Clippard Air Tank Leaking

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by Hoover

The new [tanks] allowed the hoses to be pushed in a bit further. Why? Don't know, don't care.

If you start caring, you might uncover a solution to a systematic problem. That's how an organization builds institutional knowledge.

Strongly suggest building pneumatic systems in phases. Leak-check each phase before expanding the system to the next phase.

[Hoover]

Sorry I shouldn't've said don't care. Our build was being shortened because of snow warning and I was getting kicked out of the lab...

We compared the tank openings visually. We looked very closely but could see no obstruction to keep the hoses from being fully inserted. And in fact they looked identical. Certainly if there are some tanks that are doing this out there everyone could benefit but I wouldn't know what to tell people to look for other than the insertion distance difference.

[Hoover]

I noticed the number of views on this thread is high so it seems there are a lot who are interested and it is worth pursuing.

Luckily the trash was not yet thrown out. The plastic tubing went in one side ok and we marked this with a marker and was 3/4 inches. On the other side it hit resistance 1/4 inch sooner and we marked this at 1/2 inches.

I had the kids saw the ends off to get a closer look at how the tubes fit in the openings. Ah ha! Somehow during manufacturing, the plastic entered to opening to cause an obstruction. It can be seen easily when holding the hole up to the light. It is definitely too narrow.

I wish I had a good close up camera to post pictures.