Had a close call with a hydraulic line on a 90s Dover last week

I was doing a routine inspection on a Dover hydraulic unit in an office building downtown. The system was from 1994. I was checking the fluid level and noticed a small, dark spot on one of the main supply lines near a fitting. It wasn't dripping, just damp. I wiped it clean and came back after lunch, maybe 2 hours later. The spot was back and a bit bigger. I put a wrench on the fitting, gave it a quarter turn, and it just sheared. The line blew out and dumped about 15 gallons of fluid before I could get to the shutoff. The whole pit was a mess. If that had let go while the car was running with people in it, or even just later that night, it would have been a major failure. I'm now checking every line over 10 years old with a mirror and a bright light for that slow weep. Anyone else finding these old steel-braided lines are just rotting from the inside out?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin3652mo ago

That quarter-turn shear means the metal was totally crystallized, just waiting to fail.

nguyen.morgan2mo ago

That quarter-turn shear is scary, what pressure was it running at?

gray8752mo ago

Pressure was high enough to make me question my life choices. Bet the safety guy had a heart attack.