Four Possible Reasons for Recurring Hydraulic Cylinder Repair
Some studies indicate that up to 25% of mechanical equipment failures are design flaws.
Hydraulic cylinders are an integral part of a hydraulic system, and are as common in a hydraulic system as both pumps and motors combined. As such, they receive a lot of wear and tear and are one of the most common parts to experience faults or damage. They can eat up a significant part of the maintenance budget for a hydraulic system.
Red Dragon Hydraulics Ltd. is aware of how important hydraulic cylinders are, and if you have cylinders that don't last as long as they should, you may need to address one or more of the following issues:
- Bent Rods - Cylinder rods can become bent due to insufficient rod diameter, insufficient material strength, improper cylinder mounting arrangement or a combination of all three. Once the rod bends, it puts excessive load on the rod-seal. This increases leakage and ultimately results in premature failure of the seal.
- Inadequate Bearing Area - If the surface area of the bearing (wear) bands in the gland and on the piston aren't sufficient to adequately support the side thrust transferred to the cylinder, excessive load is placed on the rod and piston seals. This results in deformation of the seals, and ultimately, their premature failure.
- Rod Finish - The surface finish of the cylinder rod has a significant effect on the life of the rod seal. If the surface is too smooth, seal life can be reduced as a result of inadequate lubrication. If the surface roughness is too high, contaminant ingression is increased and an unacceptable level of leakage past the rod seal can result.
- Ballooned Tubes - Ballooning of the cylinder tube is usually caused by insufficient wall thickness and/or material strength for the cylinder's operating pressure. Once the tube balloons, the correct tolerance between the piston seal and the tube wall is lost, allowing high-pressure fluid to bypass the seal. This high-velocity fluid can erode the seal and localized heating caused by the pressure drop across the piston reduces seal life.
As with all manufactured goods, there is a range of quality with hydraulic cylinders and if you have any that suffer recurring failure, it is likely that design modifications are required to break the cycle of failure and hydraulic cylinder repair. Red Dragon Hydraulics specializes in hydraulic cylinder repair and helping you fine-tune your cylinders to eliminate unnecessary down-time.
