Loader Cannot connect Loader hydraulic fittings

[Samwise]

This is embarrassing. I have had these lines and the loader on and off many many times. Not one of the four lines will snap into place. The collar will not slide down over the balls to lock the snap connector into place. This has never been a problem and everything usually just snaps right into place

This is a 2 year old BX2370 and it is in the low 90s in the shade. Just decided to put the loader on for fall work. Now I pushed pretty darn hard to make sure it痴 all the way in place, worked the collars back and forth to make sure they work freely, had the motor off and on, wiggled the control lever to relieve line pressure, looked carefully for what might be an obstruction, etc. I am at my wits end so trying the forum. I can wait until it is cooler to see if something expanded from the heat to make things tight but that is all I can think of. Anyone else ever had this problem?

Perplexed.

 

[/pine]

If you can't compress the QD poppets enough to release the pressure from heat expansion...wrap a rag around the fittings and crack the QD joints with a couple of wrenches...

Wear face and eye protection...be safe...

 

[Samwise]

I will try again tomorrow morning when it is cool. If that doesn't work I'll try your suggestion. It looks like the culprit is rise in fluid pressure due to the the heat and nothing really wrong. Frustrating though.

 

[ovrszd]

Yep, try cool hookup. Has to be cooler than when you disconnected.

For male end I tap the "ball" on a flat surface to release pressure. Just takes a little to solve the problem.

 

[Coyote machine]

Its all about the heat and fluid expansion. Take a tool the will fit inside the female coupling(s) and wrap a rag around the opening, then tap on the end of the tool to allow the ball in the fitting to leak out some fluid and reduce pressure. You may have to do the same on the male end. With the males I just turn a hammer head sideways and place a rag over the protruding ball and tap away several times, then try connecting the fittings. DO NOT try any of this without wearing gloves AND eye protection; safety glasses or goggles.

 

[ruffdog]

The one time I had a issue is when I tried hooking up in the Summer and the last time I used it, it was about zero degrees.

 

[ovrszd]

Guess we need clarity as to which fitting is on the FEL end of the hoses, male or female?

 

[Samwise]

Waited till the morning (at least 20 degrees cooler). Everything worked fine. A new experience for me. Now I know the cause and what to do. The FEL end of the hoses is female.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

 

[newbury]

Glad it worked!

My "I can't wait" solution "and didn't want to chance damaging the ball" was to run cold water over the hoses to cool them down quickly. After that I try to remember unhook hot, hook up cold.

 

[JWR]

This is an intriguing thread at least partly for 'personal' reasons. 1) Most installations have male and female fittings in pairs. Partly so that you can snap them together and avoid crud in the lines when not in use, etc. Being on a std loader I'm sure yours are that way. 2) I have a BX2200 with LA211 loader much older than yours but very much the same stuff. I have not seen the "can't connect" problem with it. I'm a little skeptical about temperature being the issue. It has to be under pressure (whether due to temp change or whatever the cause.) I'm surprised that "rocking the controls" did not relieve the pressure. My guess is that letting time go by let pressure bleed off rather than temperature being much of a factor.

Actually those small lines and connectors are very forgiving compared to others.

What your "embarrassing" problem brings to mind is other situations where I have had trouble releasing and/or connecting hoses. At times I am connecting/disconnecting hose pairs on a 4-in-1 bucket, a Lane Shark FEL mounted rotary cutter, an hydraulic top link, and thankfully only rarely -- a front end loader on an 81 horse larger tractor. Bloody knuckles, frustration, loss of religion, pinched fingers, unintentional elbowing of nearby things, etc. have all happened to me. I've seen it go from cases where it seemed impossible and might never work to cases where it came apart or went together so easy I couldn't believe it. The best single piece of advice is to find ways to relieve line pressure.

On large diameter hoses (sometimes flat-face skid steer style connectors and some of the cheaper AG style connectors) it seems like they were designed for a 270lb linebacker with tiny fingers made of steel with hard rubber tips. Some simply jerk apart or mash together with enough force (and on first try you don't have any clue how much force that is...) Those are the older simple AG style that fool you by looking like they have spring loaded collars but really do not. Then you have the flat-face skid-steer flavor that just seem to stay clean and work well -- but require a lot more strength in your hands sometimes than you think you have. Then there are the AG style that DO have spring loaded collars, springs that must have been designed for >130lb lateral force to be applied while you are bent over, your hand won't fit in there, and you can't get a grip on them. All extremely frustrating at times.

Embarrassing ? Embarrassing is when you have to call your buddy to come help and the minute he touches them they pop apart or together.

In some worst-cases I use a set of vise grip pliers on the collars so I have something to get hold of. I've even seen a few cases where very large vise grips could be made to hold the collar back against the spring while you do the mating ritual. I think there is a market for hydraulic disconnect tools. Note I did not say "QUICK" disconnect...