Bladder Failure

[APS]

So now that its getting warmer here I have been working more on my press, which has been on hold since the summer. I made a bladder out of 8" discharge hose, I want to say it was rated to 60psi. I used the standard technique of angle iron clamps with marine sealant holding the ends together. I just aired it up to 5 psi and all was good, so I kept airing it up little by little to around 30psi. Then it popped. Luckily I had a really controlled environment, and it was inside my garage, with me outside and the door down. There is a lot of energy stored in a 9 foot bladder (be really careful!). The postmortem showed that it failed right where I had made the hole for the air fitting. It ripped circumferentially around the hose in a really clean break. I still have 10 feet of this stuff, should I try again with a different technique for making the fitting hole? I think if I burn it, it will be less likely to be a stress point. I'll post pictures if anyone is interested.

Or should I just move on to fire hose? Anyone have a lead on some hose?

[G-man]

I have a morbid sense of curiosity, so yes, post some pictures of the aftermath. After experiencing what you have, are sure you can ever feel very comfortable standing next to your press if you're using a bladder made from discharge hose? I say go with the fire hose. It's super reinforced compared to discharge hose. Discharge hose itself can probably handle the 50 or 60 psi press pressure, but as you have discovered, the weak link in the system arises when we punch a hole in the wall of the hose and stick a fitting in it. I'm sure that no one needs to tell you that the hose fitting flying across the garage could have been deadly. Glad you were clear of the blast area.

I really like www.rawhidefirehose.com

G-man

[APS]

yeah, it was exciting. It really wasn't that dramatic, because it was in the press and was arranged so it couldn't explode dramatically. It was mostly a big pop. I don't want to minimize the danger, but it wasn't as explosive as I thought it would be. I'll be using the fire hose from now on. I'll get some pictures tomorrow.

[heybulldog]

Rawhide firehose like g-man said will send you a sample and sell you any length that you want. I use their 6" yellow hose and i push 60psi into it each time. Their hose is rubber coated so rubber sealants grip the surface very well.