Combo Hose Makes Short Work of Diesel Fumes

“Everything under the sun,” comes into the Garda armored car maintenance facility in Broadview, Illinois, during a typical 8-hour shift. Shop foreman Steve Taylor estimates ten vehicles per shift out of this 136-truck fleet hook up to the repair shop’s three-drop vehicle exhaust system. “We’re prepared for anything from minor repairs to engine overhauls on an average day,” Steve says.

A special Master Clip Combo Hose installed on the exhaust system is saving Garda money with every shift. The combo system uses two different temperature-rated hoses, sewn together to do the job. Hot, diesel tail-pipe exhausts are drawn into the first five feet of the hose, which is nominally rated at 570 degrees (F) but routinely handles diesel temperatures as high as 660 degrees (F). The fabric hose allows vehicle exhaust heat to dissipate rapidly over a short distance, so the system only needs the higher-temperature hose right at the vehicle.

Then, using the surrounding ambient air and the system’s velocity, a lower temperature rated hose is possible after the first several feet. Cool air, drawn in around the tail-pipe nozzle and mixed by the system’s fan, rapidly knocks down the exhaust temperatures by hundreds of degrees in these first few feet of hose – allowing the system to pass these cooler gases through the rest of the Master Clip Combo Hose, which is rated at just 350 degrees (F).

- Big Savings in Cost -

“Upfront, we saved them between $500 and $700 per drop,” explains Tom Ludwig, sales rep for Hastings Air-Energy Control, New Berlin, WI, who installed the Combo Hose system at Garda. “Why pay for the higher temp hose for its entire length?” he asks.

“The first five feet is where you need it,” Ludwig reasons.
Savings, he says, depends upon the diameter of the system’s Carflex 570 and Carflex 350 hoses, which are manufactured in Houston, Texas, by Masterduct, Inc.

Big Cat engines, Ford F-650’s, Volvo tractors, Freightliner MT-45’s – you name it – the exhaust system handles all of their hot, diesel fumes. “Maintenance free,” is how Steve Taylor likes to describe his exhaust system. “If it doesn’t give you any problems, you don’t worry about it,” he observes.

The Carflex 570/350 Master Clip Combo Hoses have been installed for over two years on Garda’s vehicle exhaust system, and they continue to perform well, according to Taylor. “We did have a truck run over one of our nozzles, so we had to replace that hose,” he acknowledges. “Other than that, the system does not require maintenance.”