A permanent fit
More hose distributors consider buying machines to make permanently attached fittings
By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 12/1/1998
Swaging and crimping machines for industrial hose fittings have attracted interest from distributors because of safety concerns about traditional banded couplings.More firms are examining equipment to fabricate permanent attachments by external crimp or swaging. The machines are sometimes sold directly to end users but more distributors are expected to purchase them as the fittings become the standard for transport hose users and other industries.
Major customers in the chemical transfer and oil and gas industries are driving the change to swaged and crimped-on hose couplings, which generally eliminate leak paths. End users in the concrete placement and food industries have used them for many years, while they've long been a standard for hydraulic hoses. Banded clamp fittings for large industrial hose have shown an unacceptably high failure rate, industry executives say.
"What brought all this to the foreground was a few years ago a lot of testing was being done by DOT on hose assemblies," explains Joe Dawson, national sales manager at Dixon Valve & Coupling Co., referring to the federal Department of Transportation. "They were trying to see whether a hose assembly would be considered a pressure vessel ... so some of the progressive people started testing their hoses in anticipation of this. They found that unfortunately, some assemblies did not pass after going through a repetitive cleaning process."
As a result, hose manufacturers approached Dixon and a few other firms to ask if they could make permanent attachments for hose with inside diameters up to four inches. Dixon and Finn-Power USA Inc. are two firms that do so.
"What's happened is it's taken on a new life," says Dawson. "When you go around the country and talk to distributors everyone wants to know our opinions -- what is the difference between swaging and crimping," for instance. "Everyone's compiling information on this."
"There's a huge potential for distributors to supply these machines," agrees Jeff Johnson, general manager at Finn-Power. During its first year, the company sold more than 30 units of its FP 140 swaging machine at about $18,000 each, which Johnson calls a phenomenal start. Those sales were direct to end users, he says, and Finn-Power sees a growing niche for four-inch hose with cam and groove lock couplings, he says.
One distributorship receiving customer inquiries about fabricating permanent fittings is Binkelman Bauer Wenner Corp. in Toledo, Ohio. During the fall the firm weighed whether to buy a crimping machine and it sent out sample couplings to customers. Product specialist Mike Thomas says there are benefits and tradeoffs with swaged and crimped methods. For example, while banded fittings may be used on several hoses, internal ones are very difficult to take off and usually can't be used twice.
"If this is something that becomes a true standard ... this is something we'll need to have if we want to stay in the loop," says Thomas. "I don't see it as a drawback. It's a matter of who you have to serve and what are they getting."
Dawson believes machine sales to hose distributors will take off soon because they have the expertise and volume to justify the expense. An International Paper mill in Maine recently bought one of Dixon's swaging machines from a distributor and put it on site to provide the fastest turnaround. Dixon and the distributorship together trained mill employees on how to use it.
Richard Hall, president of PRC Industrial Supply in Portland, Maine, plans to buy coupling machinery in the near future but has reservations. "Someone's got to come out with a better mousetrap," he says.
Hall is surprised there has been no push yet from large customers to invest in the technology.
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