By J. Jones

You’ve never given your oxy-fuel hoses a second thought.  A welding supply person probably connected them or explained how they are to be connected.  But when one of those hoses fails, it’s probably taped until a splice can be made or the blame is placed on another piece of equipment.

Hoses are flexible passageways that supply gasses to oxy-fuel equipment.  The equipment’s flow requirement may be acquired through the manufacturer and the hose should be matched to that requirement.  There are three hose types available, “R” grade, “RM” grade and “T” grade.  “R” and “RM” grade are for acetylene gas only while “T” grade is acceptable with many of the fuel gases.  Oxygen hose is usually green while fuel hose is usually red.  The two hoses are often bonded together and called Siamese hose or Twin lead.  The oxygen hose fittings have right hand threads and the fuel hose have left hand threads to prevent cross connection.

Old, spliced and undersized hoses cause more problems than one would imagine due to flow restriction.  Most often flow problems are hose related. For example each hose splice is a flow restriction and a smaller diameter hose added to the end of a larger hose (whip) limits the flow to that of the smaller hose. Kwik-connects can also be a source of flow restriction.  Many of these problems could be avoided if operators took a few minutes to inspect their hoses and replace them, if necessary.  In fact, proper hose maintenance could reduce lost time repairs and many accidents.

People don’t budget to maintain their hoses.  But hoses have a life expectancy and need to be maintained.  When was your oxy-fuel hose last checked?

J. Jones is Training Specialist,   Equipment Company

www.victorequip.com