Leaving Implements Raised - Bad For Hydraulic System?

[Snowlan]

So how long does it take to ruin an exposed cylinder ram? Ballpark guess?

That's a hard thing to put a number on. I can say one ship I worked on spent over $500,000 to do a service on a crane which included complete overhaul of it's 4 cylinders (for the second time in 10 years) and one of those cylinders was weeping after only a few months. Small stores cranes on the same ship are seldom used by comparison and still have original cylinder seals. Working offshore in the Persian Gulf on another vessel where you can sweep sand off the deck every day, every crane cylinder on that ship had tell tale black streaks down their underside in no time at all.

 

[ovrszd]

That's a hard thing to put a number on. I can say one ship I worked on spent over $500,000 to do a service on a crane which included complete overhaul of it's 4 cylinders (for the second time in 10 years) and one of those cylinders was weeping after only a few months. Small stores cranes on the same ship are seldom used by comparison and still have original cylinder seals. Working offshore in the Persian Gulf on another vessel where you can sweep sand off the deck every day, every crane cylinder on that ship had tell tale black streaks down their underside in no time at all.

We may be talking about two different things.

You are talking about harsh operational conditions that can contaminate the seals as they are used.

I am talking about leaving a cylinder rod exposed with no use.

 

[4570Man]

So how long does it take to ruin an exposed cylinder ram? Ballpark guess?

A good one probably 20 years but I’ve seen it happen in a lot less.

 

[rademamj1]

I did check to see if their were any such academic or engineering studies on this issue of cylinder reliability, wear and tear, exposure to elements and of course does leaving a cylinder exposed somehow cause damages. I did find only two reports. The first report was by a plastic mold injection factory which uses 50 machines, each machine with six cylinders, for total of 300 cylinders. In a properly maintained environment, they were seeing an average of 2.6 million cylinder cycles before any repair was required. Additionally, the most common repair was seal replacement, followed by second most common repair, hydraulic hose replacement to a cylinder. So perhaps 20 years or more longevity could be a reasonable estimate for agricultural usage.

The other report involved transport equipment at a coal power generation plant. They found the fine coal dust actually extended the life of cylinders on their equipment.

 

[strantor]

I have a forklift in the back 40 that was parked with its cylinders exposed for (est.) 10 years. I can post pictures if you want, but maybe a description is sufficient? It has 50% of the chrome plating flaked or flaking off. I think what happens is it gets a scratch or a ding, and the steel underneath is now susceptible to rust. And the rust spreads under the plating, causing it to lift off. Ever had paint bubble up, or powder coat flake off, from rust that managed to establish itself underneath? Same concept. That's what it looks like to me.

 

[strantor]

Here's some info from LSU Ag Center about cylinder rusting.

Protect Your Hydraulic Cylinders from Rust

A common problem with hydraulic cylinders is rust and pitting of the cylinder rods. If equipment that incorporates hydraulic cylinders is stored outside with the cylinder rods extended, the rods are exposed to weathering. Eventually, the rods will begin to show specks of rust that develop into...

www.lsuagcenter.com

"A common problem with hydraulic cylinders is rust and pitting of the cylinder rods (Figure 1). If equipment that incorporates hydraulic cylinders is stored outside with the cylinder rods extended, the rods are exposed to weathering. Eventually, the rods will begin to show specks of rust that develop into pits. Once rusting and pitting occur, the rod will destroy the cylinder seal the next time it is activated. Once pitted, it is virtually impossible to restore a cylinder rod to an acceptably smooth condition through repolishing.

This problem of cylinder-rod pitting is most common with hydraulic cylinders on equipment that is both stored outside and seldom used or used only seasonally. If the hydraulic cylinders are operated every few days, the rods will always have a thin coating of oil that will provide protection, and rust will not start. Good examples are backhoes and bulldozers that are always stored out in the weather but are used almost daily.

The solution to this problem is to prevent rust and pitting. There are three ways to accomplish this..."

 

[BackRoad]

Hugely valuable discussion...

 

[ovrszd]

A good one probably 20 years but I’ve seen it happen in a lot less.

Yep. Back to my first thought about this. If I have a hydraulic impliment that has cylinder failure because it was parked exposed I probly should sell it.

 

[strantor]

Yep. Back to my first thought about this. If I have a hydraulic impliment that has cylinder failure because it was parked exposed I probly should sell it.

Come on down to the gulf coast, you could open a dealership for all the equipment you'd be selling. I'm surprised you consider this the exception rather than the rule. Don't y'all throw salt over the place when it snows? I figured that would be even worse than what we experience.

 

[strantor]

A good one probably 20 years but I’ve seen it happen in a lot less.

This is highly dependent on ambient conditions, I'm learning. To me, parking cylinders exposed is just a big no-no, always has been. Your 20yr estimate (which I can't fathom) combined with other folks seeming unaware of the dangers of spontaneous cylinder corrosion got me curious. Am I crazy? Am I buying subpar equipment? What's the deal? I don't live on the beach or anything. Why do my cylinders rust and not yours?

This is what I found; I had no idea I was living in heavy salt air (I thought it only counts if you can smell it). I thought this was just the nature of the world. Nope just the nature of coastal living.

Studies show salt air affects metals more than 50 miles inland​