+86 15868609134info@riverlakeco.com
Products Category
Hydraulic Press

Hydraulic Cylinder Leaks (And How to Fix them)

Hydraulic Cylinder Leaks (And How to Fix them)

What is a Hydraulic Cylinder, and How does it work?

A Hydraulic Cylinder is a mechanical actuator, designed to carry a Hydrostatic force in a single direction. Commonly used in construction equipment, civil engineering, and machinery designed for the manufacturing process. A hydraulic cylinder uses any form of hydraulic fluid, typically oil, that is pushed back and forth by a piston into each side of the cylinder. This enables the linear motion to work, making machines such as Bulldozers and tractors carry out movements such as breaking down buildings or heavy lifting that cannot be done through human force.

Hydraulic cylinders consist of a piston rod, a piston seal, and two separate regions, all nutted and bolted together to exert the force of hydraulic fluid within the cylinder tube.

A hydraulic cylinder exerts massive amounts of force, anywhere from several kilograms, to a couple of thousand tonnes! Whatever linear motion you need automating, a good quality hydraulic cylinder is the perfect solution for any manufacturing, farming, civil engineering, or automation company’s needs.

What Causes Hydraulic Cylinders to Leak?

A common problem for high-load engineering and manufacturing companies is working out ways to minimize leakages from their hydraulic cylinders. Leakages in the cylinders can generally be caused by a worn seal or a worn barrel between the separate fluid regions.

The hydraulic fluid will seep through the cracks and enter the opposing region, this is likely to drain the cylinder of energy and isn’t at all visible from the piece of the machinery itself. It isn’t until operational managers and staff notice the drop in performance, that they realize there is a problem with the hydraulic cylinder. As the fluid is maintained inside, there isn’t a way to stop internal leakages without being equipped with the necessary tools for the job. A fluid leak of this kind can be referred to as a “leak down”, as the oil leaks down into the piston region of the cylinder.

Hydraulic cylinders may also leak as a result of over-tightening of the seal upon construction, this will lead to cracks in the build of the cylinder, ultimately damaging performance, and again posing as an invisible problem. It is vital to ensure that hydraulic cylinders are properly fitted, and regularly lubricated, this will minimize the chances of future leakages occurring.

Before buying your hydraulic cylinder, it is always best to equip yourself with spare lubricant & stop leaks, additional valves, and a bit of pre-research into maintaining your equipment.

How to Spot a Hydraulic Cylinder Leak?

Almost all hydraulic cylinders will show the same signs of a leak, if you understand the theory behind it, it’ll be much easier to notice the problem. When the hydraulic fluid leaks through the worn or faulty seal, the pressure between each region will change, when this happens, the motion of the rod is affected, as there is an uneven balance of fluid between each region. When the rod in the cylinder is set to move and return, you will notice that the fluid dispersion will cause the cylinder rod to slowly slide back into the open position.

This issue will be more common on older equipment that has been in use for a long time. The cylinder will have worn seals and valves due to a longer operating life, which increases the likelihood of leak downs, leak downs are a major problem for any business working with cylinder machinery.

Hydraulic cylinder leaks will become noticeable, as you have to replace the oil in your machine more frequently, which leads to increases in operating costs, which is the last thing your business needs. Oil is an expensive commodity and hydraulic products, especially hydraulic cylinders, rely heavily on oil as the engine to make them operate.

How do I Stop These Leakages?

The cheapest and simplest solution is to invest in a bottle of “Hydraulic Stop Leak”, this is a useful plasticizer that is used to prevent hydraulic fluid from mixing in with the contents of the opposing region/reservoir. The stop leak material will act as a permanent seal on the hydraulic cylinder, to close up any previous gaps or cracks inside. The seal will also be able to retreat hydraulic fluid, which is great for ensuring you get a longer-lasting effect.

There are other ways you can prevent leaks from occurring in the future, such as good temperature control. By keeping your cylinders cool, ideally below 85 degrees Celsius (185 degrees Fahrenheit), you will greatly reduce the possibility of any leaks. Even a one-time exposure to temperatures above this can damage the seals and rubbers with your hydraulic cylinder, which can lead to future leaks.

Investing in a cylinder with high-quality connectors is vital to prevent leakages, cheap and short-life connectors will have a noticeable difference from high-quality, branded cylinder components, and connectors. When leakages occur due to poor connectors, operational managers can often be hesitant to allow time for repairs. Maintenance is costly, and these kinds of businesses generally cannot afford a prolonged length of downtime, if the hydraulic cylinder is still creating results, managers will generally choose to keep the machine running, just because it costs less.

For those who are looking for a permanent solution to minimize and perhaps even eradicate the problems of hydraulic cylinder leakages, it is recommended that you look into purchasing the highest quality cylinder.

Whatever your needs are, whether you need to minimize the amount of space your cylinder takes up, or you need several hundreds of tonnes of pressure in your cylinder, we suggest that you check out the range of our products here at Riverlake Hydraulic.

We cater to companies large and small, for all operating needs. If you need help working out what type of hydraulic cylinder you require, feel free to contact us by phone or email here https://riverlakeco.com/contact-us/

To view our range of products that are on offer, please visit the following link https://riverlakeco.com/products/

Related Posts

Electric Hydraulic Pump

How Does a Hydraulic Pump Work?

A hydraulic pump is a machine that uses the power of fluid to move objects. The first pumps were invented in the seventeenth century, and they were mainly used for irrigation. Over time, however, hydraulic pumps have been used for a variety of other purposes, including mining, manufacturing, and moving objects. How Does a Hydraulic Pump Work? A hydraulic pump is a machine that uses the pressure of fluids to move things. It works by using a piston and cylinder assembly to push and pull fluid through a series of tubes. The force of the fluid moving through the tubes creates a mechanical force that can be used to do work. There are two main types of hydraulic pumps: reciprocating and impeller. A reciprocating pump has a piston that moves back and forth inside the cylinder. The force created by this motion is used to push or pull fluid through the system. An impeller is a spinning cylinder, and it can be used as a reciprocating pump or as an aerator. The main components of a hydraulic pump are pistons, cylinders, valves, and pipes. They are all connected together in order to create a system that can move fluids. A piston is
Pile load testing hydraulic jack

North-South Commuter Railway Extension Project 1569 Ton Pile Load Testing

Project Images Project Introduction The North-South Commuter Railway, also known as the Clark–Calamba Railway, is a 147-kilometer urban rail transit system under construction on the island of Luzon, Philippines, primarily in the Greater Manila Area. The project will utilize the Japanese railway system that uses energy-efficient and reliable trains.  RIVERLAKE supplied a pile load testing system consisting of 2 units of 1000-ton hydraulic cylinders and 1 unit PLC-controlled electric hydraulic power unit. The system will perform pile load testing work up to 1569 tons in the NSCR Extension Project. RIVERLAKE PLC controlled hydraulic jacking system is designed for pile load tests up to 2000 tons where the load is to be applied in different stages and displayed accurately in real-time. The plc pile load test jacking system provides 6 default tonnage options, user can preset the loading tonnage and holding period of time for each option. During pile load test operation, the whole process is run automatically, just select one of the preset tonnages and press the auto-run button. the hydraulic jack will raise to its full stroke, upon reaching the preset load, the jacking system will stop automatically and hold the pressure for the preset period of time. The
RIVERLAKE PILE LOAD TESTING SYSTEM

2700 Ton Pile Load Test

RIVERLAKE ZJ9 pile load testing power pack is a plc controlled pile load testing system,which can control,display,record and download the real-time pressure of the cylinders,real-time tonnage of the output force,real-time pressure of the power pack,real-time load testing time.In this project,our ZJ9 power station worked with 9 units HCRL30012 double acting lock nut hydraulic cylinders to generate a Max. total output force of 2700 tons.Beside above features,we can even built in bluetooth load cell and bluetooth dial gauge sensors to our pile load equipment to display and record the real-time load data from load cells and real-time pile displacement data from the dial gauge.
Single Acting Lock Nut Hydraulic Cylinders

Calculate Force in Your Hydraulic Cylinder the Easy Way

In hydraulic systems, force is a crucial element in controlling the flow of liquids and gases. In this article, we will discuss how to calculate the force exerted by a hydraulic cylinder. First, we need to know the dimensions of the piston and cylinder. Second, we need to know the working pressure of the hydraulic cylinder. The force exerted in a hydraulic cylinder can be calculated using the following equation: F = P x A. where F is the force, P is the pressure of the fluid in the cylinder, and A is the working effectiveness area of the piston. This equation can be used to calculate forces in any hydraulic system. For example, the effective area of a double-acting cylinder is 0.145m² for push and 0.048m² for retraction, rated working pressure is 70Mpa. The pushing force should be  F(push)=70MpaX0.145m²=10.15Ton, and the pulling force should be F(pull)=70MpaX0.048m²=3.3Ton.