Drive motor housing -- sandblast?

[Johnfused]

Hose to drive motor burst so had to remove panel. When I did, I saw no motor, no hoses. Just dry compacted dirt.



Somewhat stunned because this was all new to me -- the digger, Takeuchi TB016 was 5 y.o.
Cleaned it out and thought the innards were awfully rusty.


I thought this was a(nother) design fault -- I know the motors are horribly expensive yet they have no protection from dust and water. Just a metal panel held on by just three bolts.
Got an old tractor tyre inner tube thinking I'd make an oversize gasket, leaving the rubber flopping outside. Then there's the openings where the hoses pass through -- why are there no gaiters, a bit like a CV boot.

But on reflection I thought that rather it being a brilliant idea it was more barmy. Because if water were able to get in where the hoses go in -- because no way could the gaiters be made perfect -- , it wouldn't be able to get out, making things even worse than ever.

It's the same with the 'belly panel's I'm calling them: What a mess under there where you're trying to replace a hose.





So I got a pistol attachment for a pressure washer to be able to shoot upwards. I'm dubious about making those panels watertight, too. Ideas?

Get a cheapo sandblast kit and repaint the motor and housing?
Anyone have experience of this? Or reflections?
Thank you.

 

[Legdoc]

I think you will find this is a typical design. If a machine gets packed with soil especially salty material rust will be put into the turbo mode. One would think as expensive as these machines are a few simple design modifications could be employed to 'seal" things up a bit better. But it is what it is. This is basically an maintenance item. I think you have three choices.
1. Wash the compartment out and button it up.
2. Clean it better and spray it down with something like Corrosion X HD annually.
3. Clean it up well, degrease, degrease again, degrease again, blast, prime and paint the area with high grade primer and paint. Preferably epoxy primer and urethane paint. Both nasty and hazardous.

Blasting and painting the hose tunnel will be no fun to get it 100%.

 

[Drag racer]

Hose to drive motor burst so had to remove panel. When I did, I saw no motor, no hoses. Just dry compacted dirt.

View attachment 293830

Somewhat stunned because this was all new to me -- the digger, Takeuchi TB016 was 5 y.o.
Cleaned it out and thought the innards were awfully rusty.
View attachment 293831

I thought this was a(nother) design fault -- I know the motors are horribly expensive yet they have no protection from dust and water. Just a metal panel held on by just three bolts.
Got an old tractor tyre inner tube thinking I'd make an oversize gasket, leaving the rubber flopping outside. Then there's the openings where the hoses pass through -- why are there no gaiters, a bit like a CV boot.

But on reflection I thought that rather it being a brilliant idea it was more barmy. Because if water were able to get in where the hoses go in -- because no way could the gaiters be made perfect -- , it wouldn't be able to get out, making things even worse than ever.

It's the same with the 'belly panel's I'm calling them: What a mess under there where you're trying to replace a hose.

View attachment 293832

View attachment 293833

So I got a pistol attachment for a pressure washer to be able to shoot upwards. I'm dubious about making those panels watertight, too. Ideas?

Get a cheapo sandblast kit and repaint the motor and housing?
Anyone have experience of this? Or reflections?
Thank you.

Take a look at Por 15 rust preventive paint works great.

 

[kshansen]

Agree on the clean and paint with something but I would add remove covers and was on a regular basis. If that mess took five years to build up that bad once or twice a year would go a long way to keeping it fairly clean.

 

[Nige]

What those photos show is a lack of care and attention to cleaning on the part of the previous owner(s), not a design problem. It’s impossible to make those compartments 100% proof against liquid entry. Ergo, open them up and clean regularly. It’s also an opportunity to inspect things such as hose condition, check for loose hardware, etc, etc.

 

[Johnfused]

Thanks a lot Arkwright. So what do you think of my floppy gaskets? Strange to me that this is not a part of scheduled maintenance. Have seen nothing on YouTube about this, just repairing them once it's too late!
Others have replied, and replies to them are going to be more complicated. But whenever I see Ronnie Barker in his brown 'Open All Hours' overalls I do smile and am prompted to respond. Obviously only Brits, and Brits of a certain age, would understand your avatar.
Thanks again.

 

[Johnfused]

Agree on the clean and paint with something but I would add remove covers and was on a regular basis. If that mess took five years to build up that bad once or twice a year would go a long way to keeping it fairly clean.

Yup will certainly be doing that. Good job that hose burst really otherwise I would never have thought to look in there. Actually bought a huge set of tap and dies to rethread the holes, and new bolts.
Thanks for comment.

 

[Johnfused]

Take a look at Por 15 rust preventive paint works great.

Thanks. Been watching that genius at Project Farm.

But his tests are OTT for our needs (He fires ball bearings , scratches with screws, blah, blah. ) I attach oxidization results.

 

[Johnfused]

Agree on the clean and paint with something but I would add remove covers and was on a regular basis. If that mess took five years to build up that bad once or twice a year would go a long way to keeping it fairly clean.

Thanks, will do. Not listed in my manual unfortunately. Took a pain in the butt to force me into action.

 

[Johnfused]

Take a look at Por 15 rust preventive paint works great.

Thanks, have replied on that product below.

 

[Johnfused]

I think you will find this is a typical design. If a machine gets packed with soil especially salty material rust will be put into the turbo mode. One would think as expensive as these machines are a few simple design modifications could be employed to 'seal" things up a bit better. But it is what it is. This is basically an maintenance item. I think you have three choices.
1. Wash the compartment out and button it up.
2. Clean it better and spray it down with something like Corrosion X HD annually.
3. Clean it up well, degrease, degrease again, degrease again, blast, prime and paint the area with high grade primer and paint. Preferably epoxy primer and urethane paint. Both nasty and hazardous.

Blasting and painting the hose tunnel will be no fun to get it 100%.

Thanks muchos. Yours was the first response but I'm working upwards so apologies for getting the last reply. I've spent hours looking at rust removers. Was hoping to hear what others actually do. And no comment about my idea of making rubber 'gaskets'. Surprising for such a phenomenally expensive item... Have looked up the Corrosion X HD, but that was hours ago, and now I've forgotten what I learned! I know about Waxoyl from using it in UK. Strange you mention / stress degrease because there is no grease there -- which I hope is a Good Thing, since at least it means no leaks.
Exhausted brain now but will do SOMETHING!!
Thank you.

 

[Legdoc]

You are correct Sir, there should be no grease or oil in there. Anytime I paint equipment I thoroughly degrease to remove any traces of oils or lubricant that you may not see. This could easily come from a hose or fitting or other source. Having the primer or paint blister can ruin your day. I generally abrasive blast. OCD gets the best of me sometimes.

 

[OzDozer]

We have a local manufacturer of rust-proofing paints, and they produce a primer called Metalfix.

It's as dear as sin, but this stuff is absolutely amazing, and AFAIC, it's better than POR15 paint.
It's water based, and contains phosphoric acid in its formula. It can be painted over rust, and it simply bonds with the rust and forms an impermeable coating.

I've seen a Landcruiser painted with this Metalfix paint, and then used to drag boats in and out of the ocean on a daily basis for over 10 years, and there wasn't any corrosion on that Landcruiser after 10 years of daily ocean dips.

What is even more amazing is that Metalfix withstands over 1000 degrees of heat. You can paint exhaust manifolds with it - and it lasts for years and years in the container. .

I've got some that's around 20 years old, in original containers, and all you do is add about 3% water to it, if it has stiffened up, stir it thoroughly, and it's good to use again!

You simply wash up your brushes in water, it's non-toxic, and the brushes clean up easily.
To apply Metalfix primer, you simply wire brush and pressure-wash the rust to remove as much flakey rust as possible, then just paint the surface.

Once painted with the Metalfix primer, and it's dried, you can then paint over the top of it with any other type of paint.
The guy who invented this paint is a professional chemist, and he took years to perfect it. It's been in production for over 30 years at least now, and the only thing that stops it selling in larger quantities is its expense.

Metalfix | Phoenix Paints

www.phoenixpaints.com.au

 

[Johnfused]

Thank you for talking the time to write that. Looked for it, couldn't find it. Spent enough time looking for stuff highly recommended by people, find it on Amazon ... where it is UNAVAILABLE. Just ordered something called..oops, forgotten... Rubson's 'Framento Stop-rouille' (=rust). 800+ reviews only 1% one-star, 1% 2-star. That's as close to perfection for any product I've seen. 30€ a litre. Delivery tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone for their recommendations. Decision made.
Oh, here's another comparison test I watched:

 

[Johnfused]

You are correct Sir, there should be no grease or oil in there. Anytime I paint equipment I thoroughly degrease to remove any traces of oils or lubricant that you may not see. This could easily come from a hose or fitting or other source. Having the primer or paint blister can ruin your day. I generally abrasive blast. OCD gets the best of me sometimes.

Thank you. I've seen prices for these drive motors from £1,000 to $1,800!! They're worth spending time and money to take care of them. So it's not really OCD, it's just sensible.
Please explain 'abrasive blast'; is it what I've called 'sand blasting' with another medium? I only have a 50l compressor but given that we're only talking about something the size of a matchbox, and no time pressure, that should be ok.
Ah, just had a(nother) genius idea to complement my old tyre gasket. I've retapped the bolt holes and got new bolts so there should (might) be a good seal. So how about pouring old motor oil in where the hoses go in until it gets to overflowing? (Unless you're going to faff around putting a drain plug in near the bottom of the panel, just lift the machine, and put a wide basin underneath.) I look forward to having this idea blasted out of ...water!

 

[Johnfused]

Thought: no need for drain plug -- removing lower bolt might do the job...