Arm cylinder warmer than others, seals?

[Mattir]

Ec15 b again.

Arm hydraulic cylinder is a lot warmer than the others. Is that a sign of internal seal leak?

How to repair?

[Muz]

No... just youve cycled more oil through it than all the others so its more up to temprature

[Mattir]

Well, that could be the reason. I use the bucket and boom cylinders equally often but they run cool. That arm is the only one getting some warmth, others run cold. Hydraulic oil temp. I haven't measured but after a 5 hours session the reservoir felt like 45...55C to hand.

[Muz]

Well, that could be the reason. I use the bucket and boom cylinders equally often but they run cool. That arm is the only one getting some warmth, others run cold. Hydraulic oil temp. I haven't measured but after a 5 hours session the reservoir felt like 45...55C to hand.

THe further away the ram is from the engine, the more transfer pipe the oil has to travel through, which will cool it more

[Mattir]

THe further away the ram is from the engine, the more transfer pipe the oil has to travel through, which will cool it more

agree.

How would a hydraulic ram behave if it had a leaking seal inside?

[Muz]

If you mean the seal pack on the rod end .. It would lose pressure and lift capacity slightly, and also drop slowly when the engine is turned off. If you mean the end cap end, it would just sweat, or leak oil. There is a way to test for the former. You need to lower the ram in question onto a block or some sort of temporary rest. Disconnect both feed pipes and securely seal the fittings off with blanking caps on the ram, knock away the rest, and come back in 15 minutes and see if the ram has dropped, if it has, then the seals on the seal pack on the rod have failed, or the internal cylinder bore is damaged at the position of where the seal pack is.

[Mattir]

If you mean the seal pack on the rod end .. It would lose pressure and lift capacity slightly, and also drop slowly when the engine is turned off. If you mean the end cap end, it would just sweat, or leak oil. There is a way to test for the former. You need to lower the ram in question onto a block or some sort of temporary rest. Disconnect both feed pipes and securely seal the fittings off with blanking caps on the ram, knock away the rest, and come back in 15 minutes and see if the ram has dropped, if it has, then the seals on the seal pack on the rod have failed, or the internal cylinder bore is damaged at the position of where the seal pack is.

thanks Muz.

Good to know.