Hydraulics are the key components of any machinery. When they fail, you cannot perform any function. Whether taking your vehicle on an inclined surface or excavating using a bucket or any other attachment.
This article will assist you with tips regarding finding out hydraulic problems. Some of the main tips that you are going to get familiar with include:
- Identifying the key issue
- Collect sufficient information
- Ask What Changing You Made Recently
After reading the above tips, you can easily identify your hydraulic system’s issue. Sounds good? Let’s dig in to find out!
Introduction: Identification of Hydraulic Problems
Hydraulic System serves to ‘push’ and ‘pull’ simultaneously. A hydraulic system has several parts: the pump, valves, hoses, etc. All these components contribute to the function of the hydraulic system.
You can use a pump to push (or pull) fluids; valves serve as a means of flow control. Hoses convey fluids from one place to another by conveying physical properties such as pressure.
A malfunctioning hydraulic system can affect everything from the ability to operate the machine to its overall performance.
Identifying the issues in your hydraulic system enables you to repair them effectively. It will also help you save time and downtime. You will find some of the main identification of hydraulic problems tips down below:
1. Identifying The Key Issue
You will imagine that this tip is useless. Instead, this is true that the information you receive regarding the malfunctioning of your hydraulic machinery is vague. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the key issue.
When you focus on identifying a key issue, it will help you detect the problem and enable you to fix it timely. For instance, the major issues that you may experience with skid steer include:
- Not performing a normal operation
- The skid steer is moving on the single side
- You are unable to move your excavator on the inclined surface
A huge difference exists between pulling on a single side and what prevents it from inclining on a hill. The first problem is only relevant to one of the final drives. Anyone is not working properly. At the same time, the issue which prevents it from inclining up on a hill is the fault in both final drives.
On the other hand, the issue you may face includes lifting the arm not working properly. It may be due to:
- Not proper working of lift arms
- You are unable to lift heavy loads with lift arms
- Lift arms move down
All these issues represent different symptoms. Not enough hydraulic pressure leads to poor working, which makes them unable to lift heavy loads.
2. Collect Sufficient Information
Sufficient information is the key to enough knowledge. The more information you have, the more beneficial it will be. The information source that will help you better in this regard is the machinery operator. The operator has hands-on experience because he operates the machine daily.
He can tell you everything about the machine if anything undesirable happens. The operator can also tell you:
- If he observes anything weird with the machine sound
- What is the response of the machine during a particular task
- If any vibrations exist within machinery or during operation
He can also provide much information on how the hydraulic system worked until a particular issue started appearing.
For instance, you may observe a vibration that just started when you put a heavy load on your machine. This is mainly relevant to the bearing issue or issue with the brakes on final drives. Or it may also be relevant to the slowing down in boom movement or boom controls. This largely happens in a final drive because of a seal leakage within your boom cylinder.
3. Ask What Changing You Made Recently
Before performing a troubleshooting procedure. You need to ask yourself if there are any changes that you made recently with your hydraulic system. Even a minor change can adversely impact and lead to severe consequences.
Ask yourself the following things:
Have You Changed Any Parts Recently?
Make sure to check if you have changed any components recently. If yes, then what components have you changed?
Have You Tweaked The Hydraulic Settings?
Hydraulic settings play an important role. Changing a single setting may lead to severe damage. Hydraulics aims to deliver sufficient pressure to carry out the performance. Increasing and decreasing below a specific limit will slow down your hydraulics.
Have You Ignored Replacing The Filter?
The filter is the key component when it comes to hydraulics. They perform the filtration of dirty oil. Thus, preventing contamination and debris within the oil. This elongates the working life of your hydraulic system. If you ignore changing this, you will shorten your vehicle life.
Have You Changed The Electrical Settings?
Electrical connections provide sufficient power. Wrong settings may lead to an un-operational hydraulic system.
Have You Filled The Hydraulic Fluid Above A Certain Point?
Putting in the excess hydraulic fluid will result in extra pressure and contribute to leakage. Hence filling in hydraulic fluid up to a certain point is necessary.
Did You Make Use Of Wrong Kind Of Gear Oil?
Using the wrong kind of gear oil also leads to severe damage. Because it possesses different chemical compositions and higher viscosities which may lead to increased friction. High friction contributes to high heat, resulting in wear and tear.
Apart from the points mentioned above, you also need to consider the following points:
- Have you carried out any repairs on site?
- What change in components affected your onsite performance?
- When did you carry out maintenance last time?
Changings that you ignore matter the most. They may help you detect the problem source.
Verdict
Save time and money!
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