l4610 remove fel control valve

[emanaresi]

oh, im sorry, yes, it did show signs of having been tampered with before, but everything seems to be in order as far as I can tell

 

[rbargeron]

Maybe a long shot, but is it possible the 2 valve spools became interchanged at some point in the valve's history?

The symptom you describe of slow motion when it moves brought to mind a design feature of some Kubota loader valves. To control how fast the load dumps when extending the curl cylinders, full pressure is applied to both sides of the piston. The rod side has less area so the big side wins and the cylinder moves, but much slower than it would with free exhaust on the rod side. Then I got thinking if your spools were swapped the boom would raise slowly. Would maybe have some other strange behavior too. Ok I admit it's a very long shot.

I was looking at the valve .pdf and it appears it could be assembled in any order - but the spool groove spacing is not the same on both.

 

[emanaresi]

I wondered about that, but the float function on the lift spool does work. It doesn't lock in place well, but it does float. That leads me to believe the spools are not swapped.

 

[rbargeron]

In the diagram it looks like the detent feature is an add-on that screws into the end of the spool - the actual float performance may just be a wide passage in the body that connects the work ports - either spool would float in that bore ?

 

[emanaresi]

Yeah, but I assumed that the float feature had to be on the spool for the detent to work. Maybe not. I'll test the theory anyway. I think if I just flip flop the lines from one set of work ports to the other it should prove or disprove the swapped spools without any disassembly. See any issue with that?

 

[rbargeron]

Nope - its a good idea. I'm not real confident the spools can even be swapped. Their fit in the bore is very precise and they may not be interchangeable.

 

[emanaresi]

I really think they could be interchangeable. I hope that is the issue. But I doubt it. Gotta try before spending $$$ on a valve tho

 

[rbargeron]

The clearance is very small - sometimes as little as .0002" on the diameter (up to .0012" +/-). They get it by reaming/honing the bores in the body and then grinding the spool lands to fit.

Pretty sure the spool mentioned in your other thread that was out .003" was damaged beyond repair. The annular leakage has to be very small. In the hydraulic valve world, .003" is big enough to drive a truck through.

 

[emanaresi]

The other guy said his machinist was able to true it up and it works now. I have a suspicion that I could have a similar issue. Here is my theory about these husco valves. The float detent gets all crapped up by water and dirt. Then it becomes difficult to get into float. The operated forces it and the long control lever makes a lot of force on the spool. Thus bending it slightly. I suspect I could have the same issue. I just don't know how to test my theory. Also, I don't think I can buy a replacement spool. I think I'll end up replacing the valve. I just want to exhaust my options before opening my wallet

 

[J_J]

Should you need a new valve, look at this joystick valve.

You have about 9.6 GPM pump flow.

This valve has regen, float, and PB port

Surplus Center - 2 SPOOL COMPACT 10 GPM JOYSTICK CONTROL VALVE

This valve has float and PB port. NO regen.

Surplus Center - 2 SPOOL 14 GPM PRINCE LVR JOYSTICK LOADER VALVE