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Fill whips, lines

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jaydoski

jaydoski

Member
Jun 16, 2016
127
12
CA, United States
So I saw a post on Reddit the other day where someone was filling his air rifle, and the line popped.

Looked like he had a pretty gnarly injury to his hand obviously, and someone cautioned that fill whips should be changed out every 3-5 years. Reddit is generally a terrible place to get good information, especially on anything air rifle related or firearm stuff.

How do you guys feel about fill whips, do you change out periodically, just check the lines visually, just hope for the best? I've never really heard much on the subject but seeing that guy's hand got me scared!
 
I noticed that a lot of the Chinese lines (my assumption that they are) have a full length spring to contain the hose from whipping if the hose were to blow off. But I'm more concerned about the fittings. I always do a tug test after every connection is made. As some lose the retaining balls as they wear. I check my fittings often and see that they do wear. When I see cracks or missing balls I toss them and get replacements. At one time when I was really afraid of them popping off I used a slip loop safety cable at each fitting. I probably should start doing those again.

Allen
 
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I've only been shooting PCPs since 2019 so my equipment is still fairly new. But definitely something to consider. I also pull test connections and I also add air slowly. I am using the stock Scott valve on my SCBA tank but I think it throttles airflow pretty easily. I like to feel when the air starts to flow in the line, then when the pressure in the line exceeds the pressure in the guns storage tank, then I watch the gauge until I get to the target fill pressure. The whole time my hand is on the valve ready to close it. If things don't seem to be going as planned, I close the valve and think about it a minute. The one way valve on my P35-25, for instance, is kind of stubborn about letting air in. So it gets a blip, I turn the pressure off, then another blip until it opens. I do not want anything unexpected happening. When I run my YH to fill my SCBA tank I am a little tensed up. Seems like the most dangerous operation. I have a one way valve at the inlet to my extra moisture filter so my tank cannot pressurize the YH. I also do not loose air when I vent the YH to let out moisture. During the fill, my safety is opening the YH vent. It stops the fill but I don't loose what I've already done unless I have a problem with the tank or line to the moisture filter. My next actions are to close the tank valve then open the vent on the fill set.

The worst thing that's happened so far is when I blew an O-ring on the extra moisture filter. I vented the YH, shut off the tank, vented the fill lines, and replaced the O-ring. The I restarted the YH and finished the fill. For me it is important to consistently follow the same steps so I will do it if things get a little tense.
 
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JimD said:
The worst thing that's happened so far is when I blew an O-ring on the extra moisture filter. I vented the YH, shut off the tank, vented the fill lines, and replaced the O-ring. The I restarted the YH and finished the fill. For me it is important to consistently follow the same steps so I will do it if things get a little tense.
Click to expand...
With YH set up I feel like you should have a checklist like a pilot.
 
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badger5th said:
The safety connectors you are referencing are "Hose Cable Chokers". They are used to restrain the junction of two hoses and are designed and intended to be used at airgun HPA pressures.

https://www.chicagocoupling.com/hose-safety/cable-choker-restrain
Click to expand...
Lol, Exactly! Except I never really knew they existed! Or what they were called for that matter. So I'm not the only person who thought of making some type of restraint to tame or prevent a whip from happening. Originally this is what I used, just a small diameter made with a slip typ choker loop on each end just to hold onto the hose incase the connection broke.

20220905_174028.jpg

20220905_174147.jpg


But then I was afraid that the cable itself would be abrasive and damage the area where the attachment points were. So I started making them out of Kevlar string. Which actually had more holding power than the wire cable.

20220905_174338.jpg


20220905_174250.jpg

Hose Cable Chokers...

okay!

😆


Allen
 
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Back in the day I worked with pressurized hoses and lines, both high volume air up to 160 psi, and fluids up to 4500 psi. Two things that eventually became second nature are to assume that all lines are pressurized, and to use whip checks at EVERY connection not permanently hard piped. That practice served me well at work, and yesterday where I had 2 HPA disconnects within 5 minutes of each other, of coarse both at over 200 bar. The first disconnect was at a male to male connector where the fitting evidently deformed from use to the point it bypassed the quick-connect design. The other was most likely the result of the violent surge to the line which apparently affected the quick-connect at the end partially disconnecting it, but not obvious to the eye. So after replacing the failed male to male, I resumed filling. Both disconnects were controlled by the whip checks, so no property damage nor injury. Hopefully this will remind us to ensure that we have this safety measure in place at all times and regularly checked for adequate application to the potential risk.

whip 3.jpg

The fitting that went bad.

whip 2.jpg

Replaced with a quality Best Fittings connector. Note whip check.

Whip 1.jpg

The second disconnect occurred at the fill probe. Note the whip check on that end.
 
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Amazon of course!


emma kites 100% Black Kevlar Braided Cord (0.4~4.6mm Dia, 50lb~1800lb) High Strength, Abrasion Flame Resistant, Tough Survival Tactical Cord Model Rocket Paracord Snare Line Fishing Assist Cord https://a.co/d/0UgAfH2

Sanuke 340PCS Stainless Steel Wire Rope Cable Thimbles Aluminum Crimping Loop Sleeve 3/64'' 1/16'' 5/64'' 3/32'' 3/16'' for Wire Rope Cable Thimbles Rigging https://a.co/d/04WPbDD

Allen
 
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