Service Life Of Hoses

[redacted]

What's your point here? My buddy sure didn't like when his hose blew. If mine blew, I'm sure I wouldn't like it at all. No probably about it. I donated my spare to get him safely back to the boat.

My point is that catesrophic hose failure can occur at any time with first dives of use or after abuse being higher risk. I doubt if there is any useful correlation with age.

 

[jhnmdahl]

I do agree with others who say that when a rubber hose is vulcanized, it needs to be replaced.

Rubber is vulcanized as part of the manufacturing process to make the rubber more durable, so is probably not an ideal criteria for replacement. Exposure to ultraviolet light (sunlight), ozone such as from electrical motors, and even pressurized oxygen can increase the rate at which the rubber fails, so calendar age is not as reliable as the storage and use environments.

I might replace hoses in 7-10 years to be conservative, but visual inspection would probably be sufficient.

 

[Reku]

I've had a few hoses fail - but that's because they get dragged through hell and back inside the caves. I'd expect 20+ years from a well taken care of hose used by a rec diver.

 

[Bob DBF]

I've had a couple of HP hoses start leaking and switched them out, no big deal.

A number of LP hoses have been so beat up and
cracked that I did preemptive replacement.

I had one LP hose blow on an upstream reg when the first stage went south on me, I still use them but have a relief - lesson learned. Downstream is the standard now, and those using upstream are more aware of the issues. (Corrected version)

On one of my reg sets now I have at least two hoses fron the late sixties or early seventies, and see no reason to switch them out yet. My double hose reg hoses are original from 1962.

I don't have any time based replacement schedule for my hoses, however if I was diving for a depth record, I'd be replacing hoses and pressure testing them before use, along with everything else in my kit. NDL, not so much.


Bob

 

[Got2Go]

I had one LP hose blow on a downstream reg when the first stage went south on me, I still use them but have a relief - lesson learned. Upstream is the standard now, and those using downstream are more aware of the issues.

I think you meant the opposite??!!

Downstream=safe
Upstream=needs over pressure release to be safe.

 

[Bob DBF]

Never trust your memory after a couple of good beers. That's why I dive sober, I would have never lived to tell that story.

Thanks for the correction, and I fixed it.

Bob