The Truth About Hydraulic Fluid. If you know, you know.

Words: Steve Fechino

Winter Maintenance And The Art Of Hydraulic Repair
When I was a kid, winter was the time you went hunting and maintained your equipment so that when spring came, we were ready to work. I thought masonry offered me a career where I would have seasonal time off, silly me. I do not know when masonry went from an eight-month to a 12-month career; I think it was when I was in college. Still, winter maintenance is a thing for me.

Over the holiday, when it was not horrible outside, I decided to change out some old hydraulic lines on a larger piece of equipment that I have. I decided to measure the lines and wrote down the lengths of each hose I wanted to replace.

Preparation And Marking
Since I was replacing lines on a loader, the lines had a quick disconnect/connect on each line. I used a light-colored marker and marked corresponding lines to the ones I would replace; this makes connecting the new lines much easier to locate. This is something I have forgotten to do in the past, and really had to spend a bunch of time tracing lines.

I purchased a new quick disconnect/connect to install on the first line that I replaced on the pump. This allowed the removal of the original line and the replacement to take place really fast, eliminating hydraulic fluid from going everywhere as the replacement line was plugged with the quick disconnect/connect and kept everything much cleaner.

Know Your Fittings
Here is the pro tip: evaluate each line before you start removing everything. Check if you have covers at the valve body (this is where the line attaches to the individual control for the cylinder) or the manifold (this is where multiple lines come together before splitting off to a valve body). The reason for this is that if the hose is original, the manufacturer may have had custom fittings on one or both ends.

If you purchase replacement hoses from a local distributor, many off-the-shelf hoses will have MPT fittings (Male Pipe Thread). However, the threads are tapered NPT (National Pipe Taper). To fit as leak-proof when they are screwed into female ports, you must use a thread sealer when connecting these fittings to eliminate leaks. All this is mentioned because if you are connecting to a quick disconnect/connect, you will mate perfectly.

At times, you will need to connect to a valve body; then you will need to purchase JIC fittings. JIC stands for Joint Industry Council; these are fittings that seal with a compressed connection fit that are flared to ensure a proper seal. You do not use thread sealer with this type of fitting.



The Installation
Life will be much easier if you investigate each hose before you purchase your replacement. If I had removed covers and looked a little closer, my hose replacement project would have gone much faster. Ok, I did not have the proper fittings for the valve body connection, yup, another one of my goofs. The JIC fitting that I purchased did make the repair much easier; it had swivels. Therefore, I was able to connect the ends independently of each other without twisting the hose. I strongly recommend this type of fitting.

As far as tightening the fittings, here is my farm boy recommendation: tightening the fitting as tight as reasonably possible and not crushing it should be sufficient. It was for me.

Fluids And Testing
Before you start the piece of equipment, check your fluid levels. If you need to add hydraulic fluid, please make sure that you add the proper fluid for the individual machine that you are working on. Hydraulic fluid is not universal for every piece of equipment; you can have water-based, synthetic-based, or mineral-based, typically found in three different grades of 32, 46, and 68 grades of viscosity. Just reinforce the importance of using the proper product for your machine.

Run the equipment for a few minutes, operate the valve levers to remove any air that may be within the system, and then check for proper levels once again with the equipment on level ground and not running.

Just Start The Task
This repair was actually an easier repair than many that need to be made on equipment. I probably spent more time walking around the hoses in my shop than I did doing the actual repair. If I have learned anything in this trade, it is that you can overthink something and put it off, or you can just start the task, which actually is much more fun.

Stay warm out there, and remember that repairs on our equipment cannot be paid for unless we get one over two.


About: Fechino Files
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