While working on your snow plough, wood chipper, excavator or skid steer loader, a hydraulic hose blows out. Instead of taking it into the hydraulic shop, or calling someone out to repair the hose for you, you can fix this yourself.
In this quick tutorial, you will learn how to do a DIY fix on a damaged hydraulic hose usingreusable male and female hydraulic hose fittings.
If you've got a big project where you're replacing a bunch of hoses that are worn out, this guide will also help you with that.
Tools you will need for a DIY hydraulic hose fix
In this DIY hydraulic hose repair tutorial, we are using a half-inch, two wire hydraulic hose rated to 4000 psi, as well as some Field Fit hydraulic fittings as an example.
Field Fit means you can do it yourself or do a DIY fix using some very basic tools, such as a couple of wrenches, spanners or an adjustable wrench.
Before we get started with the step-by-step guide on how to repair a hydraulic hose, here are some basic tools you will need:
- A couple of wrenches
- Spanners
- Compressed Air
- Electric Grinder with thin metal cut off disc
- Hacksaw(optional: use as Plan B and clean with compressed air if the above tools are not available
- Tape measure
- Industrial crayon(to mark length of hose if you would like a certain length)
- Clean wheel bearing grease(normal grease will do, you do not need rubber grease)
- Vice & soft jaws(not essential, but helps make the fix easier)
- Reusable JIC male and female hydraulic hose fittings
Step By Step Guide To DIY A Hydraulic Hose Leak Fix
Below is a three quarter (¾”) JIC female with a half inch (½”) tail, and a two wire body. The body is designed to fit onto the hose and the tail is designed to screw into the body as well as into the central bore of the half inch hose.
Pictured below is a three quarter JIC male with a half inch tail, and half inch two wire body. The body is designed to screw onto the hose and the tail is designed to Screw into the body and into the central bore of the half inch hose
It is specifically a hose manufactured to SAE 100R2 specifications(see below).
Step One: Assemble reusable body onto a piece of hydraulic hose.
Start by clamping a JIC female fitting to a bench mounted vice. Try to use aluminum soft jaws if you have them because the soft jaws will protect the reusable fitting from the hardened jaws of the bench vice.
Next, add a little bit of lubricant (grease) on the outside of the hose. Make sure your hoses are cut nice and square.
Look inside the fitting. It has a row of spiral teeth in there with the left hand thread as pictured below. This is where you will assemble your hose as per the instructions in the next step.
Step two: Screw the hose to assemble it with the female fitting in a counter clockwise direction
You have to screw the hose opposite to how you'd normally screw it in.Screw the hose into the reusable body in a counter clockwise direction, which is to your left.
Keep on screwing the hose in until you feel some resistance.
You should be able to see that the hose is bottomed out inside the fitting.
If that is what you see, then you will need to back it off for a minimum of half a turn.As a guide, if you can see the brand name is on the top of the hose, screw it clockwise so that the writing is now on the bottom.
Be sure to check if there is a bit of clearance between the hose and the end of the internal thread. This is really important because you need to allow for expansion of the hose for the fix to work.
After that, firmly clamp in the vise. This step is advisable, but not entirely essential.
If you're really out in the bush or forest doing this fix, you're going to have to do this supporting the hose and reusable fittings on your knees with a little lubricant inside the hose.
Step three: Lubricate inside the hose and the threads of the female hose tail
Add lubricant to the insides of the hose and the threads of the female hose tail.
Note that it is important that you have a wrench that fits nicely on the hex.
In this case, you could also use a large 12-inch long adjustable wrench. However, it is always preferable to use the correct wrench ring spanner. It still works with a wrench, just make sure that the ring spanner fits over both nuts. Otherwise, you're going to experience difficulties.
If the reusable fittings start to get tight, it means that you're getting close to completing the assembly. If you feel the hose getting warm from the friction from assembling this component, that's perfectly normal.
Step four(optional): If you want a specific length of hose
In this case, the hoses are just under 45-inches long, including the reusable hose fitting on the end here.
For example, if you would like the hose to be exactly 40-inches long, you really need something that will provide some contrast when you mark the hose. It is best to use an industrial crayon to leave a good mark.
If you cut your hose without factoring in your reusable fittings, you're going to find that when the hose and fittings are assembled, the hose will end up about an inch longer than it needs to be.
So what you need to do is mark it on thereusable bodyof the hose because the hose will probably end up somewhere there(see image below).
If you want the finished length to be 40 inches, you will need to cut around between the E and the R on the hose.
Mark around the E and cut around the E(pictured below).
Leave some length of hose when you’re cutting it on the vice.Alternatively, you can also do this with a fine tooth axle. Hacksaw blades don't last very long, but it is possible to cut your hose using it.
Step five: Cut your hose using a grinder or fine tooth hack saw
Using a grinder to cut your hose is preferable because it's quick and relatively cleaner.There will be some residual grinding dust and steel dust from the wires, and that's why you will need compressed air to actually clean it out.
Take extra care when cutting your hose using the grinder.
After that is done, clean out the hose with compressed air on both ends.
Step six: Repeat steps one to three for assembly of the male fitting(hose tail) as completed for the female fitting
Repeat the procedure all over again, but this time for the male fitting.
Place the male body into the vice. Next, lubricate the outside of the hose with grease to protect the rubber. Screw the hose in until you feel resistance, similar to step two.Back the screw half a turn and lubricate inside the hose.
Remember to lubricate inside the hose as well as the threads of the reusable body. Repeat this step for the threads of the male hose tail as well.
Note that this is a male JIC three quarter designed to fit on the half inch two wire hose. It has a three quarter male JIC threaded end.
Now that’s done, you can now connect the male hose tail into the female fitted hose tail. Essentially, you connect one hose to another hose.You can also use two males or two females with a male nipple that acts as a connector(see image).
However, the quickest and most effective way to fix your busted hydraulic hose is using a male and female fitting as demonstrated in this tutorial.
If you've got a piece of a damaged hose and want to cut out the damaged section, you simply remove the damaged section and screw up male and one female into the other.
Finally, reconnect them together and you can continue to work.
This is particularly important, especially if this hose snakes through a machine and goes for 6 yards in one direction and 12 yards in the opposite direction.
Find the damaged section on your hydraulic hose and cut the damaged section out. Put a male JIC end and one female JIC on the other, and connect them together.
Why you need reusable hydraulic hose fittings
Ready to DIY fixing your damaged hydraulic hose?
Shop ourreusable male and female field fit reusable hose fittingshere to get started.
These reusable hose fittings are a permanent fix, and are much better than bulky hose patches that do not last long.
Although reusable hydraulic hose fittings have been around for a long time and considered outdated technology, these reusable fittings have improved with the times and can withstand up to the maximum design pressure of the hydraulic hose they were designed to be fitted to.
Our Reusable Hydraulic Hose fittings will fit hydraulic hoses manufactured to SAE 100R1, SAE 100R2 and DIN/EN853 specifications.There are two JIC thread sizes available, namely the 9/16" inch JIC dash #6 and , 3/4" inch JIC dash #8.
Also available from Our Texas-based web storevalvehalla.comare theORFS (O Ring Face Seal) Reusables fittings for ⅜ and ½ inch one and two wire SAE100R1 and R2 hose as well as in swept bend 90° elbows.
You can get ORFS Reusable Hydraulic Hose fittings here:ORFS O Ring Face Seal Reusable Hose Fittings
Final Word: DIY Hydraulic Hose Repair
So, if you are ready to save yourself a ton of machine downtime by making your own new hydraulic hose assemblies on site, be sure to follow the instructions in this tutorial.
By doing a DIY hydraulic hose repair, you can save yourself time by not having to drive to the hydraulic shop, or experience loss of income while waiting for the fix.
Having a few sets of theseField Fit Reusable Hose Fittings also comes in handy if you have an unexpected hydraulic hose failure.
If you would like to watch a video tutorial on how to fix a leaking or damaged hydraulic hose by yourself, please see the Youtube video below.
