Problem with my Jiffy PRO4 Propane Auger :-(

[SmellsLikeFishNH]

So last week during the Winnipesauke derby here in NH I noticed that the hose that connects the propane tank to the engine started leaking. When I first looked at it I just assumed that maybe it just needed a little more Teflon tape to seal it better on the coupling. Well I was out in the lake for 3 days and did what I could do to make it work and made it through the weekend. Tried to give it a proper fix at home and realized that something just isn't right with this tubing. If you look at this picture the connector on the left has this flange that sits into the coupling. As you tighten the bot it presses into the fitting and keeps it secure. That end is NOT leaking...look at the right side....it does not have that flange on the tube. When you tighten up the brass coupling the tube doesn't have any resistance to press it into the fitting and is bound to cause problems to anyone that has this. So needless to say now I don't know what the heck to do. Ive called Jiffy and left them a VM but haven't gotten a call yet...right now I cant use the auger cause the propane just leaks out and the auger motor gets no compressed gas to work. I just bought this in December, its never been dropped or abused and up until last weekend worked FLAWLESSLY and I was still on the 1st can of propane....of course until it all leaked out. You can see in the picture the vibration is wearing out the aluminum tube and making it scratched and dinged.


Frustrated!!!!

[Hesperus]

My brother had the same thing happen to his.  The end of the line is broken off inside the elbow.  Hopefully this does not turn out to be an engineering design flaw, but to me it looks that way.  Easy fix under warranty.

[marcus]

I know you shouldnt  have to repair a brand new 500$+ auger, but you can always make the other side (right) into a flare fitting and that should hold . I have yet to see a propane auger in action, I like my gas auger and will probably buy the same model if I ever need to replace it.  It is hard to tell exactly what is going wrong without having it in my hands, but it would seem that you could even switch that tubing to the same diameter copper which is probably a bit tougher and easier to work with. Good luck with it

[Hesperus]

Is that tube really aluminum?