Rescue Tape vs. hydraulic hose bubbles

[JohnLori]

On another thread, Engineer Mike mentioned using Rescue Tape for patching a split in the turbo elbows. Just to second the idea of carrying a roll or two with you, as I have done for years on my boat, take a look at this:



One of then hydraulic hoses for the passenger slide developed a rather impressive bubble. Believe it or not, it still didn't leak, so we wrapped it with Rescue Tape. On operating the slide, we saw that the tape held, but it still bulged a little, so we put a second layer over the first. Good stuff.



Now if HWH just gets the new hoses here... These stupid hoses--look at the bubbles on another one (4 more hoses altogether):

[EngineerMike]

Had a customer 2 weeks ago wanting to start a cross country trip and discovered a similar casing separation bubble on the short main slide hose to the synchro cylinder, easily accessible from patio side basement. I gave him Xtreme tape and suggested a tight wrap, then a hose clamp around the bubble but don't squash it, and then two more hose clamps on either side to reinforce the pressure control of the Xtreme tape wrap as a temp measure till he got to a place that could replace the hose.

I think he had a NAPA shop make a new hose that he could pre-fill w/trans fluid, use tapered plugs to remove the old one, tapered plugs in the new one till he applied each fitting in turn (as a method of introducing a minimum of air), and then carried the new hose along just in case. Since the air purge method for the synchro cylinder isn't as straight forward as it is for jacks (for which any dummy engineer can just run them up/down for several cycles), he wanted to wait for qualified help on the replacement if the hose would last that long. His was an 05 recently purchased off a lot in CO.

[OldForester]

Used rescue tape to repair a leaking wardrobe slide fitting, (not bubbled hose) a couple weeks ago until I could get a new fitting sweged on by Central Point RV, near Medford, OR, on our way home yesterday. This was one of the fourth set of hoses we installed a couple years ago but it was the fitting leaking this time. The rescue tape worked fine, but it took two tries -- leaked the first time because we didn't take the pressure off the system at the solenoids so the tape could set up. Second attempt with pressure off for a couple days after installing the tape worked fine.

Swedged the new fitting on yesterday also worked fine. Central Point had a nice place to park overnight and dry camp. They are an HWH master repair facility and have the swedging tools. I had to order the fittings from HWH, but that was not a big deal. I also ordered an extra hose in case it didn't work. HWH sent a 6000 psi hose this time, which tells me they might have made a change for the better.

Thought about the fitting replacements like Wayne R. used on his leaking jack, but I didn't have the equipment, and we needed to stop in Medford anyway, so decided to try the swedging trick with a replacement fitting. Only took Central Point 20 minutes to do the job and I was impressed with their knowledge of HWH.

[Renipladlo]

Rescue Tape - I used it on an exhaust leak on the HH unit. It's holding still, so until I figure out if I want just have the pipe replaced or not it stays. It's a real job to remove the pipe, working over the rear end, etc. But WRV's method of bending the pipe was not like an exhaust shop would have done, so there are some restrictions on it. If I had a "pit" to work from, I would change the pipe, but doing it on the street, puts some trepidation in the work for me.

[RickO]

I'm another fan of Rescue Tape. I first saw it at an RV rally and the gal selling it did a demo on me by taping my index fingers together. I was convinced and bought three rolls but she had to help me get my fingers apart so I could pay her!

I used it to fix a blown water heater cold water feed line one cold night in Ruidosa, NM. I won't be without it now.

rick