Hydraulic components are expensive and, so, regardless of the amount of spares that you carry, one thing you want to make sure of is that your inventory is not deteriorating in storage. With this in mind, here are a few pointers for the effective long-term storage of hydraulic components:
“A boroscope inspection of the main turbine oil reservoir at our power plant revealed paint chips in the reservoir, puddles of water, red-iron oxide particles (rust) and babbitt material in one of the main return lines. The babbitt can most likely be attributed to a hydrogen fire that happened more than five years ago and wiped the bearings. As this fire occurred in the summer and electricity prices were high, a flush at that time was not performed.
Many maintenance departments today “fight fires” instead of approaching their problems systematically. Prevention is a far better goal than trying to solve problems as they arise. While this strategy may be a little costly at first, it is not nearly as expensive as allowing problems to occur.
Industry rides on a film of oil. The oil’s viscosity bears the load and defines the extent of clearance achieved between working surfaces. Sometimes that clearance is thick and bountiful, and other times it is deflated or extinct. Without viscosity, most machines would rapidly self-destruct with mechanical friction and wear.
Hydraulic wiper seals are the first line of defense in many hydraulic systems. Unfortunately, they are also a perpetual problem for most users of hydraulic machinery. Microscopic scratches and gouges on the surface of cylinder rods can significantly reduce the life of wiper seals and give contaminants an easy path into the system. Particles as small as 5 microns can act like sandpaper on these surfaces, causing a chain of wear that grows exponentially in these fine-tolerance systems.
