Pictures of the inside of my burned fuel line

[pierre smith]

Yesterday at Ridgeland, S.C., Tom Swearingen, hose builder, sliced and sectioned my scorched fuel line and the teflon held up amazingly well! Much better than rubber would have fared:



This shows the scorched firesleeve and here you can see the discoloration of the stainless braid:



Last of all, Tom removed a section of the hose, centered on the heated area:

To our mutual amazement, the teflon wasn't blistered inside and no signs of failure were seen or evident. I am now a strong believer in the value of teflon over rubber hoses, anywhere near a heat source. He and I both realized that we could have been toast, had I had rubber-lined hoses under the circumstance. Probably the higher fuel flow rate of my IO-540 helped cool the inside of the line and the fact that thin-walled stainless steel exhaust cools fairly quickly, keeping much of the heat away from the inner teflon liner. Tom was as relieved as I was, seeing first hand, the fruits of his labor and the fact that nobody has been BS'ing anybody about the merits of teflon-lined firesleeved hose!

Guys, don't fiddle around and penny-pinch when it comes to your oil and fuel lines...call Tom or email him for quick, experienced service and the peace of mind that a properly done fuel and oil system can bring...from one who has just "been-there-done-that!" We very simply, lucked out!


Best,

[Geico266]

That is amazing.

[bret]

that is some good info, Thanks for sharing

[rv9aviator]

My fuel line came in the Vans Firewall forward kit. It is firesleeved but does anyone know what the inside is made from? I would hope it is teflon.

[AlexPeterson]

Curious - does anyone here know what the actual "teflon" liner is? It has to be some sort of blend, as teflon alone would not be flexible enough to act as a hose wall. I did some searching, but can't find just what it is.

Also, as has been stated elsewhere, a rubber lined hose (like 701) would have done fine, as long as there was some fuel flowing in it. A styrofoam cup with water in it will survive when placed directly into a fire, I've done it. The top burns off, but the cup only partially melts where the water is. Has to be seen to be believed.

[Ron Lee]

What is the construction of this hose. I see the exterior steel braid then something that appears black. Is the black material teflon or rubber with teflon inside?

[TS Flightlines]

its conductive teflon.
Tom

[Ron Lee]

Thanks Tom. I was talking earlier today about this with my IA and he showed me some smallish hose that was steel braid exterior and white teflon inside.

[erich weaver]

Originally Posted by pierre smith

To our mutual amazement, the teflon wasn't blistered inside and no signs of failure were seen or evident. I am now a strong believer in the value of teflon over rubber hoses, anywhere near a heat source.

Maybe so, but hardly a fair test since there was no test of rubber hose under the same circumstances. I dont recall seeing any claims of better heat resistance from Teflon hoses, but wouldnt go so far as to deny it either. The cooling effect of the fuel going through the hose helps a lot, as scary as that sounds.

Regardless, glad you caught the problem in time. Neither Teflon nor rubber would have protected you in the long term with things left alone.

best regards
erich

[Ron Lee]

Interesting comment Erich. My mechanic showed me a rubber/steel braid (?)/ rubber hose (Aeroquip 303 ?) which he asserts is just as good.