or fittings were not designed.

HOSE AND FITTING MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS
Even with proper selection and installation, hose life may be significantly reduced without a continuing mainte- nance program. Frequency should be determined by the severity of the application and risk potential. A mainte- nance program must be established and followed to in- clude the following as a minimum:

VISUAL INSPECTION HOSE/FITTING
Any of the following conditions require immediate shut down and replacement of the hose assembly: Damaged, cut or abraded cover (any reinforcement exposed). Hard, stiff, heat cracked, or charred hose. Cracked, damaged, or badly corroded fittings. Leaks at the fitting or in the hose. Kinked, crushed, flattened or twisted hose. Blistered, soft, degraded, or loose cover.

VISUAL INSPECTION ALL OTHER
The following items must be tightened, repaired or re- placed as required: Leaking port conditions, clamp, guards, shields, system fluid level, fluid type and any air entrapment. Remove excess dirt build – up.

REPLACEMENT INTERVALS
Specific replacement intervals must be considered based on pre-vious service life, government or industry recom- mendations.