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Hydraulic fluid, conditioning and storage.

Article Excerpt
Hydraulic fluid, conditioning and storage

by Chad Elmore and Michelle EauClaire

Part Three of OEM Off-Highway's trip through the mobile hydraulic circuit.

All of the components in a properly functioning mobile hydraulic system work as a team. Take one of the players away and the machine will cease to function, or limp off to the sideline for some expensive time off. Until recently, an important member of the team really hasn't received the attention it deserves. Hydraulic oil has been the water boy of sorts, an afterthought in the overall layout of the system. But without hydraulic oil, the machine would not move at all.

Published by Sperry Vickers in 1967, Mobile Hydraulics Manual M-2990-A puts coverage of the oil in the back of the book as Appendix A. The manual, for its time, is comprehensive in its coverage of a mobile off-highway machine's hydraulic system. The introductory paragraph on fluid says, "The oil in a hydraulic system serves as the power transmission medium. It is also the system's lubricant and coolant. Selection of the proper oil is a requirement for satisfactory system performance and life."

Following that the hydraulic oil gets covered through a relatively quick look at viscosity and cold-weather conditions. The industry has evolved in the 40 years since the manual was published, while some basics of the hydraulic system hold true.

From the high-horsepower engines in road building equipment to the tight tolerances in the hydraulic system of a cotton harvester present machines are much less tolerant to dust and other contaminants. Today, hydraulic fluid deserves more than a mention in an appendix. Machine performance can be increased by fine-tuning the oil through careful base oil and additive selection. Like the more expensive parts in the fluid system, the condition of the fluid is more significant now than ever, and it's driving improvements in filter design. Plus, it's more critical than ever to anticipate machine problems by monitoring engine and hydraulic oils.

Laboratories can read the fluid to determine machine health, information that end-users can utilize to better plan preventative maintenance schedules. Engineers at OEMs can make use of this information, too, in order to better understand how a machine is performing in the field.

End-users and OEMs are realizing the importance of including a fluid analysis program in their preventative maintenance routines....

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