AC compressor hose repair

[Turbo38sfi]

Was replacing my ac compressor. All was going great until I didn’t notice my ac hose fitting was badly mucked up from a previous shoddy repair. Threads are total garbage.

Now I’m faced with replacing 45 feet of 3/4 line or trying to make this work.

I have the fitting ordered, here’s my delimma.
It’s so large, I can’t find anyone that has a crimp large enough. It’s a 3/4 inch hose, 14an single layer hose. All the handheld hydraulic presses I’ve seen only go to 12an. Anyone with a machine that can do this is not mobile.

Since I have the fitting now, my options are find a mobile guy that can do this. I’m in palmetto Florida.

Or have a 2-3 foot whip made up with the fitting and then splice the whip to the factory hose. Not sure about splices or if I’ll be in the same situation.

Suggestions or advice?

[code2e]

I have not seen your fitting. Is there any chance of cutting off the inverted flare, swap the threaded nut and re-flare the tube?

As for a mobile crimper, have you checked with any agricultural repair shops? Farm equipment repair folks do lots of mobile hydraulic repairs.

[jkroboth]

Originally Posted by Turbo38sfi

Was replacing my ac compressor. All was going great until I didn’t notice my ac hose fitting was badly mucked up from a previous shoddy repair. Threads are total garbage.

Now I’m faced with replacing 45 feet of 3/4 line or trying to make this work.

I have the fitting ordered, here’s my delimma.
It’s so large, I can’t find anyone that has a crimp large enough. It’s a 3/4 inch hose, 14an single layer hose. All the handheld hydraulic presses I’ve seen only go to 12an. Anyone with a machine that can do this is not mobile.

Since I have the fitting now, my options are find a mobile guy that can do this. I’m in palmetto Florida.

Or have a 2-3 foot whip made up with the fitting and then splice the whip to the factory hose. Not sure about splices or if I’ll be in the same situation.

Suggestions or advice?

Try PIRTEK in Sarasota. 800-963-2136

[Turbo38sfi]

Originally Posted by code2e

I have not seen your fitting. Is there any chance of cutting off the inverted flare, swap the threaded nut and re-flare the tube?

As for a mobile crimper, have you checked with any agricultural repair shops? Farm equipment repair folks do lots of mobile hydraulic repairs.

I did call them. They have their own fittings didn’t seem they could help. I may just go there. Here’s the fitting

[code2e]

Originally Posted by Turbo38sfi

I did call them. They have their own fittings didn’t seem they could help. I may just go there. Here’s the fitting

I notice the pictured fitting is listed for 5/8" heater hose. Will that work with your refrigerant hose? Pressure rating high enough?

Usually crimpers are intended to only be used with a certain manufacturers fittings. The crimp die needs to matched to achieve a proper crimp. Not surprised to hear their policy.

If all else fails, you could put your old fitting and new fitting together with a compression union. You would need to cut the old fitting just before the 90 degree bend. Leaving as much straight tube as possible. Then cut the new fitting at the crimp collar. Leaving it's straight tube as long as possible. Then join the two tubes with a 5/8 compression union. The one pictured is rated at 5000 PSI.

[TB673]

Parker Stores make different types of hoses. Whether they do AC lines or not, I can't say. Hydraulic hoses are their bread and butter.

A call to these guys may provide some insight:

https://www.thehopegroup.com/our-par...-parker-store/

Tim

[RichKimball]

I thought that mine was too big too...but I talked to folks at Coldhose.com and they said the large crimp will work. I convinced a local auto a/c place (that had room for my rv) to crawl under the back and give it try. Worked!

[shootist]

If your coach is 15 years or more old pulling a new line might be in order. Connect the new to the old if it will pull through. You can have one end done at a shop.

[Turbo38sfi]

Originally Posted by shootist

If your coach is 15 years or more old pulling a new line might be in order. Connect the new to the old if it will pull through. You can have one end done at a shop.

The hose itself was not compromised..the threads on the end were trashed from a previous repair.

That said....pulling the house with the old hose would NEVER work. Have you ever locked?

It's zip tied & bolted clamps along the way, not to mention it's in the "frame tray" with several other hoses that route to the front...it would never just simply pull through.

[Turbo38sfi]

Problem solved!

After calling probably 15 different shops that deal with line repair and manufacturing...none of them could come out to do mobile repair. I called everyone in the Sarasota area....finally one guy says...call this guy Mark in Tampa.

Mark was the only guy that says..well, a 14AN Reduced Barrier hose fitting is the same crimp size as a 12AN. WOW...all these people and no one said that.

So..I ordered the crimp set on Amazon for $125. I got the fitting for $12 from coldair.com and did the repair yesterday.

New end crimped on the line, was only about 1" shorter, the length of the hose in the actual crimp. Put the pulley back on and my longer accessory belt all went together. Total time was about 3 hours...it took me about 20 minutes per hose fitting just to get them started on the compressor housing..big hands and wanted to make sure they were going on as they should and not force it.

Here's some pics of the repair and the crimp. Super easy and just amazed it took so long to find someone that listened to my problem and gave me some facts. My biggest issue was that the 3/4 inch hose seemed so large, no one had a hand held crimper. This hydraulic crimp worked the ballls!

[RichKimball]

Originally Posted by Turbo38sfi

Problem solved!

Mark was the only guy that says..well, a 14AN Reduced Barrier hose fitting is the same crimp size as a 12AN. WOW...all these people and no one said that.

I believe I told you the same thing about the crimp size but I guess you didn't agree. But happy you got it done.

[Turbo38sfi]

Didn’t see your reply till I posted the update.

[RichKimball]

Originally Posted by Turbo38sfi

Didn’t see your reply till I posted the update.

Yeah....okay bud. Happy trails.

[Turbo38sfi]

Originally Posted by RichKimball

Yeah....okay bud. Happy trails.

Next is a new expansion valve coming in a day or 2 and an appointment Friday to have it flushed, and charged. Fingers crossed all will be good.