My employer, a small composting operator, has a JCB 505-20tc mini telehandler. We've been doing most of our own work on it when possible. We've done the boom hydraulic lines in the past, and we just replaced all the boom wear pads. Unfortunately, when we reassembled the boom we somehow pinched or streched the wires that lead up to the diverter valve between the remote/3rd function and the quick-attach coupler. The line got pulled out of it's bracket at the stationary end and ended up inside the sliding boom section, we fished out the loose end and re-routed it back to it's appropriate location, that wasn't really so hard... But when we went to repair the DT connector end that was torn off we discovered that there is no continuity from one end to the other on any of the four conducters. As the line is not broken, our best guess is it got stretched and the conductors broke internally. JCB's wire assembly is simply 2 12ga conductors and 2 14ga conductors stuffed down a standard Gates 3000psi 1/4 hydraulic line as "armor" for the conductors. There *are* molded ends where the wires exit the hose, but none of it is actually proprietary. I think I can even 3D print a good approximation of the strain-relief/plugs that JCB molded into the hose... We haven't even bothered asking how much JCB charges for the part, and unless someone tells us "it's not bad, actually!" we won't. So we're going to build a replacement with bulk automotive wire and suitable hose. That part is decided, we're not afraid of it. The question is this: how vital do you think it is to stick with an actual steel-wire hydraulic line, vs a nylon-weave high pressure fuel line? Both will provide excellent abrasion protection for the wires inside, and resist grease and oil similarly... Obviously we managed to damage it when it *was* hydraulic line, but we're pretty sure where we messed up (caught the line on the boom-extension piston slider when reinserting the extension) and under normal circumstances it shouldn't see much stretch, or pinch load. This is really a call for opinion more than anything else: can we get away with using high-pressure fuel line as the wire armor, for a significant $$ savings, or should we suck it up and pay for hydraulic line? We can source the fuel line locally, but would have to order or travel to get the hydraulic hose in a long enough length. Opinions and shaming for breaking the damn thing in the first place graciously accepted.
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