Post recession, the earthmoving and construction equipment industry is loOKing at rapid growth once again. Investments in new facilities, innovation, new developments in machinery are being encouraged globally. Hydraulic equipment and truck bodies companies in Brisbane are also witnessing similar growth trends.
On any construction site you see hydraulically operated machinery in the form of bull dozers, back hoes, shovels, loaders, forklifts and cranes. From the most commonly seen tag trailers, excavators to huge machines you see on a construction site, hydraulic equipment in omnipresent as they have amazing strength and agility.
However, hydraulic equipments Brisbane or for that matter all over the world, are expensive. So when you don't get the maximum output from them it hurts your bottom line. How then should you increase the life of your hydraulic equipment, eliminate unnecessary breakdowns, reduce unscheduled downtime and save on operating costs? Below are the most common mistakes hydraulic equipment users make that need to be avoided to achieve this goal;
Focus on eliminating failures
Most companies spend a lot of money training their maintenance personnel to troubleshoot hydraulic system failures. However, 90% of the time and money spent could be reduced, if we focus on preventing system failures and maintenance issues instead.
Changing the oil
There are only two conditions that require a hydraulic oil change; degradation of the base oil or depletion of the additive package. Changing the oil without properly assessing its condition or degradation level is the last thing you should do with such high oil prices.
Changing the filters
A similar case applies to filters. If you change them based on schedule, you may either be too late or too early. The solution is to change your filters when their dirt-holding capacity is used up before the bypass valve opens. Continuous monitoring of pressure drop or a clogging indicator would help in deciding when it is time to change filters.
Running too hot
High-temperature operation is the fastest way to destroy hydraulic components, seals, hoses and oil. How hot is too hot for a hydraulic system? It mainly depends on the viscosity and viscosity index of oil and the type of hydraulic components in the system. Oil viscosity (lubrication) largely determines the maximum and minimum oil temperatures within which a system can safely operate. For most systems, it is advised to operate below a temperature of 82 degrees Celsius to avoid failures.
Using the wrong oil
Oil is the most important component of any hydraulic system. Not only is hydraulic oil a lubricant, it is also the means by which power is transferred throughout the system. Using the wrong viscosity oil not only results in lubrication damage and premature failure of major components but also increases power consumption (diesel or electricity). This will in turn increase your operating costs.
Wrong filter locations
There are two hydraulic filter locations that do more harm than good. These are the pump inlet and drain lines from the housings of piston pumps and motors. These filter locations can drastically reduce the service life of the components they are meant to protect.
The fact is, if the right steps arena followed during initial start-up, hydraulic equipment can be seriously damaged. In some cases, they may work OK for a while, but the harm incurred at start-up then dooms them to premature failure. There are two parts to getting this dilemma right: knowing what to do and remembering to do it.
