Welding Tips and Tricks

When I was still working, I didn't worry about my Oxy-acetylene hoses, I just replaced them if started looking oxidized or dirty. But now at mid-seventy and on a fixed income I need to make things last as long as possible.
My question is What is a safe way to care for my hoses, that would keep them not only looking nice but delay oxidation? In this hot Texas weather they just don't last very long.
I was wondering about the stuff that car buffs use on their door and window rubber. Can doesn't say it is flammable?
Keeping mind that they don't get a lot of use anymore, the size 200 bottle lasts me over a year now!
Thanks for any advice!!

old chipper
welcome to the forum.
that is an interesting question. I'm
sure there are several folks here
that can provide some advise,
be patient.
craig

Never thought about it before as in a workshop they suffer damage in other ways - but it's a valid question - as hoses have a rubber content the things they hate most is being kinked over sharp edges & UV light in the sun so I would say keeping them stored in nice large loops maybe over a wheel rim & covering them when not in use to protect from sunlight damage would help - as to your idea from the car guys I would say " Armor-All" if that's the product your thinking of would certainly keep them clean / looking good - it also helps keep rubber products flexible & claims I think some UV filtering so should be fine - it's absorbed into the rubber so should not pose any great risk - pretty sure it's non flammable - don't have any to hand but dip a bit of paper in some & try burning it - most of us just change them out from cut / burn damage but if you buy a new set out of your own money it makes sense to get the best lifespan out of them - so good question & welcome to the forum.

There is a product called firesleeve that is used to protect hydraulic hoses that could be an option. Will also help if you accidentially put your hoses against something hot.

Welcome to the forum.

thanks for the quick replies. I will give them a try! I have Armor-all, but who would carry the firesleeve, never heard of that before!

http://www.goodyearrubberproducts.com/f ... age266.asp

I am affiliated with the company but this is not a sale pitch. I dont know much of the product itself, nor the cost, but one application is on slag pot carriers to protect the hydraulics from the heat radiation.

Welcome by the way, forgot that in my previous post

anders
i wonder if it would work to help protect
motorcycle radiator hoses in close
proximity to exhaust.
craig

SuperiorWelding asked me about this topic so i thought i should chime-in (we all do what Jonathan says, right?). Be very careful about thinking it's safe to use something that's 'non-flammable' and thinking it's oxygen safe. HUGE DIFFERENCE. Oxygen is an ACCELERANT. So let's say you use the 'non-flammable' product anywhere around the oxygen. Although non-flammable, will the product attract grease, dirt, etc? More than likely YES, thus making it unsafe for oxygen. To my knowledge there is no additional product that any manufacturer approves to be added to a hose to increase it's life.
My $.02

Good call. Oxygen rich environments can make lots of innocuous items burn.

My first thought when I read this, was,

If your hoses are stored outside, make a wrap for them from silver tarpaulin material and cinch it with a bungee cord.

Dirt cheap solution, and the tarp takes the UV. Replace on the cheap (under ten bucks at Wal-Mart?) every few years as it degrades.

Steve S

I store my gear in a shed when not in use. (Too many accidents waiting to happen.)
If you are in your mid-seventies, how many more years do you estimate to be welding?

OldChipper wrote:When I was still working, I didn't worry about my Oxy-acetylene hoses, I just replaced them if started looking oxidized or dirty. But now at mid-seventy and on a fixed income I need to make things last as long as possible.
My question is What is a safe way to care for my hoses, that would keep them not only looking nice but delay oxidation? In this hot Texas weather they just don't last very long.
I was wondering about the stuff that car buffs use on their door and window rubber. Can doesn't say it is flammable?
Keeping mind that they don't get a lot of use anymore, the size 200 bottle lasts me over a year now!
Thanks for any advice!!

Insert old welders never die joke of your choice here !

Don't think oxygen safe issues really arise here - any product applied to the outside of the hoses will not normally leach through to the extent it would be in contact with oxygen on the inside of the hose & even using a cutting torch it would have to be in a VERY small space to raise the atmosphere %oxygen enough to worry - still think car products used to keep rubber soft will help prevent cracking on hoses - but as more than one of us said before good storage helps - the protection sleeves are going to be too expensive to be practical for the OP I believe - but could be worth investigation to use for a few feet at the torch end where the chance of hot metal damage is highest - I meant to ask our local hydraulic place about it but never got around to it - I'd seen it on several pipes I'd worked on & was going to get some for finger protection as I assumed that was where the tig finger came from - but I just bought an actual tig finger as I thought it was the right thing to do .

Good for you noddybrian!

I do not know for sure if this is the same but I feel it would be a good guideline for sure. We just went through Parker's Safety Works program (which was EXCELLENT) and through their training they show proper storage of hydraulic hoses, cool dry storage out of the sun, and tell you that hoses have a max 10 years service or storage life. So it would make sense to me that one should replace their hoses every 10 years just to be safe. I have some Oxy/fuel hoses that are who knows how old and they are clearly bad and as far as I know have been in the guy before me shop all their life.

The point is, everything has a service life and should be replaced before that service life is up.

Oh, and thanks for helping out there johnnyg
-Jonathan

[quote="OldChipper"]When I was still working, I didn't worry about my Oxy-acetylene hoses, I just replaced them if started looking oxidized or dirty. But now at mid-seventy and on a fixed income I need to make things last as long as possible.
My question is What is a safe way to care for my hoses, that would keep them not only looking nice but delay oxidation? In this hot Texas weather they just don't last very long.
I was wondering about the stuff that car buffs use on their door and window rubber. Can doesn't say it is flammable?
Keeping mind that they don't get a lot of use anymore, the size 200 bottle lasts me over a year now!
Thanks for any advice!![/quote


I use a tig torch cover.