Looking after Hydraulic Systems

10 November 2020 by Mike Retford

Reliability of hydraulic systems has increased over the past 30 years, as the understanding of oil cleanliness has improved and the installation of filters by hydraulics systems manufacturers has also improved. The choice of filtration has never been higher so there is no excuse for no filtration or outdated filters fitted to modern hydraulic systems. Also there are also plenty of particle counters on the market giving you oil cleanliness data immediately. 

Failure of hydraulic systems though poor oil cleanliness should not be a problem, as long as education of suppliers and end users is maintained.

Other potential hydraulic systems issues are often overlooked;

Heat build up  - due to no cooling installed or poorly maintained coolers can cause the oil the degrade, seals to degrade and hydraulic components to wear.

Maintenance of instrumentation - does the filter blockage switch work, or does the level switch work? Switches and sensors provide important information to the users of hydraulic systems. Preventing low oil levels, high pressure levels and high fluid temperatures are some of the most important roles. If your filter blockage switch does not work, how do you know when to change your filters?

Changes in set pressures and cycles times - unless monitored by a plc system, with set limits, most systems do not have the facility to flag up issues. Hydraulic components will wear over time and pumps will supply less flow and less pressure. Knowing that this is occuring is important as remedial work can be planned in.

Hydraulic maintenance is not limited to changing hoses and filters. There are other parts of the system that should be checked during a maintenance visit.

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