Bucket leaks FAST

[Big Bri]

Yesterday while using a grapple i noticed that the grapple would drop/leakdown fast with or with out something in it. When i say fast i mean from full tilt up to all the way down in 30 seconds or less. I switched back to my bucket and it does the same thing.

What are some of the things i can do to narrow down what going on.
Thanks

 

[J_J]

Check for cylinder leaking by putting a gate valve in the cyl circuit. If the cyl is good, has to be the valve leaking.

 

[kennyd]

Yesterday while using a grapple i noticed that the grapple would drop/leakdown fast with or with out something in it. When i say fast i mean from full tilt up to all the way down in 30 seconds or less. I switched back to my bucket and it does the same thing.

What are some of the things i can do to narrow down what going on.
Thanks

Just do this before you go plumbing in gate valves:confused2:

Curl the bucket, then disconnect the Dump/Curl hoses from your QD's, maybe add some weight to the bucket (cement bags, sand bags...) If it still leaks then one or both of the cylinders are leaking internally meaning that the piston seals are bad.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

You got some good advice already....I'm just curious about the mechanical cylinder hook up.....is cylinder extending or retracting when bucket drops???

 

[J_J]

Roll your eyes all you want. What I said will work fine, with out the sandbags , etc. The fluid can not get by the gate valve, so if the bucket curls down, then the cyls are bypassing. It is hard to believe that two cyl would bypass at the same time. The valve handle might not be in neutral. Checking the pressure is another way to analyze the situation.

Put pressure on the cyl, and if bypassing, you should see it on the gage.

 

[kennyd]

Roll your eyes all you want. What I said will work fine, with out the sandbags , etc. The fluid can not get by the gate valve, so if the bucket curls down, then the cyls are bypassing. It is hard to believe that two cyl would bypass at the same time. The valve handle might not be in neutral. Checking the pressure is another way to analyze the situation.

Put pressure on the cyl, and if bypassing, you should see it on the gage.

I "rolled" my eyes because why should he go out and buy gate valves? My test is free and a whole lot less messy.

As two this specifically:

It is hard to believe that two cyl would bypass at the same time.

The cylinders on a FEL are plumbed in parallel, so only one needs to be bypassing to cause leakdown. Guess you missed that in your online hydraulics course

 

[wvpolekat]

Again, you are both right. Both methods will work. BUT.... I have to say that I would rather find SOMETHING heavy to put in the bucket; cement, dirt, ex-wife, whatever and disconnect the lines instead of buying valves and associated fittings to plumb in there only to take them back off when I found what the problem is. I can't see any inherent advantage to it over disconnecting the lines (which have built in valves).

 

[Big Bri]

been out working all day and just had time to read ya'll advice, will try and see what i get ether tomorrow, or the next day. If it is the cylinders would those be covered under warranty or is this a routine maintenance thing.
again thanks for the help.

 

[kennyd]

been out working all day and just had time to read ya'll advice, will try and see what i get ether tomorrow, or the next day. If it is the cylinders would those be covered under warranty or is this a routine maintenance thing.
again thanks for the help.

It should be a warranty item as long as they can't say you where abusing the FEL.

 

[J_J]

Quote

[ The cylinders on a FEL are plumbed in parallel, so only one needs to be bypassing to cause leakdown. Guess you missed that in your online hydraulics course. ]

You are very wrong here if you think a good cyl with a gate valve on the base end, and a weight on the rod side will leak down. Explain with your vast knowledge.

No hyd course required, just plain common sense.

It's OK to be wrong.

 

[Kernopelli]

Quote

[ The cylinders on a FEL are plumbed in parallel, so only one needs to be bypassing to cause leakdown. Guess you missed that in your online hydraulics course. ]
You are very wrong here if you think a good cyl with a gate valve on the base end, and a weight on the rod side will leak down. Explain with your vast knowledge.

No hyd course required, just plain common sense.

It's OK to be wrong.

Not speaking for Kenny here but from reading his posts, I never read that he implied this scenario would be incorrect. You two are now talking about two different scenarios. He is talking about two cylinders---one good, one bad that are plumbed in parallel with the end of the circuit blocked/locked out/shut off..whatever. You are describing one good cylinder with the end of its circuit blocked. It's apples and oranges unless my way of thinking is wrong...and I'll admit right up front that it could be,I know less about hydraulics than either of you. In Kenny's scenario, I think the bad cylinder will pass fluid and the the bucket will drop until the displaced (leaking) fluid equalizes against the other (good) cylinder and throughout the circuit.

 

[J_J]

The gate valve simply eliminates the control valve, which might be leaking. If the gate valve is in the base of bad cylinder, then the fluid will bypass to the base end of the cyl, caused by the weight pulling on the rod and piston.

If you block off any one port of a good cyl, filled with hyd fluid, you should not be able to move the rod.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

I agree that the two cylinders are plumbed parallel, and if one have a bad piston seal, they will both drift!! Conditions see below!

 

[J_J]

I totally agree.

There are many different ways to test things.

 

[Big Bri]

Just to give ya'll a heads up on my problem.
well after finding that it was the cylinders i brought it to a local shop in Baton Rouge. Was informed that the nut inside the cylinders has come loose allowing fluid to escape. Told me they had to order some parts, i think to repack them and that i'll have my tractor back on Friday or Monday. Will be covered under warranty.
Just so i know, what is involved in repacking a cylinder? just so if it happens again out side of warranty i'd know what to do.
Thanks for every ones advice, and help

 

[wdchyd]

Big Bri,

Best to call the shop in Baton Rouge now and tell them you want extra seal kits while they have them apart.....save em for the future then you can use loctite on the nut....

Cheap Insurance!!!!:thumbsup:

 

[Big Bri]

Got my tractor back today and it's all fixed up real nice. The Fine folks at M&L Tractor in Baton Rouge were very nice, explained what went wrong and what they did to fix it. They also told me that i brought my tractor in just 2 days before my warranty expired on my loader.
Picked up some utd and filters while there.
Thanks for all your help.