A question I’m asked regularly is “What is the best way to test the integrity of the piston seal in a double-acting hydraulic cylinder?”

There is a simple bench-test for doing this but it involves the intensification of pressure in the cylinder. While the test procedure is safe if you understand the concept of intensification in a hydraulic cylinder – … Read more

Troubleshooting is an inferential process. So to become an effective troubleshooter, you must have a solid PROCESS. But you also need relevant KNOWLEDGE. Consider the old Indian Monkey Trap, for example:

The trap consists of a hollowed-out coconut chained to a stake. The coconut contains rice which can be accessed through a hole in the coconut’s shell. The hole is … Read more

In a previous blog post I discussed the true cost of hydraulic oil leaks. In the case of oil leaks, the cost areas that need to be considered include:

Make-up fluid;
Clean-up;
Disposal;
Contaminant ingress; and
Safety.

But what about hydraulics’ fluid power cousin – pneumatics? One of the advantages that pneumatics has over hydraulics is its clean-ness. Air leaks … Read more