There are five essential hydraulic tools that most people don’t have when troubleshooting hydraulic problems in the field. Most of these tools are well-known by maintenance crews. They are often overlooked when it comes time to troubleshoot a problem. Having these essential hydraulic tools will reduce on the amount of downtime that may occur, as well as reduce the amount of money spent on components that are changed without first verifying that they have failed.
Often the only tests and actions performed on a hydraulic system involve changing the filters, sampling the oil and checking the oil level. As long as the system is operating, the mentality of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” frequently prevails. However, on any given system in your plant, you should perform 15 to 20 regular reliability tests while the system is operating. There are also several checks and procedures that should be completed during shutdowns or down days. The following preventive maintenance and reliability tests can help improve the efficiency and operation of your hydraulic systems and machines.
“Should oil analysis be applied to all plant rotating equipment or just the critical equipment?”
This is a common question throughout industry. Unfortunately, there are no formal maintenance guidelines that provide specific answers. The decision of whether to perform oil analysis on certain equipment will be based on a number of factors in your facility’s asset management cycle, including the maturity of the maintenance and asset management programs. The more advanced the program, the more predictive/proactive resources may be used, including advanced oil analysis.
Do you know about silt lock? This common condition causes motion impediment failure in certain machines. While this type of failure usually doesn’t involve wear or permanent internal damage to the machine, it is sudden and abrupt. Silt lock is the result of solid contamination and is amplified by other conditions that must be controlled where possible. It is most often associated with hydraulic systems and produces seizure or jamming of components.
Most industrial facilities have bearings that rotate faster than normal processing equipment. When it comes to lubricating these pieces of equipment, not all lubricants behave the same way. For grease-lubricated components, the effects of the grease on the bearings can lead to increased heat, drag and ultimately premature failure. By properly selecting a grease that can handle these higher speeds, you can help minimize any potential failures caused by mismatching the lubricant to the application.
