blow out at 3500

[JPH]

Oh well.....anyone know anything about hydraulics?? I am working on Julius Squeezer and all of a sudden I hear this horrendous BANG!! the sound of spraying water and well I have bright red hydraulic fluid spraying all over my studio at 3500 PSI... Looking like I blew a seal at the solenoid on the egress to the pump...Now..what do I do besides spread kitty litter all over the floor and wipe up the fluid???.. Are we talking new solenoid or??? I mean I know pretty much nothing about fluid dynamics and hydraulic systems so HELP!!!

JPH

[latvius]

I used to work on hydraulic test stands in the Air Force. With the bang sound, I would think you should be able to visually see where a line ruptered or something like that. Usually the hydraulics have o-rings at the connection point. If you don't see a ruptered line or something similar check the O-ring at the conection. When you put the lines back together don't use tephlon tape, hydraulic fliuid makes it a gummy mess.

[Ten Hammers]

with a big bang, I suggest castrophic failure somewhere. Basic troubleshooting should take you to the problem. Fortunately you were not standing near the 3500 psi leak. Fluid injection into the body is incredibly nasty and many do not survive it. Did you build this system Jim or is it a MFG'd item ? There should be a mfgr name on the solonoid. I was in Aircraft Hydraulics in the Navy but thats been long time ago and I really haven't had a whole lot of experience in day to day troubleshooting since then ( besides brakes and other common vehicle and common shop stuff ). I am sure there are folks here that can help, just gotta be patient. Actually this problem may be pretty simple to find and to fix. Like the man above my post, may be as simple as an "O"ring. I have a good selection abailable here. Glad you are safe. 10-4 on the oil dry.

[JPH]

Howdy:
Ok...I was mistaken..it is not on the egress to the pump it is on the ingress FROM the pump so it is under high pressure...

There are no ruptured lines, they are all A-ok....after puttering about and coming up with several new profane combinations it looks like the leak is between the solenoid frame and the hose fitting. I cannot tighten the fitting down any further, it leaks like a sieve, so...I dunno.. I see no evidence of an "O" ring..might be inside still...

As far as the make..it is a "Northman" brand Solenoid Operated Directional Valve Mfg #7072, so it says on the mfg plate...I am pretty sure I can find these anywhere that sells hydraulic components but I will take it apart and see what the deal is if there is a blown out "O" ring or whatever is in there...could be a dollar fix vs a 300$$$ one...

As far as safety goes..you all must realise I am the worlds biggest chicken.. I have no qualms about admitting that I am the quintessential "coward" when it comes to high pressure stuff...ALL the plumbing is on the back side of Julius just in case something like this did ever happen...It's just one great big mess...that's all...well that's why I had three kids..to help clean up!!

I got about 40# of kitty litter sopping up the mess....will let that "absorb" the rest of the evening and then scoop it up and get it outta here...Sigh....why does this stuff always seem to happen when it's a rush project??

JPH

[Daryl]

Does the fitting itself have the leak? Is the fitting ORB (o-ring base seal), JIC, NPT, flange seal or ORFS (o-ring face seal)? If it was indeed an o-ring, check to ensure that doesn't display damage from installation. What is the normal operating and maximum allowable pressure of the system? There is an extremely large difference between some thing that operates at 2800 and 3500 psi. If the failure is from over-pressure, verify the other components are functioning correctly. Let me know as hydraulics are something that HAS to be perfect. Make sure that if you only need to replace the o-ring(s), don't cheap out... the difference between a one dollar o-ring and a three dollar o-ring is about fourty gallons of oil.

[irnsrgn]

When you get all the kitty litter swept up you can put down some ordinary sawdust which does a wonderful job of wicking up oil. Also to finish cleaning any oil up, use dawn dishwashing liquid and water as dawn breaks up oil and it dissolves into the water then. Also teflon tape is not an option on hydraulics as they recommend you stick some over the end of a fitting when taping the fitting. The action of screwing the fitting in, cuts off whats sticking over the end and if you don't have a filter on the system It will get into motors and pumps and as its super slick, it will build up and push the pump or especially motors apart. Also teflon tape makes things so slick tightening like you would normally will sometimes split fittings from overtightening.

[Woody]

Jim there is a product called Spagsorb, it is polomarized peat moss, very light in weight, picks up oil like a sponge, it is hydrocarbon selective, that is it will pick up petroleum products but not water. Works much faster and better than kitty litter and much lighter if you have to pay for disposal, they charge by the pound.

Woody

[Chris Pook]

post pics if you can.

Is it an electric solenoid block? It is possible you cracked the block.

[JPH]

Update:

Ok...I undid the valve and the hose in question after three turns the male fitting was very loose and was "wobbling" in the female hole...Now this isn't a "good thing" now is it?? The other hoses were snug all the way out. The male fitting looks OK but I will replace that as well..

The valave in question is a Northman # SWH-GO3-C6-R120-10

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement?? I called Northman and they do not sell direct and the gentleman on the phone says there are no distributors in my area..

Dang..well...any ideas>>

JPH

[BT]

Jim
Northern tool carries Northman brandof soleniod valves. http://www.northerntool.com