steel hydraulic line repair

[woodmills1]

Anyone know If I can braze one of my steel Hydraulic lines on my tractor/loader to repair a pinhole leak?

[Gary_C]

I weld those steel hydraulic lines all the time, but I gas weld with a filler rod. Thats the best way if you can gas weld. The problem is you have to disconnect and blow as much hydraulic oil out as you can and then you still have to get it hot to burn the rest of the oil off before welding. Stick or wire feed does not work as well because you have to turn the heat down so much to prevent blowing more holes that you can't burn off the oil. And I don't like to braze anything.

[LeeB]

. And I don't like to braze anything.

Why not  ???  ???

[leweee]

Any contamination when brazing results in pin holes. :

[Dave Shepard]

We have a lot of brazed hydraulic lines here on the farm. As you braze, the contaminants get cooked off. This is with tractors that probably make about 1800 psi max.


Dave

[Tom]

My neighbor used to silver solder them all of the time.   You couldn't even find where he had worked.

[woodmills1]

Well thats what I am talking about, using my oxy acetyline to heat it to max then fill in the hole after I separate the metal and complelteley drain, then burn off the excess hydraulic fluid.

[isawlogs]

 
Yes you can braze the line , its best though to gas weld them . All depends on what you prefer or feel comfortable with if you feel more comfortable with a braze ... go for it .  ;)

[woodmills1]

Isn't the difference between braze and weld the filler or did I miss something???
I will use the gas torch, completely separate the metal from the rubber, use gravity to drain as much as possible then blow it out.  Heat and burn then apply filler.  Hope it works................Need loader soon.

[isawlogs]

Without going into to much technicallity . the difference is that a weld is the fusion of two metals together where as a braze is added metal sortof glued on ...  ;) 
  If you would like a more technical theory I will dust off my dictinary and start finding the correct terms 

[scsmith42]

If the outside of the steel line is greasy, you will need to clean and degrease it very thoroughly before you weld.  Heating alone may not be enough to get it clean, and any grease residue inside the pores of the metal can create problems during welding/brazing.

I've brazed up steel hydraulic lines on farm equipment before w/o any problems.

Scott

[Woodchuck53]

Brazing is perfect for this repair. If your not a good acetelyn welder then you don't have to worry so much about creating a puddle. Just heat enough to remove the residuals from your draining, blowing are whatever and apply your brass rod. 1/16 borax coated takes less heat and is always ready to go. Have never blown out a repair. Whether heavy equipment with lots of pressure or your standard farm mounted FEL. Good luck CV

[Gary_C]

Why not  ???  ???

I learned how to gas weld first and then never liked working with that brazing rod and flux. Plus if you get a hole to fill, it is easier to drip metal on with the filler rod and then going back and making it flow together. Plus it is stronger if you do it right and you can easily repair any pin holes. 

Yes you can repair it with brazing, but I much prefer gas welding.  ;D

[LeeB]

OK. I never gas welded before and very little brazing. Just wondered why you felt that way. Trying to learn something new.

[Gary_C]

Gas welding is becoming kind of a lost art. It takes a lot of practice to be good at it and it does not seem to be used much anymore. Auto body shops did use gas welding to repair rusted body panels, but now they just replace the whole panel.

I learned to gas weld doing car body repair, but that is way to much work for an old man now.  :D

[Cedarman]

I take the line, blow through with an air hose and clean with a wire brush to make it shiny all around the hole.  I heat the line to a red temp all around to vaporize the oil then clean again.  I have used coated rod or plain rod that I heat, stick in the flux jar and heat both line and rod.  It should flow just fine.   I have done some pretty nasty cracks and holes.

No one ever showed me, but I did watch a lot of brazing repairs when I was a kid.

Get an old line and practice a little.  I think its kind of fun.  I have done this to lines on my big round baler that get rusty and develop pin hole leaks.  Fuel lines that crack. Big 3/4" lines on loaders.

[Handy Andy]

  I used to try to fix those old hydraulic lines.  My experience is you fix it in one place and before long it will sprout a new hole in another place.  Now I just get a hose made to replace it.  They have fittings that will fit about anything, lots of farmer machine shops have hose making equipment.  Price it first, not every shop is reasonable. 

[HOOF-ER]

Just yesterday I brazed daughters car fuel line. Tricky part was burning off the gas so I could braze it. ;D ;D After looking at the problem and sleeping on it, decided not to spend half the day to dismantle upper half of engine. Worked great just keep weld area clean.
PS Neighbor came over to supervise ,thought I was nuts. Decided not to stick around! :D

[LeeB]

  I have to agree with him.

[Woodchuck53]

Man be careful with that. Dismantle it and move away from the vehicle sir, Most people in this area bring that sort of thing to me. CV

[woodmills1]

One guy that used to work for my father would braze holes in gas tanks.............he kept them full of gas...................

[HOOF-ER]

It wasn't as bad as it sounds. It was for the fuel rack going to the injectors. It was right up on top of the engine where I could get to it easy. I disconnected the fuel line and burned off the gas in the vertical part going to the injectors. Never even flared up when I put the oxy/act to it. ;D

[woodmills1]

my lines arent old they just had a poor holder to star with and I smashed and bent them in the wood a few times.  Then I made better hold downs but caught a tree limb in the dark feeding the bonfire the other night and caused a leak.  I took them off today and man are they squahed and bent, no wonder the loader seems slower.  So I ponied up and bought new ones..............expensive they are.

[Woodchuck53]

Morning, in a pinch JB weld will repair a line in the woods. Had a hose on a Cummins repaired once in town. By the time I got in the woods fuel was every where. When the mech. unbolted the inj. pump and set aside he crimp the line. Of course putting it back the line cracked. They sent it out and here I am. BY myself in the woods and back then no cell. Had a JB tube kit and as for as I know that stuff is still on the truck 6 yrs. later. Another time I was in a hurry and set a rod holder on my work table with a stub in while tacking up something. Tripped over the well organized chaos in my shop and the rod grounded out against my torch body. Burned right through the oxy. tube on the torch. The other torch is at the farm so all I had was JB. Cleaned it real good and applied. After setting up drilled it out and am still using it that way. About 3 years. Wouldn't go any where with out it and a box of rags. Have a good one CV

[dnalley]

I'm confused...not unusual.  Are y'all talking about a flexible braided steel hose or a solid tube?  Reason I ask is that woodmills talked about separating the rubber from the steel ??? or something like that.  I just can't imagine doing a braided line but I guess stranger things have been done.  But then again, my question may be as dumb as it sounds