Press

Preparation of the tube ends and deburring of the I.D. and O.D. remain the same as that described in the previous installation steps. However, there are a few critical steps that need to be taken to ensure compliance with the fitting manufacturers' minimum installation requirements.

Full depth of insertion into the fitting shall be clearly marked prior to inserting the tube into the fitting (Figure 11.18).

Crimping jaw choice and jaw placement prior to crimping are the same as described previously.

Once the pressing process has been completed the jaws can be removed from the fitting and visual examination of the final pressed fitting shall be performed. It is imperative that the tube has remained fully inserted after the pressing process (Figure 11.19).

As a quality control check and visual indicator of crimp completion, some manufacturers include or require that the crimping jaws impart a logo or other crimp mark to the fitting as in integral part of the crimping process. In these cases, the completed double 360° crimp shall be inspected for the appropriate crimp mark as prescribed by the fitting manufacturer (Figure 11.20). In this example, the RLS mark that is stamped into the fitting during the pressing process indicates that the proper fitting jaws were used. Other manufacturers may utilize manufacturer-specific markings to indicate compliance with their installation instructions.

Fitting manufacturers may also require additional verification steps to ensure proper crimp completion, such as verification of the final crimp dimensions with some type of go-no-go gage, (Figure 11.21, 11.22).