A hydraulic machine has lots of moving parts to maintain. In fact, a hydraulic system is one of the most complex systems to maintain effectively. And here’s one more item to add to the list: the machine’s drawings. A machine’s hydraulic (and electrical) schematic diagrams don’t wear out, but they do tend to become inaccurate over time.

Even absent a … Read more

Air is both a normal ingredient, and a contaminant, of hydraulic oil. It’s a normal ingredient because hydraulic fluid typically contains between 6 and 12 percent by volume of dissolved air. There’s no avoiding this. And provided this dissolved air stays dissolved, it poses no problem to the hydraulic system or the fluid.

But if this dissolved air comes out … Read more

During a recent conversation with a client, the issue of testing hydraulic pump rebuilds came up. As I explain in Insider Secrets to Hydraulics, it is essential that all hydraulic components are properly tested after rebuild. Ensuring a repaired component will perform the way it should when it’s installed on the machine BEFORE it leaves the repair shop, instills … Read more