Water in hydraulic oil

[Columbo]

I used a refrigerator compressor, with an air filter on the intake and the output going through a steel 3/16" brake line that was inside a hose to allow the exhaust air to warm the incoming air, had the hose come off the top but turn and slant down and away to drain condensation out. Also warmed the oil at the same time, but that was winter, might not need the heat in summer or for an hour after use.

Interesting, I happen to have an old fridge compressor around. If I set something like this up and used it in the machine tank after every time I used the machine would that help dry out the water remaining in the system after I flushed it out a few times? Do you have a picture of your setup?

 

[mekanik]

I used to look after a fleet of bucket trucks. One of them was a "bare-hand truck" it was used to work on the transmission lines. Most were 287KV if I remember correctly. The hydraulic oil had to have a dielectric test done every three months. If it failed the tank had to be drained and refilled then cycle every hydraulic cylinder three times. Then drain refill again and cycle the cylinders a total of three times then send out a sample of the new oil for a dielectric test. It seemed to fail every third test and took 200 litres to flush the system.
The solution was to install a sealed filler cap and desiccant filter for a vent in one of the spare threaded holes in the hydraulic tank. This seemed to resolve the problem.
The filter came from Altec Aerials. It was a black plastic cylinder with a clear plastic cap that had a red plastic pin that would pop up when the desiccant was full.

 

[Delmer]

Interesting, I happen to have an old fridge compressor around. If I set something like this up and used it in the machine tank after every time I used the machine would that help dry out the water remaining in the system after I flushed it out a few times? Do you have a picture of your setup?

I don't have a picture of the setup, I hooked it up after running the machine, or ran it overnight with heat. Just the rubber hose over the tube, no hose clamps because there's no pressure.

I'd think it would work better to remove the gross contamination, THEN change the oil. Like I said, use air to get from 5% to .5% water, then change the oil to get another half of the water out. Instead of changing the oil to get from 5 to 2.5% and then trying to get down to .25% with air.

 

[LN Pipeline]

Does anyone know of a desiccant breather with a 2 to 5 psi regulator built into it? Preferably built out of steel or aluminum?

 

[Columbo]

So, I decided to flush the system thoroughly, with the help of @Monkeywithawrench (thanks again!). Total of about 85 gallons of oil and all new filters. After 5 hours of runtime I pulled an oil sample; today I got the results back (see attached). No water was noted in the sample and the cleanliness still seems good. Hopefully that puts this issue behind me!

 

[Nige]

ISO 16/12 is better than the standard for new/fill oils which is 16/13.
A couple of filter changes and you'll be back down to the 15/11 where you were before.

 

[Columbo]

ISO 16/12 is better than the standard for new/fill oils which is 16/13.
A couple of filter changes and you'll be back down to the 15/11 where you were before.

Thanks Nige. What interval would you suggest before the next filter change?

 

[Nige]

If it was me I would have put a High Efficiency clean-out filter in it for 50 hours after changing the oil.
What is the Part Number of the standard filter.?

 

[Columbo]

If it was me I would have put a High Efficiency clean-out filter in it for 50 hours after changing the oil.
What is the Part Number of the standard filter.?

093-7521 is the hydraulic filter, 5I-8670 is the pilot and 126-2081 is the return. (Those are the numbers on the filters I just put on).

 

[Nige]

Use a 179-9806 on the return in place of the 126-2081. The other two filter Part Numbers can remain the same. Don't run it more than 100 hours before changing.

 

[Columbo]

Got it, thanks Nige. I’ll pick up one of those filters this week and install it.