Checking Your Suction Hose

If you feel like your Big Bute's losing suction and you've made sure that the filters, drum and power unit are all working correctly, then it's time to check your suction hose.

Holes along the length of your hose, even tiny ones, can drastically affect the suction of your Big Brute. Air gets sucked in through these holes and not through the business end of the hose. And if there's less air going up the end of your hose, you're going to struggle to clean up as quickly.

Check for holes

Have a good look along the length of your hose for any obvious holes or tears. Pay particular attention to the ends and any sections where it looks obviously damaged, such as where it's been run over with a forklift.

Next, check for pinprick holes, as these can also affect the performance of your Big Brute. There's a very quick and easy way to check for pinprick holes.

First, disconnect your hose from your Big Brute - you don't want to do this test with it still connected.

Lay the hose out along the ground and prop one end up around a foot up into the air. Place a hosepipe into the other end and turn on the water, letting the hose fill up. If you have any holes in the hose, even tiny ones, you'll see the water leaking out.

Make sure you thoroughly empty the water out of your hose and let it dry before using it again.

Making Repairs

Repairs near the ends of the hose

It's easy to repair the hose if there are any large holes or tears at or near either end.

You'll need some precut lengths of heatshrink sleeve (part no V721 available from us).

Cut the damaged end of the hose off and remove the hose end. Refit the hose ends and seal with a V721 heatshrink cuff. You'll need to gently heat this with a heat gun or similar to make an airtight seal. Be careful not to overheat - you don't want to melt the hose or set fire to it.

Repairs in the middle of the hose

If you've found larger holes midway along your hose, there are 3 possible solutions:

  1. Use a V721 heatshrink cuff to cover and seal the hole
  2. Cut the damaged section out and make two shorter lengths of hose that you can couple togeter. You'll need 2 x V35A Straight Pipe Ends (fit one to the end of each hose length) and a V36 Pipe-to-Pipe Coupler to join your 2 seperate hoses together. This is the best option if you have a longer length of hose that you want to repair (10 - 15m long).
  3. Replace the hose outright and reuse your pipe ends. Replacement hose can be purchased by the metre or in precut lengths. If you want to recyle your old hose ends, give us a ring and we can supply the hose without the hose ends.

Getting spare parts

If you need new hose, hose ends, couplers or heatshrink sleeves, or any other spare parts for your Big Brute, they're available from us at Big Brute Industries (Australia).

Getting help

If you need any help with any aspect of maintaining your Big Brute, give Laurie or Scott Cheetham a call on 1300 441 281 or by email: info@bigbrute.com.au