Log splitter

[WOODmark]

I have a homemade splitter I recently picked up. In the picture, the red handle i am pointing at opens and closes a valve inside the breather tube. How open or closed should the opening be?

 

[oldnslo]

You want it open enough to allow air to flow easily in and out so that you don’t create a vacuum or pressurize the reservoir during operation.

 

[WOODmark]

Thanks for the reply. That's what I was thinking. So just cracked open or like 1/2 way open?

 

[oldnslo]

I would say about 1/4 way open or more. Better safe than sorry.

Suspect that valve is there for transporting to keep oil from splashing out of the breather.

 

[WOODmark]

I would say about 1/4 way open or more. Better safe than sorry.

Suspect that valve is there for transporting to keep oil from splashing out of the breather.

Okay, 1/4 it is, thanks so much!!

 

[WranglerX]

Open it up a bit and forget about it...... MY splitter has a 1/16 hole drilled in filler plug..... Been the way for 30 years or so splitter has been in existence.... Valve serves no real purpose other then to make operation more complex.... Most hydraulic system are open vented.....

 

[WOODmark]

Open it up a bit and forget about it...... MY splitter has a 1/16 hole drilled in filler plug..... Been the way for 30 years or so splitter has been in existence.... Valve serves no real purpose other then to make operation more complex.... Most hydraulic system are open vented.....

Thanks for your insight!

 

[triptester]

The problem with the valve on the vent is that there is no visual indication as to what position the valve is in. Failure to open the valve could lead to excessive pressure build up causing hydraulic component damage.

 

[WinterDeere]

Open it up a bit and forget about it...... MY splitter has a 1/16 hole drilled in filler plug..... Been the way for 30 years or so splitter has been in existence.... Valve serves no real purpose other then to make operation more complex.... Most hydraulic system are open vented.....

Same, my filler plug has a 1/16" hole drilled in the side of one the wrench flats. It will "vent" a little oil if I over-fill the reservoir, which I guess is a nice feature, but other than that it's always dry.

I'd ditch the valve, and replace the valve with a coupling, and just drill a 1/16" vent hole in the side of the coupling. Standing up on a nipple the way it is, nothing should ever come out of it, even during transport.

 

[WranglerX]

Same, my filler plug has a 1/16" hole drilled in the side of one the wrench flats. It will "vent" a little oil if I over-fill the reservoir, which I guess is a nice feature, but other than that it's always dry.

I'd ditch the valve, and replace the valve with a coupling, and just drill a 1/16" vent hole in the side of the coupling. Standing up on a nipple the way it is, nothing should ever come out of it, even during transport.

YEs ditch the valve and put coupling in place and reinstall vent screen.....

 

[WinterDeere]

YEs ditch the valve and put coupling in place and reinstall vent screen.....

... assuming vent screen is something that can tolerate oil saturation.

 

[WranglerX]

... assuming vent screen is something that can tolerate oil saturation.

Why would it have a vent screen if it was not compatible....

 

[WinterDeere]

Why would it have a vent screen if it was not compatible....

It's a DIY home built splitter. Why do people do all kinds of stupid things?

Point was, if breather element is a paper filter or otherwise incompatible with total oil saturation, it might be worth just ditching it and going to either the usual bronze breather type or a simple vent hole.

 

[WranglerX]

It's a DIY home built splitter. Why do people do all kinds of stupid things?

Point was, if breather element is a paper filter or otherwise incompatible with total oil saturation, it might be worth just ditching it and going to either the usual bronze breather type or a simple vent hole.

Looks to me like a standard hydraulic system breather.....

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