No matter how well stocked a contractor may be, he is not likely to have more than one air hose per nail gun or jack hammer. A leak in that hose can therefore be as troublesome as it can be frequent. I offer a tried-and-true job-site repair of small punctures in high-pressure air hoses.
First, depressurize the hose. Wrap it firmly with very close wraps of form-tie wire, or better yet, 12-ga. or 14-ga. solid copper wire. The wraps should touch each other and extend 1-in. beyond the leak on both sides. It is important that the wire not be small enough in diameter or tight enough to cut the rubber hose when the hose later expands. Bend the cut ends of the wire over the wraps where they won’t threaten to cut the hose and wrap the entire repair with duct tape to keep it from unraveling. When the hose is repressurized, air will force the walls of the rubber hose outward against the wire wrap and compress the puncture closed.
Jan Lustig, Berkeley, CA
