Will a Concrete Hose Age After a Certain Time
In our last piece, we discussed fire risks in four-stroke airplanes. This makes protecting oil lines even more critical. Early in aviation history, burning fuel in fuel and oil lines caused many problems. So, people revised hose protection standards. Today, decisions to protect fuel, oil, and other system hoses often depend on the aircraft’s working conditions. Additionally, some regulations for specific aircraft classes require such protection.
High-temperature fire-resistant sleeves also work great for insulating fuel hoses and hard lines. In many applications, under-cowl temperatures can trigger vapor locks in the fuel system. This, in turn, can stall the engine. After shutdown, reduced airflow through the engine raises temperatures—creating a similar risk of vapor locks.
Beyond fire protection and preventing vapor locks, fireproof sleeves offer other benefits. Hose assemblies can fail from kinks, bends, impacts, or repeated bending. They can also fail due to temperature cycling. These cycles speed up molecular aging in the hose. Over time, this can make the rubber crack.
Eventually, small liner pieces can break off, contaminating the fuel or oil system. Hoses become fragile and overly flexible after exposure to these conditions or prolonged use. High-temperature fireproof sleeves lower the risk of these hoses being exposed to extreme engine heat.
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