TOPIC: Airguide Speedo advice

I picked up an NOS Airguide speedometer in the box, for my rig and of course it came without the pickup or the hose from pickup to the speedo. I went to the marina and bought what they said I should us. The problem is, the hose is pretty stiff and the barbed fitting on the back of the speedo, does not get a good grip on the fitting and seal up well on the hose. That barbed brass fitting is only about 1/2" long. Is anyone else having problems getting a good seal on this? If so, what are you using to do it? I did place a zip tie on it and at the moment is it is not leaking, but I think it could at anytime, it is that loose. Speedo works great when it is not leaking.

One of the newer pitot (pickup) kits I bought from Joe Poole came with the zip ties for the connections, I think that's how it's done these days Dave. The older stuff I have has a brass nut that you push the hose through then tighten to secure the hose onto the fitting. (It cinches the hose down, no threads to the speedo fitting.) Sounds like they may have sold you some old, brittle (or at least hardening) hose? You sure don't want to get any sealant in the speedo, but maybe some thread sealant or silicone on the barbs before you push the hose on? The best bet may be to get some newer, more soft and supple hose. (Or at least look at some to see if that's the case.)

Mark, I actually went to another marina yesterday and it is the same stuff that they have for for the hose. It is not a rubber but kind of like a black plastic hose. I mentioned to them that it was the same stuff that I had and it was giving me this problem, but they didn't have any advice either. I had not thought of a brass nut. With the taper of the brass fitting on the speedo, that may be the answer. Need to head to the hardware store to see what I can find. I had even thought of going away from the marina stuff. The marina I was at did get their catalogs out, but like they said, until you have it in your hands, you can't tell if it is hard or soft. At an Advance Auto store, they had some vacuum hose that was soft and seemed to fit a little better. The darn barbed fitting though has a pretty fair taper to it. I wished it was a straighter fitting as the taper seems to be almost like pushing the hose back off. The brass nut, makes sense because of this taper as well.

What about a small hose clamp where you may get a better grip than a Zip tie ? With-out seeing what you have this would be my guess ??

I sure thank all here, for the advice and ideas. Some or one of these has got to work. Thanks again.

Went shopping this afternoon looking for a way to clamp that hose. Could not find a screw type hose clamp small enough. I liked the idea of using a nut like Mark suggested, but 5/16" was too big, 1/4" was too small and they didn't have any 7mm. The more I thought about that but idea, I then thought a nylock of the correct size would be wonderful, as the nylon would give a nice even grip to the hose. All i found were Corbin clamps that were of the size I could use. A tight fit, but I was able to get 2 of the 1/4" size around the hose and fitting. I bet that cures it! Thanks

Years back, I had to put the hose in boiling water to get it soft enough to go over the barb easily. When it cooled, it was nice and tight.

If you want to you can go to a auto parts store and buy rubber vacuum tube. All you are holding is inches of water column...No pressure to speak of

I will do just that, if these clamps don't hold. Thanks