Hose Clamps Are Not All The Same

For most applications an approved hose clamp should be used. On:
Suction Hoses
Pressure Hoses
Raw Water Hoses
Antifreeze Hoses
Dripless Packing
Really anything that will fill your boat with liquid should it fail.
In the picture the top clamp is approved and the bottom clamp is basically junk.

Déjà vu Hose Clamps



In my humble opinion both of those hose clamps in that photo are junk



T bolt clamps will never let you down

Pgitug said:

For most applications an approved hose clamp should be used. On:
Suction Hoses
Pressure Hoses
Raw Water Hoses
Antifreeze Hoses
Dripless Packing
Really anything that will fill your boat with liquid should it fail.
In the picture the top clamp is approved and the bottom clamp is basically junk. View attachment 52590

Click to expand...

Approved by who ?
reference please.

I have slowly changed out all of the hose clamps on our Sabre sailboat...a job that should have never been necessary, to aba type clamps. Between the cheap spec and the incorrect size clamps we had our share pressure water leaks! Never mind thru hull hoses.
Yikes!
Bruce

Bruce B said:

I have slowly changed out all of the hose clamps on our Sabre sailboat...a job that should have never been necessary, to aba type clamps. Between the cheap spec and the incorrect size clamps we had our share pressure water leaks! Never mind thru hull hoses.
Yikes!
Bruce

Click to expand...

We had the same issues on our 41' sailboat. Even the dripless shaft packing was the junk clamp?

What determines a junk clamp? Just perferations?

If every tidbit that came along was truly necessary for your safety on a boat.....

I would never have the money or time or even the will to boat...or been able to live aboard and sleep soundly for 10 years and boat another 40 on top. All without incident.

While top of the line clamps are nice.they are hardly absolutely necessary.

The only hose clamp I have ever had fail that damaged or flooded a vessel was a brand new Caterpillar clamp that failed. It caused the loss of coolant on a brand new Cat engine and enough damage to return the boat to the factory for replacement. I think it was some kind of t bolt type.

Nice clamps are great.....but good installation of decent (not top of the line).clamps and checking critical ones is way more important.

boatpoker said:

Approved by who ?

reference please.

Click to expand...

Recommendation for equipment listed by ABYC.

Pgitug said:

We had the same issues on our 41' sailboat. Even the dripless shaft packing was the junk clamp?

Click to expand...

It always amazed me that a company would choose this as a method of saving a few dollars! Pass the cost along to me as I'm simply going to have to replace them anyway...and I'll have to invest all of that time contorted into weird spaces!
Bruce

I belive I have heard that required double hose clamping is another myth that is not required for every connection....the two that I remember are fuel fills and exhaust hoses.

psneeld said:

I belive I have heard that required double hose clamping is another myth that is not cited anywhere except fuel fill connections.

Click to expand...

I always base this on the length of the tail piece. If it is long enough to comfortably accommodate two clamps then two clamps it is, if not, then one clamp is used...
Common sense?
Bruce

Bruce B said:

I always base this on the length of the tail piece. If it is long enough to comfortably accommodate two clamps then two clamps it is, if not, then one clamp is used...
Common sense?
Bruce

Click to expand...

No....not common sense....but common myth passed down by opinion that makes it required.

Otherwise everything in the world would be double.

Like twin engine boats, cars, and planes. Singles designed for a task are sufficient...

Especially on drains not under pressure or suction hoses....99 percent of the time you can hardly get them off with NO clamps on them.

And no I don't take this stuff lightly....I have been an avid student of it for decades which includeed boating reliability in the last 2 careers I had,

Pgitug said:

Recommendation for equipment listed by ABYC.

Click to expand...

I can find no such reference in my copy, Exactly what Standard and where within the standard.

psneeld said:

I belive I have heard that required double hose clamping is another myth that is not required for every connection....the two that I remember are fuel fills and exhaust hoses.

Click to expand...

Double clamps are required by ABYC Standards in only two instances. Exhaust hose connections (P-1) and Fuel fill hoses
(H-24, gasoline, H-33 diesel).

Two clamps below the waterline on connections that can flood your boat. And yes for marine use (especially a salt water environment) those perforated clamps are junk. I began to replace them systemically after I found several rotted away and useless. They are bad for soft hoses too. If you are so broke you can't afford AWAB types, then at least invest some money in a can of Corrosion X and treat them upon installation and completely inspect condition of clamp and underlying hose on a regularly scheduled basis. I've had clamps where if you just took a look at it from the easiest view, it looked OK, only to find the other side was rotted through.

Watch out using T-Clamps, especially those without the constant torque springs and/or torque wrenched. They are very easy to over-tighten and crush what lies below. I had to remediate that problem in a few places, most expensively two crushed muffle tubes.

gaston said:

Déjà vu Hose Clamps



In my humble opinion both of those hose clamps in that photo are junk



T bolt clamps will never let you down

Click to expand...

At least not until the spot welds let you down. Above waterline t-clamps are fine but I will not install them below water, seen too many fail at the spot welds.

boatpoker said:

Double clamps are required by ABYC Standards in only two instances. Exhaust hose connections (P-1) and Fuel fill hoses
(H-24, gasoline, H-33 diesel).

Click to expand...

Thank you.

As overly concerned with safety as ABYC seems...wonder why they aren't suggesting type and quantity more?

Could it truly be just old salt legend and not statistically supported standard?

For those concerned...... sure.....double clamp hoses that would sink your boat if they were to come undone (clamp failure AND possible movement).... and replace with whatever type clamp you feel is better when you are working there (not general replace all) as time goes on or when you find a failed one.

For new boaters out there....always be concerned with the safety and condition of your boat....but realistically keep in mind what is luxury over necessity, gold standard over good enough, ocean crossing capable over ICW brown water crawler...etc...etc... don't let other boater's worries smother you (take heed, but be reasonable about it) or their limitations automatically be your limitations.

Boats are amazing.

Remove a hose clamp after 1 year anywhere else and good luck trying to cut the damn thing off. Have less than two of the most expensive clamps on a through hull with at most 2 psi behind it and some will argue your boat will sink.

Pgitug said:

Recommendation for equipment listed by ABYC.

Click to expand...

Not in my copy of the standards? AWAB clamps are tremendously reliable, as well as quite resistant to corrosion, but they are not a requirement under the ABYC standards.

Anything that can sink a boat gets my full attention! On our Sabre we suffered the consequences of empty water tanks 3 times in the first season, after I had checked the clamp tightness as many times! This is when I began changing clamps...
In our case, whomever plumbed our boat had a thing for too large a clamp for the application and this was partially to blame for the ever loosening clamps. There were a number of clamps that simply would not hold and this I attributed to simply poor quality.
All below waterline clamps were changed first and then all too large clamps where excused from duty. Finally, any time I change a hose, the original brand clamps are tossed. It was an unnecessarily costly exercise that could have been avoided with a simple request for a specific clamp and it is a mistake I will not make again.
Bruce

CPseudonym said:

Boats are amazing.

Remove a hose clamp after 1 year anywhere else and good luck trying to cut the damn thing off. Have less than two of the most expensive clamps on a through hull with at most 2 psi behind it and some will argue your boat will sink.

Click to expand...

The on land ones are not subject to the sat water corrosion and exposure elements that the marine ones are. Why not spend an extra buck or two and get the best solution rather than cheap out with a poor solution? Some real penny-wise pound foolish advice on this thread. Yeah, that's the ticket, let's take a little added risk to an engine or for that matter the whole dang boat for the price of a couple of Kaliks....

MaineSail to the rescue... again... Proper Installation of Double Hose Clamps Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

So tell us how much saltwater did the old Hatt leak into the engine rooms? How full did you let the bilge get before pumping it overboard?

Use whatever floats your boat (pun intended) but save us the drama about the hundreds of thousands of boats sitting in marinas right now worldwide in danger of blowing a through hull hose off its barbed connection because the clamp is junk. More boater folklore than fact in this thread from my point of view.

Here is one of the original Sabre supplied clamps that I've never bothered to change (I'll change it today). It is on a water tank to water pump low pressure hose and although it is too large it is not as large as some where!
I'm in the middle of disinfecting the water system today...
Bruce

boatpoker said:

I can find no such reference in my copy, Exactly what Standard and where within the standard.

Click to expand...

Poker,
You must be the local fact checker.
On forums opinions rule.
Re common sense if you have any between checking standards in books it should be fairly obvious double clamping would be ineffective on a short nipple.

Granted there are different quality of clamps but I've had every type of clamp mentioned here fail at one time or another. Checking the clamps should be preventative maintenance. I try to go around at least once a year and check every clamp. I'd rather replace/tighten them on my schedule.

Bruce B said:

Here is one of the original Sabre supplied clamps that I've never bothered to change (I'll change it today). It is on a water tank to water pump low pressure hose and although it is too large it is not as large as some where!

I'm in the middle of disinfecting the water system today...

Bruce

Click to expand...

Hmmmm...

11 year old oversized cheap clamp from a saltwater environment... And it's being changed before it fails as part of a preventative maintenance program.

Well done

I like AWABs. But only the 316. I saw that some unscrupulous sellers(eBay & Amazon) had some 304s for sale at 316 pricing.

I'm not one to reuse hose clamps or fasteners. When doing maintenance, I replace rather than reuse. SCC and crevice corrosion kinda sneak up on you.

That said, I agree that there is a lot of overkill in the the whole safety aspect of hose clamps. It seems the norm to have to work the hose off of a nipple.

I would also speculate that those boaters on a boating forum are more cautious on their operation and maintenance. Otherwise, why would one even be here if it wasn't to seek information and betterment?

I'm anal by training and not necessarily by nature. Spinning wrenches on a submarine does that to one. That's my excuse.

If 2 clamps are good, then 3 clamps are better.
Make sure the hose adapter is long enough.

I have sometimes used thinner perforated clamps when the hose adapter is too short.

Other thing, on most all my suction lines, the hose fits tight to the hose adapter, it can not just slip off. I could run with no clamps fine.

Some of my adapters are simply bronze pipe nipples apparently cut in half with a tight fitting hose pushed on. Marine hose can be bought in 1/8 sizes. Boat is almost 50 years old and has never sunk.

sdowney717 said:

If 2 clamps are good, then 3 clamps are better.
Make sure the hose adapter is long enough.

Click to expand...

At some point in the past a PO of my boat installed "second" hose clamps *everywhere* regardless of need or even worse, if there was room. I found several instances of hose clamps not over the hose barb at all but instead constricting and possibly damaging the hose.

Ken

Good perspective Spy....I agree....each time I take something apart to fix, I try to make it a little better in some way...

My issue is when the partly line is to blatantly follow the "herd".....

Most of my part time boating friends tend to blindly follow things they read in their magazines and hear at boat shows and either spend big bucks or delay boating time worried about upgrading or fixing things that really are OK.....especially because their typical boating is done in areas and conditions that are benign.

If I had planned to cruise in very remote areas, areas prone to sudden violent storms or push the limits of a vessel...well heck....I wouldn't have bought the boat I did. So why would I or anyone else be obsessed with trying bit by bit to upgrade it into a world class cruiser?

Not only is it a waste of my time but money as well....I will spend the money and time on parts and projects that I know are a definite help....but too many days running , working on, salvaging and saving boats have given me a perspective of what is OK versus overkill.

In many hose applications on all kinds of appliances, cars, etc...are nothing more than zip ties or press together plastic clamps.

So if your thing is go all the way...every time...on everything....great....enjoy and take pride...

But I hope every boater with limited experience doesn't feel the need to do anything more than good maintenance with good, but not necessarily top of the line parts. As long as they know what they have and that boats require vigilance, whether gold plated or run of the mill, they can relax.