DIY hose crimper suggestions

T

TJM

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I am redoing my fuel lines and instead of ordering custom length hoses with crimped fittings is there a DIY crimping tool out there that works well ?
I have three diesel engines, a diesel fireplace, 4 fuel filters, 1 primer pump and a 4 channel manifold so DIY may be easier depending upon the price of a good unit.
 
Check in auto tools, Snap-on comes to mind. We used to use one years ago when my family had a shop in NY. The hoses and fittings may be different from those used on cars, but I believe the crimping tool is the same. Hy
 
IIRC Tony Athens has recommended a family of Parker Hannifin push on connector fittings.
 
Do not do these yourself unless you have a method of proofing the hoses through pressure testing.
 
I would think no matter how well you made them, if ever a fire and somehow your insurance found that you made up the lines they could bail on you???
 
Good point on warnings against doing it yourself. Bite the bullet and buy them professionally made. Hy
 
Some things are not worth saving a few bucks...
 
Excellent warnings, never to be assumed.
I am able to pressure test the assemblies at work up to 500 PSIG. I am narrowing in on the 221FR hose from Parker Hannifin, but the PH Karrykrimp crimpers are pricey at over $3,000.
Rightfully so, they look complex.

I may scuttle this DIY project and purchase the assemblies from a Parker Store.
 
It does not matter what pressure you can test, the question is what pressure do they operate at? That all said, you should test at least at 2x the working pressure of the hose. We field fabricate hoses all the time in aviation but proof test them always. I would suggest if they are fuel hoses with crimped fittings you might look into having them fire sleeved with the ends dipped or taped. It is really only a few bucks more and if you ever have an engine room fire, you can be confident the hoses will not burn through and feed the fire.

http://ph.parker.com/us/en/high-temperature-hose-sleeve-firesleeve
 
As I read my original post I realize that I left out a very important fact.
I am not modifying the original connections from the fuel tanks to the racors to the engines.

I am improving the shoddy primer pump and abundance of Tee fittings from the previous owners. As you know, a primer pump is an aid to bleeding fuel lines from air instead of the manual lifter lever.
These connections will not have continuous flow during engine use, but will be isolated with a ball valve.
Gee, I like the firesleeve idea
 
All it will take is one adjuster to look over the work in the advent of an unforeseen failure, and you are toast if you cannot fall back on a pro. Now that I think about it, you might be toast no matter what you do lol.
 
There is probably a Goodyear store near you. They do custom hoses of all types and are not that expensive for custom professionally built hoses of the proper specification. I would take all the hoses to them and let them copy what you have.
 
You may be a DIYer so I'll tell you about how to make a crimper. First get a bolt cutter that has a 3/4" -7/8" wide cutting blade. Weld the blade closed. Measure he size of the compressed crimp and drill a hole in the cutting blade. Get a hacksaw blade to separate the cutting blade...you've just reduced the circumference of the crimp to the right size that will put the right amount of pressure on the crimp.

I've made these for crimping tuna rigs which are a bit smaller than you need but harbor freight has the bolt cutters at different sizes. less than $10 for tuna size as opposed to http://www.tunafishtackle.com/centro-heavy-duty-hand-crimper-hs450-5hd-380p/
 
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