I was splitting some wood last night and the high pressure return line cracked. It never should have been on there, but I didn't have a lot of cash when I built the splitter, so I reused parts from the original setup. The line lasted WAY longer than I expected, and I was starting to wonder when it would let go this last week. We shut the splitter down when it went from a drip to a spray. I picked up a soft line today and got it fixed right. It works great and I don't have to worry about it breaking. The splitter runs a little cooler too, with the bigger passages.
yep. Check the burst pressure of copper some time. Its way up there. the hydraulic lines on my tractor are copper too.
Copper doesn't have a very high burst pressure. Even K and since it was bent probably annealed is less than 1000 psi. Fluid systems should never be designed based on burst pressure. The hydraulic lines i put on my tractor are DOM seamless stainless steel. But mostly I use steel when doing hard lines.
This line was originally steel. I replaced it with copper when the steel line broke because it was late on a weekend and I had to split wood. It was meant to be a temporary fix, but it worked so well that I decided to see how long it would last, with the expectation of replacing it with soft line when it broke. It took 3,400 psi on several occasions when the return lever was held too long. I agree with having safety margins, and the replacement hose is rated at 4,000 psi wp. I also turned the relief down to 3,000 psi to reduce stress on components. I rarely see pressures over 1500 psi anyway, so there is no need to have it so high. I might drop it to 2600, just because...
I built a "test fit" jet boat about 5 years ago with a scrap hull, just to see if it would work. It worked so well I kept it. I have to put a different engine in it this year.
