Hydraulics Apps that will save you Time, Money and give you more professional image.

Ever blown a hydraulic hose and lost most of the hydraulic oil in the tank and then wondered how much oil you are going to need to re fill it? 

Remember when you were in maths class at school and you learned the fomula for volume ?

No? You were sick that day , or you were busy drawing a caricature of the teacher or it was Friday and you were daydreaming of what you would do on the weekend when you eventually woke up or .... school ...!  Dude ! that was was like .... 25 years ago!

FYI the formula for Volume = Length x Width x Height. All you need is a tape measure and a calculator and then the skills to convert the cubic volume calculated into something usefull like litres or gallons. 

We have had a few training sessions on how to calulate volume of tanks and the more complicated hydraulic cylinders and circular tanks. With some ...... success. We had an incident earlier this month that required multiple trips back to the workshop to get more oil because the volume of the hydraulic tank was estimated rather than calculated.

Now there are apps that you can download for free direct to your smart phone, tablet, iPad or iPhone and all you have to do is enter some dimensions in metric or imperial and all is calculated into usefull and understandable numbers in a matter of seconds. Additionally the entire calculation can then be copied and attached to an email or text message and sent to anyone for their information and further analysis.

Both of the apps shown below are screen shots from free apps by Zanthic Innovations Inc.

First is from Hydraulic Power Unit Calculator this app it also includes a power and torque calculator.

The second screen shot is from Hydraulic Cylinder Calculator this app will also give you the extened and retract speed of a cylinder and the forces generated if you know the pressures and flow rates.

Have fun with these apps and we hope the new financial year is great one for you. 

Screen shot,  Hydraulic Power Unit  Calculator.

Screen Shot, Hydraulic Cylinder Calculator.

What does a hydraulic cylinder from a 20 ton crane have in common with a hydraulic cylinder from a Mercedes Benz convertible?

They both require a 10 year inspection and rebuild.

With the crane it is mandatory and is required by Australian Law. 

Generally the size and design of these cylinders allow for dismantling cleaning and resealing with the use and application of specialist tools, skills and techniques.

The Mercedes Benz convertible cylinder as with most other makes of convertible car, the internal seals in the clylinder eventually deteriorate and fail causing the roof to malfunction, and worst of all

allowing the synthetic oil to leak out and stain the car's roof trim and leather seats.

Car manufactureres will advise you that the cylinders are not repairable and must be replaced with a new unit this includes their associated high pressure hoses. Generally this is not the case and Mobile HoseFixers & Hydraulics Gold Coast have successfully dismantled and resealed many of these cylinders at a fraction of the new replacement cost. They have also remanufactured many high pressure hoses for Astras, Saabs, VW, Audi and Mercedes Benz. 

Rebuild Cab Tilt Cylinder Hino Prime Mover.

Most heavy duty Prime Movers utilise a hydraulically operated Cab tilt cylinder to raise and lower the cab for access to the engine for regular inspection and or maintenance. 

These cylinders eventually start to leak and are generally according to the manufacturer a throwaway replacement item ususally costing between $600 and in this case for Hino Prime Mover $3000.

The high cost of the Hino cab tilt cylinder comes from the fact that it is very well designed and built with wonderfull hydraulic and mechanical safety interlocks and electrical limit switches.

Mobile HoseFixers and Hydraulics Gold Coast removed striped cleaned, resealed, reassembled and reinstalled the cab tilt cylinder within 24 hours and they did it all for around 15% of the price of a new cylinder.

What High Pressure Hydraulic Oil Can Do To Piston Seal

Yesterday we spent the best part of 3 hours trouble shooting the erratic operation of a quick hitch valve on a 30 ton Sumitomo excavator. 

After dismantling the valve and picking pieces of black rubber out of the spool and valve body and wondering where the rubber was comming from, we flushed the lines and let the machine get back to work, after operating for 15 minutes and changing from bucket to ripper and then back to bucket the spool jamed again, During the second clean out cycle we found a small orange piece of plastic and that gave us the strong suspicion that the piston seals in the quick hitch cylinder had failed. 

After we removed the quick hitch and dismantled the cylinder this is what we found.

Marine is the flavor of the month

We had a run of marine related jobs this month firstly we replaced a couple of fuelines on a Tuna hardliner. 

Then a couple of new hoses and a steering bypass system on a 48 foot Reviera Fly bridge. 

And then some remote oil filter lines on Tug (a rare occurance on the Gold Coast)

Classic Ford Mustang RHD Power Steering and LHD Rack and Pinion Conversion

We recently completed two full installations of power steering pipes and hoses for Gold Coast Classic Mustangs in Helensvale. 

The first project was completed on a right hand drive conversion and involed the extensive used of Aeroflow fittings. The brief was very concise, "all hoses had to be "Braided Black " and all pipes, fittings and clamps be silver zinc plated or polished aluminium. Thankfully Aeroflow has an extensive range of hose and fittings and we ended up using their 250 series 3000 PSI 250 degree celcius 8.13mm ID Black Braided Teflon hose and polished aluminium 200 series Teflon Hose ends and Billet "P" clamps. 

The second project required fabricating and bending new pipes to match the factory pipes already installed on the new power assited Rack and Pinion steering assembly. 

"Gates" 3/8" ID GPS-188 1500 PSI 150 degree Celsius power steering hose and maching crimp fittings were used in this installation. 

On both projects, the hard piping comprised of 9.53mm OD x 1.63 mm wall Zinc plated cold drawn steel seamless tube manufactured by Stauff Germany. 

For all on site welding of hose adaptors to steel tubes we use MAP gas burners and 45% silver solder, this ensures high strength and smooth finishes.

Ebay store up and running and monoblock valve installation.

After a slow start our ebay store (named "HoseMart" ) is gaining momentum. 

Our current listings include high pressure hydraulic hose in various sizes and lengths, water blasting hoses, dry break quick connect couplers, fine micron oil filters and the very popular Australian made Field Fit Reusable fittings. These fittings can be assembled onto a high pressure hose in the field with only a couple of spanners a bit of muscle and some oil for lubrication.  We currently ship items all over rural Australia and have even shipped to remote islands surrounding the Australian mainland including Tasmania.

We are adding new items to our ebay store regularly, coming soon, more quick connect / release couplers, oil tank level sight glass with built in temperature indicator and a very competitively priced hydraulic pump Flow and Pressure test kit which comes complete with hoses and adaptors for most applications. 

Below is a picture of a recent installation we completed on a very old skip bin truck. 

We replaced the old and very leaky directional control valve with a new monoblock control valve. 

We manufactured new hoses,  replaced the hydraulic oil, installed a good quality used pump and installed a 10 micron hydraulic oil return filter. the driver /operator of the bin truck is really happy with the results.

His comments "before I was loosing 5 liters of oil a day and could just lift a 1.5 ton skip I now have no leaks can lift a 4 ton skip with ease and i don't need a screw driver to operate the valve anymore"