The New Hotness

A soaker hose leaped under a descending garden fork and accumulated a nasty gash:

Soaker Hose Splice - gashed — Soaker Hose Splice – gashed

Mary deployed a spare and continued the mission, while I pondered how to fix such an odd shape.

For lack of anything smarter, I decided to put a form-fitting clamp around the hose, with silicone caulk buttered around the gash to (ideally) slow down any leakage:

Soaker Hose Splice - Solid Model - Assembled — Soaker Hose Splice – Solid Model – Assembled

As usual, some doodling got the solid model started:

Soaker Hose Splice - Dimension doodle 1 — Soaker Hose Splice – Dimension doodle 1

A hose formed from chopped rubber doesn’t really have consistent dimensions, so I set up the model to spit out small test pieces:

Soaker Hose Splice - Test Fit - Slic3r — Soaker Hose Splice – Test Fit – Slic3r

Lots and lots of test pieces:

Soaker Hose Splice - test pieces — Soaker Hose Splice – test pieces

Each iteration produced a better fit, although the dimensions never really converged:

Soaker Hose Splice - Dimension doodle 2 — Soaker Hose Splice – Dimension doodle 2

The overall model looks about like you’d expect:

Soaker Hose Splice - Complete - Slic3r — Soaker Hose Splice – Complete – Slic3r

The clamp must hold its shape around a hose carrying 100 psi (for real!) water, so I put 100 mil aluminum backing plates on either side. Were you doing this for real, you’d shape the plates with a CNC mill, but I just bandsawed them to about the right size and transfer-punched the hole positions:

Soaker Hose Splice - plate transfer punch — Soaker Hose Splice – plate transfer punch

Some drill press action with a slightly oversize drill compensated for any misalignment and Mr Disk Sander rounded the corners to match the plastic block:

Soaker Hose Splice - plate corner rounding — Soaker Hose Splice – plate corner rounding

A handful of stainless steel 8-32 screws holds the whole mess together:

Soaker Hose Splice - installed — Soaker Hose Splice – installed

These hoses spend their lives at rest under a layer of mulch, so I’m ignoring the entire problem of stress relief at those sharp block edges. We’ll see how this plays out in real life, probably next year.

I haven’t tested it under pressure, but it sure looks capable!

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Rubber Soaker Hose Splice
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU July 2018

	Layout = "Build"; // Hose Block Show Build

	TestFit = false; // true to build test fit slice from center

	//- Extrusion parameters must match reality!

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.40;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	inch = 25.4;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	//———-
	// Dimensions
	// Hose lies along X axis

	Hose = [200,27.0,12.0]; // X = longer than anything else

	Block = [80.0,50.0,4.0 + Hose.z]; // overall splice block size
	echo(str("Block: ",Block));

	Kerf = 0.1; // cut through middle to apply compression

	ID = 0;
	OD = 1;
	LENGTH = 2;

	// 8-32 stainless screws
	Screw = [4.1,8.0,3.0]; // OD = head LENGTH = head thickness
	Washer = [4.4,9.5,1.0];
	Nut = [4.1,9.7,6.0];

	CornerRadius = Washer[OD]/2;

	NumScrews = 3; // screws along each side of cable
	ScrewOC = [(Block.x – 2*CornerRadius) / (NumScrews – 1),
	Block.y – 2*CornerRadius,
	2*Block.z // ensure complete holes
	];

	echo(str("Screw OC: x=",ScrewOC.x," y=",ScrewOC.y));

	//———————-
	// Useful routines

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes
	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);
	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);
	cylinder(d=(FixDia + HoleWindage),h=Height,$fn=Sides);
	}

	// Hose shape
	// This includes magic numbers measured from reality

	module HoseProfile() {

	RimThick = 10.0; // outer sections
	RimOD = RimThick;
	RimFlatRecess = -0.7; // recess to front flat surface

	OuterOC = Hose.y – RimOD; // outer tube centers

	RecessM = 1.5; // back recess chord
	RecessC = OuterOC;
	RecessR = (pow(RecessM,2) + pow(RecessC,2)/4) / (2*RecessM);

	RidgeM = 1.0; // front ridge chord
	RidgeC = 8.0;
	RidgeR = (pow(RidgeM,2) + pow(RidgeC,2)/4) / (2*RidgeM);

	NumSides = 12*4;

	rotate([0,-90,0])
	translate([0,0,-Hose.x/2])
	linear_extrude(height=Hose.x,convexity=4)
	difference() {
	union() {
	for (j=[-1,1]) // outer channels
	translate([0,j*OuterOC/2])
	circle(d=RimOD,$fn=NumSides);
	translate([-RimOD/4,0]) // rear flat fill
	square([RimOD/2,OuterOC],center=true);
	translate([(RimOD/4 + RimFlatRecess),0]) // front flat fill
	square([RimOD/2,OuterOC],center=true);
	intersection() {
	translate([Hose.z/2,0])
	square([Hose.z,OuterOC],center=true);
	translate([-RidgeR + RimOD/2 + RimFlatRecess + RidgeM,0])
	circle(r=RidgeR,$fn=NumSides);
	}
	}
	translate([-(RecessR + RimOD/2 – RecessM),0])
	circle(r=RecessR,$fn=2*NumSides);
	}
	}

	// Outside shape of splice Block
	// Z centered on hose rim circles, not overall thickness through center ridge

	module SpliceBlock() {
	difference() {
	hull()
	for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1]) // rounded block
	translate([i(Block.x/2 – CornerRadius),j(Block.y/2 – CornerRadius),-Block.z/2])
	cylinder(r=CornerRadius,h=Block.z,$fn=4*8);
	for (i = [0:NumScrews – 1], j=[-1,1]) // screw holes
	translate([-(Block.x/2 – CornerRadius) + i*ScrewOC.x,
	j*ScrewOC.y/2,
	-(Block.z/2 + Protrusion)])
	PolyCyl(Screw[ID],Block.z + 2*Protrusion,6);
	cube([2Block.x,2Block.y,Kerf],center=true); // slice through center
	}
	}

	// Splice block less hose

	module ShapedBlock() {
	difference() {
	SpliceBlock();
	HoseProfile();
	}
	}




	//———-
	// Build them

	if (Layout == "Hose")
	HoseProfile();

	if (Layout == "Block")
	SpliceBlock();

	if (Layout == "Bottom")
	BottomPlate();

	if (Layout == "Top")
	TopPlate();

	if (Layout == "Show") {
	difference() {
	SpliceBlock();
	HoseProfile();
	}
	color("Green",0.25)
	HoseProfile();
	}

	if (Layout == "Build") {
	SliceOffset = TestFit && !NumScrews%2 ? ScrewOC.x/2 : 0;
	intersection() {
	translate([SliceOffset,0,Block.z/4])
	if (TestFit)
	cube([ScrewOC.x/2,4*Block.y,Block.z/2],center=true);
	else
	cube([4Block.x,4Block.y,Block.z/2],center=true);
	union() {
	translate([0,0.6*Block.y,Block.z/2])
	ShapedBlock();
	translate([0,-0.6*Block.y,Block.z/2])
	rotate([0,180,0])
	ShapedBlock();
	}
	}
	}

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The New Hotness

Rubber Soaker Hose Repair