So you’ve designed a hose! You put in the work to find your components and connections, select the hose you need, and you’ve got a machine just waiting to get all hooked up and ready to go.
Once you’ve made it to this point, the final stage of building and inspection can seem like a breeze. But here at Mid-State, we know that this is one of the most critical times in the cycle of hose design and application. As-such, this part of the process is treated to the time and detail it takes to ensure that both high and low pressure assemblies alike are inspected, tested, and observed to be in the perfect condition once they arrive on our customer's doorstep (or more likely, dock).
Now we get to the nitty-gritty. So after all the testing and calculation, how does our team ensure that the assemblies go from tested and approved in-house, to safe and operational in the field?
The one testing tool we have at this stage that cannot be underappreciated is simply our eyes. With hose assemblies, it is just as important to observe as it is to measure and compare. Just as calipers will tell you when a dimension is too small or too large, our Quality Inspector too will be able to visually check on the condition of your hose cover, end fitting condition, and even the way the hose reacts and moves as it is measured for length and crimp diameters.
All assemblies are put through final inspection with paperwork and prints. Comparing the two gives us the full picture of what your hoses should look like when complete. Our paperwork is where the carefully calculated and tested specifications appear for the measurements listed above. Prints are compared to ensure that all of the data included was properly translated onto our internal spec paperwork. Any anomalies are then rejected and logged before being rebuilt and rechecked.
Ongoing monitoring and inspections once the hose is in use are also very important! Customers are always encouraged to continually check on hoses as they go through their life-span. Many issues involving routing and damage to hoses can be safely solved just by paying attention to the hose even after installation. Even the perfect hose – inspected and built correctly – will fail if not properly maintained and watched for external sources of compromise.
Even a small misstep in assembly length can lead to eventual hose failure. We utilize precise cutting and inspection methods to ensure proper length on your assemblies.
Crimp diameter tolerances can be as small as .005 of an inch! This critical process is triple-checked at multiple points in the assembly process.
This test simulates 10 years of field service! All of our hose/fitting combinations must pass at least 200,000 impulse cycles (in-house) to qualify for production.
Now this may seem obvious, but it is an important question to answer for ourselves. The reality is, because the product we manufacture can truly be dangerous. Especially in the extremely high pressure applications, injury and damage can occur if even one of the many steps of inspection is not followed. That is why within Mid-State, these products are highly controlled and inspected.
In the rare case of field incidents or failures, we will go back and trace the paper trail of information and inspections. Field failures are often caused by inadequate training in the field in the process of installation or in the application that the hose was designed for. Many times, issues can be traced back to routing of hoses or just a need for more understanding of how hoses operate. This is information we are always happy to provide and advise on.
