Essential Guidelines for Storing Hydraulic Cylinders
Hydraulic Repair Near Me Hydraulic cylinders, being costly, demand careful storage to avoid deterioration. Correct storage is crucial to prevent both internal and external damage.
Pre-Storage Care for Hydraulic Cylinders
- Greasing: Apply grease to the eye, clevis bushes, and bearings, especially if they are steel, to protect against rust.
- Oil-Impregnated Tape: Use this tape, like Denso tape, on the chrome areas of the cylinder rod for protection. Ensure the rod is fully retracted before application to avoid damaging the rod seal.
- Service Port Plugs: Use Hydraulic Repair Near Me steel plugs rated for the cylinder’s pressure. Avoid plastic plugs due to inferior sealing and ease of dislodgement. Attach warning tags to the ports and fit each with a pressure test point for safe pressure monitoring.
Best Practices for Hydraulic Cylinder Storage
- Storing with Air: Use dry air to fill the cylinder to prevent rusting and pitting. Store cylinders vertically with the piston rod up and fully retracted to reduce seal stress and prevent condensation. Note the safety risks with vertical storage of heavy cylinders.
- Storing with Oil: Advisable for heavy, high-pressure cylinders. Fill with oil when fully retracted, using the rod-end port. Store horizontally for safety, but rotate every two weeks to prevent seal deformation due to long-term stress.
Hydraulic Cylinder Storage Conditions
- Store indoors in a clean, dry area away from direct sunlight, snow, or extreme temperature changes. UV exposure can cause surface damage and, in severe cases, complete disintegration. Avoid storing oil-filled cylinders in fluctuating temperatures, as this can lead to internal pressure build-up or vacuum formation, causing seal failure and fluid contamination.
Key Points for Hydraulic Cylinder Storage
- Indoor Storage: Ensure that the Hydraulic Repair Near Me storage space is inside to maintain a controlled environment. Fluctuations in temperature, from extreme cold to heat, can lead to gradual deterioration of cylinders and components, even when not in use.
- Clean and Dry Hydraulic Repair Near Me Environment: Store new parts and components in a space that is free from dust, dirt, and moisture. Such contaminants can compromise the integrity and reduce the lifespan of these parts.
- Sealing Open Ports: All ports and port connections should be properly sealed with appropriate plugs and covers. This is crucial to prevent the ingress of dust, dirt, and moisture.
- Protection of Metal Parts: Use grease on internal surfaces and petroleum jelly on exposed external metal parts, like rods. Ensure rods are retracted before application. After applying these protective substances, cover them with a protective wrap to further safeguard against environmental factors.
Key Guidelines for Preserving Hydraulic Components in Storage
Hydraulic components are a significant investment, and to ensure their longevity, proper storage practices are essential. Here’s a summary of effective strategies for long-term preservation of these components:
- Indoor Storage: Keep all Hydraulic Repair Near Me components indoors in a clean, dry environment. While smaller parts like pumps, motors, and valves are easily stored inside, larger components like cylinders may be temptingly stored outside due to space constraints. However, indoor storage is always preferable.
- Metal Part Protection: Apply grease to the internal surfaces of cylinder eyes, clevis bushes, or bearings. For pump and motor drive shafts, use oil-impregnated tape, such as Denso tape. Similarly, protect the chrome on cylinder rods with this tape, ensuring the rod is fully retracted before application to avoid seal damage.
- Sealing Port Connections: Use steel plugs or blanking plates for component ports, avoiding plastic options that offer inferior sealing and can easily become dislodged, leading to contamination.
- Filling with Clean Hydraulic Oil: For high-value or high-pressure components, consider filling them with clean hydraulic oil via service or case drain ports. This step is essential to prevent moisture formation inside the component, which can lead to rusting and pitting. However, be cautious of temperature changes, as these can significantly alter the internal pressure of the oil.
- Example of Temperature Impact: If a cylinder filled with oil experiences a significant temperature rise, the internal pressure can increase dramatically, potentially leading to hazardous situations when opening service ports. Always ensure that the potential temperature rise won’t exceed the component’s safe working pressure.
- Safety Measures for Oil-Filled Components:
- Ensure that the maximum temperature increase won’t cause the internal pressure to surpass the safe working limit.
- Use port plugs or blanking plates that can handle the component’s working pressure.
- Attach warning labels to service ports.
- Provide a way to check and safely release any built-up pressure before removing service port blanks, like fitting a pressure test point for easy gauge attachment.
- Installation Precautions: When installing hydraulic components, always consider the possibility that they may contain pressurized oil and take appropriate safety measures.
Optimal Storage Methods for Hydraulic Repair Near Me Hydraulic Cylinders: A Practical Perspective
The best way to store large hydraulic cylinders, particularly concerning their orientation, is often debated. From my experience, the belief that large hydraulic cylinders must be stored vertically to prevent seal distortion is not necessarily accurate.
I recall two instances involving large cylinders from 400-ton hydraulic excavators, each weighing 2-3 tons with piston rods over a ton. These cylinders experienced premature seal failures, and the owners were advised by seal experts to store them vertically. However, let’s realistically assess this advice:
Imagine being tasked with storing a three-ton, four-meter-long cylinder vertically. This is not only a significant challenge but also poses a risk of the cylinder falling and causing damage or injury.
Consider the logistics: if the cylinder must be stored vertically to avoid damage, should it also be transported in this orientation over a 1,000-mile journey, including rough roads? This seems impractical, and yet, the cylinder must endure horizontal positioning and significant forces when in use on an excavator.
Logically, if the bearing bands on the piston and gland are designed to support the rod and prevent seal distortion under operational loads, they should be equally capable of handling the static weight in storage or dynamic forces during transportation.
In the cases I mentioned, despite storing the cylinders vertically, the seal failures persisted, indicating that vertical storage was not the solution. Troubleshooting showed that the issue lay elsewhere.