Recently I had an old customer and friend call and ask me to come by his job.  Seems he had a problem.  His office had been making him use a different company then the one I used to work for and he needed some info on how to convince his office to let him use someone else.  The issue was all the hydraulic oil on the ground after the pump finshed the pour.  It was not a burst hose just leaks.  I showed him the law and how it would affect his company.

What was more interesting is the amount of money that was leaked onto the ground.  Even if hydraulic oil was good for the ground why would any company let this much money leak away.   We estimated that over a four hour pour they leaked 2-3 gallons.  If they do two pours a day, 5 days a week - that is over 1200 gallons a year - If you have a fleet of over 50 pumps that is 60,000 gallons of oil poluting our environment and almost $150,000 dollars gone!  Poof - Hmmmmm maybe everyone should raise their rates so this company can leak more oil.

To fix leaks you have to undersand components - For the most part operators can help stop leaks since they are the first line of defense and know where the oil is leaking from.  When first put together hydralic fittings are designed to fit snug and not leak.   However once the fittings have been taken apart or work loose the threads become a little stretched.  Many times you can just re tighten and the leak will stop - However I recommend the use of plumbers teflon tape.  Its a pain to put on sometimes but works great on old fittings.

There is a lot more involved in fixing leaks and why and where they occur.  But from an operators stand point there are things you can do to help save your company money - who knows one day they may pay you more.

I completly agree with the leak issue and environment concerns with leaking fittings and parts on pumps and machinery.

Over the years though I have come to lean on a Loctite product  545 Hydraulic sealant, it wont get into and foul valves like the tape can, It will do a wonderful job and it will work even if the fitting isnt perfectly cleen .....Been there done that.

Bang for the buck I wont go out on a job with  out a bottle.

One sure fire way to have a machine with leaks, is to put oil in it.......,

Also be ware, on flare tubing dont just get out the big wrench and reef on the nut there is an o-ring under there sealing the joint. if it is loose the o-ring might have blown and just reefing it down will likley split the flared tube .....not good.

Look in the manual there are torque specs for all the flare tube nuts, it is not as much torque as you would think, I will dig it up and post it for you when I get a moment.

Happy drip hunting.

biloximike writes

We estimated that over a four hour  pour they leaked 2-3 gallons.
If a pump or other machine is leaking very bad and already so maintenance should be repaired much earlier lekage.

Don´t you got any environment-inspector in the USA? If so much hydraulicoil had poured out on the ground on a buildingplace in Sweden (for an ex. Skanska), then it will be reported and the clear of oil-fee will be send to the pumpcompany. And that fee is much more expencive than all oil in the pump.

Good Tip Traveltek!   You are right about the flared tubing and also that applies to ferrels - there is a time and place to make repairs - some of them should be made by the mechanic since he should know the torque specs.  Operators should mark leaks they cannot fix on the job.  Writing down on paper is not real effective - I would suggest using red or orange plastic wire ties to show where the leak is.  Then the mechanic can spend more time fixing then looking.

Here is  a good read - I would submit that the actual oil that is leaked is a lot greater.

http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/21/hydraulic-system-leakage

Teflon tape is not oil resistant you should use pipe dope I once had a deisel tank in the rear of a pickup I used Teflon to put the pipe together it leaked I switched to pipe dope and no more leaks.

They would hang us for 2 gallons hahaha. wow. Spill reports and lots of explaining Lucy. No wonder buddy needs help.

My old blister Thompsen was better than that hehe.