Motor Oil Info

Heat and contamination present serious challenges for hydraulic oils. If the system becomes too hot, the oil’s viscosity can thin to the point where the pump is damaged or seals are destroyed. because conventional hydraulic oil is often less expensive than synthetic hydraulic oil, it is important to emphasize the benefits and cost saving AMSOIL Synthetic Hydraulic Oils provide customers.

Heat Reduction – The synthetic construction of AMSOIL Synthetic Hydraulic Oils can reduce heat in hydraulic systems, less varnish build up and oxidation, reduction in component wear ( including hoses), longer seal life and better overall system performance.

Because many equipment operators consider blown hoses, leaky seals and loss of hydraulic fluid an unavoidable problem, they may not initially be interested in investing in more expensive hydraulic fluid they believe will just end up on the ground. This is usually the most significant obstacle to overcome when trying to sell a premium hydraulic oil to an account.

To counter this mindset, first determine why they lose hoses. If they mainly get snagged, chafed or damaged externally, they will continue to lose hoses until they physically remedy the situation. However, if the hoses and seals are blowing in cold weather or because of deterioration, AMSOIL Synthetic Hydraulic Oils can help. Cold and heat wreak havoc on hoses and seals. Cold, thick fluid can cause pressure spikes and extremely hot fluid breaks down hoses and seals over time. The superior cooling and flow properties of AMSOIL Synthetic Hydraulic Oils help preserve hose integrity.

As a World Ag Expo Top-10 New Product, Biodegradable Hydraulic Oil will be featured in the event’s New Product Center, as well as in a variety of publications, including the World Ag Expo Preview Magazine, Offical World Ag Expo Show Guide, the World Ag Expo Top-10 New product Digest and the event’s website at www.worldagexpo.com.

AMSOIL Biodegradable Synthetic Hydraulic Oil (BHO) is designed to provide premium hydraulic fluid performance for demanding applications, while effectively addressing biodegradability and low toxicity requirements. Its blend of high oleic oils, synthetic esters and customized additives not only protects hydraulic components against wear, but also protects the environment in the case of leakage or spills.

Continuing with Brendan Casey, Seven Most Common Hydraulic Equipment Mistakes, Mistake No.7. “Not getting an education in hydraulics, “The purpose of this article is to show that if you own, operate, repair or maintain hydraulic equipment and you aren’t aware of the latest equipment maintenance practices, a lot of money can slip through your fingers.”

AMSOIL offers many different kinds of hydraulic oils, even one Biodegradable oil ISO 46 and 5 different anti-wear hydraulic oils, from ISO 15 to 68, and one Tractor Hydraulic/Transmission oil. So if you have a need, we have an oil.

Continuing with Brenden Casey, Seven Most Common Hydraulic Equipment Mistakes, Mistake No. 6. “Believing hydraulic components are self priming and self lubricating, You wouldn’t start an engine without oil in the crankcase-not knowingly, anyway. And yet, I’ve seen the same thing happen to a lot of high priced hydraulic components.”

“The fact is, if the right steps aren’t followed during initial start-up, hydraulic components can be seriously damaged. In some cases, they may work OK for a while, but the harm incurred at start-up then dooms them to premature failure. There are two parts to getting this dilemma right: knowing what to do and remembering to do it. Not knowing what to do is one thing. However if you do know, but forget to do it, that’s soul-destroying. You can’t pat yourself on the back for filling the pump housing with clean oil when you forgot to open the intake isolation valve before starting the engine!”

Continuing with Brendan Casey, Seven most Common Hydraulic Equipment Mistakes. Mistake No.5, Wrong filter locations. “Any filter is a good filter, right? Wrong! There are two hydraulic filter locations that do more harm than good and can rapidly destroy the very components they were installed to protect. These filter locations which should be avoided are the pump inlet and drain lines from the housing of piston pumps and motors. This contradicts conventional wisdom: that it is necessary to have a strainer on the pump inlet to protect it from “trash”. The pump draws its oil from a dedicated reservoir.”

“If getting maximum pump life is your primary concern (and it should be), then it’s far more important for the oil to freely and completely fill the pumping chambers during every intake than it is to protect the pump from nuts and bolts. These pose no danger in a properly designed reservoir, where the pump inlet penetration is a least 2 inches off the bottom. Reseach has shown that a restricted intake can reduce the service life of a gear pump by 56 percent. And, it’s worse for vane and piston pumps because these designs are less able to withstand the vacuum induced forces caused by a restricted intake. Hydraulic pumps are not designed to suck.”

“A different set of problems arises from filters installed on the drain lines of piston pumps and motors, but the result is the same as suction strainers. They can reduce life and cause catastrophic failers in these high priced components.

Continuing with Brenden Casey, Seven Most Common Hydraulic Equipment Mistakes. Mistake No. 4, Using the wrong oil, “The oil is the most important component of any hydraulic system. Not only is hydraulic oil a lubricant, it is also the means by which power is tranferred throughout the hydraulic system. It’s this dual role which makes viscosity the most important property of the oil, because it affects both machine performance and service life.”

“Oil viscosity largely determines the maximum and minimum oil temperatures within which the hydraulic system can safely operate. If you use oil with a viscosity that’s too high for the climate in which the machine must operate, the oil won’t flow properly or lubricate adequately during cold start. If you use oil with a viscosity too low for the prevailing climate, it won’t maintain the required minimum viscosity, and therefore adequate lubrication, on the hottest days of the year.”

“Using the wrong viscosity oil not only results in lubrication damage and premature failure of major components, it also increases power consumption (diesel or electricity) two things you don’t want. And despite what you might think, you won’t necessarily get the correct viscosity oil by blindly following the blanket recommendation of the machine manufacturer.”

Continuing with Brenden Casey article on “Seven Most Common Hydraulic Equipment Mistakes,” Mistake No.3 – “Running too hot. Few equipment owners or operators continue to operate an engine that is overheating. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said when the hydraulic system gets too hot. But like an engine , the fastest way to destroy hydraulic components, seals, hoses and the oil itself is high temperature operation”.

“How hot is too hot for a hydraulic system? It depends mainly on the viscosity and viscosity index (rate of change in viscosity with temperature) of the oil, and the type of hydraulic components in the system. As the oil’s temperature increases, its viscosity decreases. Therefore, a hydraulic system is operating too hot when it reaches the temperature at which oil viscosity falls below that required for adequate lubrication.”

“A vane pump requires a higher minimum viscosity than a piston pump, for example. This is why the type of components used in the system also influences its maximum operating temperature. Apart from the issue of adequate lubrication, the importance of which cannot be overstated, operating temperatures above 82 degrees Celsius (179.6 degrees F) damage most seal and hose compounds and accelerate degradation of the oil. But for the reasons already explained, a hydraulic system can be running too hot well below this temperature.”

Continue with the same article by Brendan Casey: Mistake no.2. “Changing the filters: A similar situation applies to hydraulic filters. If you change them based on schedule, you’re changing them either too early or too late. If you change them early, before all their dirt holding capacity is used up, you’re wasting money on unnecessary filter changes. If you change them late, after the filter has gone on bypass, the increase in particles in the oil quietly reduces the service life of every component in the hydraulic system costing a lot more in the long run”.

“The solution is to change your filters when all their dirt holding capacity is used up, but before the bypass valve opens. This requires a mechanism to monitor the restriction to flow (pressure drop) across the filter element and alert you when this point is reached. A clogging indicator is the crudest form of this device. A better solution is continuous monitoring of pressure drop across the filter.”

I found a great article on hydraulic in Machinery Lubrication by Brendan Casey – ” The Seven Most Common Hydraulic Equipment Mistakes”. Mistake No.1 – Changing the Oil: Two conditions that mandate a hydraulic oil change are the degradation of the base oil or depletion of the additives. Because there are so many variables that determine how quickly oils degrade and additives get used up, changing hydraulic oil is like shooting in the dark. Instead, changing the hydraulic oil is based on hours in service, without any reference to the actual condition of the oil.

“Given the current high price of oil, dumping oil which doesn’t need to be changed is the last thing you want to do. On the other hand, if you continue to operate with the base oil degraded or additives depleted, you compromise the service life of every other component in the hydraulic system. The only way to know when the oil needs to be changed is through oil analysis.”