One of our members wrote me about a case study he read in which the life of a mineral hydraulic oil in a mobile hydraulic machine was extended from the 4,000 hours recommended by the machine’s manufacturer to 17,000 hours. The question raised was: “is this really possible?”
The first thing to keep in mind is that hydraulic oil should … Read more
A rookie systems engineer designed the (simplified) circuit shown below. The cylinder extends and retracts (auto cycles) as part of an industrial process. During commissioning, the cylinder cycled as intended. But as soon as the hydraulic system reached operating temperature, the cylinder started drifting out between cycles, causing the PLC to shut down the entire process.
The systems engineer had … Read more
Couple months ago while spraying woody weeds at my lake house in New South Wales, I felt something strike my left leg. This was odd since I was standing still at the time. So I looked down to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be the tail of a brown snake disappearing into the long grass.
Concerned, I retreated … Read more