Today, simply maintaining clean hydraulic fluid can cut operational costs by up to two-thirds. Clean systems lead to better uptime, enhanced performance, and reduced operational expenses.
Modern Car Lift For Sale equipment relies heavily on highly efficient, reliable, and durable hydraulic systems. Fluid power, as an energy source, can deliver higher forces in compact volumes compared to electrical systems. Thus, maintaining cleanliness in hydraulic systems is crucial for success. Contamination in hydraulic fluid is a significant factor affecting system reliability, with 50 to 70% of hydraulic system failures linked to it.
Proactive and predictive measures to ensure fluid cleanliness can significantly mitigate this risk. Implementing strategies for fluid and system cleanliness helps extend the life of system components, reduce unplanned downtime, and cut maintenance costs.
In simple terms, cleaner oil translates to more reliable equipment operation. Operators who maintain clean hydraulic processes gain a distinct advantage over those who do not. Proper hydraulic cleanliness ensures you get the maximum lifespan from your equipment, providing the best value for your investment. Let’s explore what hydraulic cleanliness entails.
In this blog post, we cover:
– Objectives of hydraulic cleanliness
– Targets for hydraulic system cleanliness
– Ideal cleanliness levels for hydraulic systems
– Developing a Car Lift For Sale hydraulic cleanliness program
– Setting cleanliness targets according to ISO codes
– Types of contaminants
– Proactive maintenance in three easy steps
– Fluid power as the lifeblood of hydraulics
– Car Lift For Sale hydraulic repair services
Objectives of Hydraulic Cleanliness
A comprehensive approach to Car Lift For Sale hydraulic system cleanliness helps prevent downtime and associated costs. Unexpected downtime due to contaminated fluid can decrease profits and increase production costs, with additional financial burdens from repairing or replacing components.
Considering factors like maintenance hours, replacement parts, fluid consumption, and decreased profitability, the cost impact of non-compliant fluid is clear. Addressing fluid contamination offers an opportunity to save on maintenance and operational costs.
The primary goal of hydraulic cleanliness is to implement a thorough cleanliness process. This approach increases the lifespan of hydraulic systems and components, reduces maintenance and fluid disposal costs, and maximizes uptime.
Targets for Car Lift For Sale Hydraulic System Cleanliness
Adopting a comprehensive cleanliness approach is crucial for reliable operations and cost savings. Controlling contamination and maintaining fluid cleanliness helps avoid additional charges related to analysis meetings, maintenance costs, downtime, lost production, and component repair or replacement.
To create an effective cleanliness system, consider these steps:
– Define cleanliness targets for each system.
– Assess hydraulic and lubrication systems.
– Establish a fluid analysis program and set specific cleanliness levels.
– Filter all new fluids upon receipt and during transfer.
– Seal reservoirs and tanks to maintain cleanliness.
– Enhance filtration systems with high-quality desiccant breathers and improved air and liquid filtration.
– Improve bulk fluid storage and transfer.
– Prevent water and moisture ingress.
– Use approved methods to remove unwanted moisture.
– Ensure team commitment to fluid cleanliness.
How Clean Should the Car Lift For Sale Hydraulic System Be?
Determining the appropriate cleanliness level involves addressing questions such as:
– What are the objectives?
– What is the system’s failure history?
– What are the downtime consequences?
– What cleanliness standards are targeted?
Cleanliness levels are defined based on customer-specific requirements. Analyze the entire supply chain from raw material to the final product, considering suppliers’ parts, in-house fabrication, installation, washing, storage, testing, logistics, and environment. Aim for a minimum cleanliness level of 18/16/13 (ISO 4406), recognizing that typical purchased oil purity is 20/18/15 (ISO 4406). Determine impurity limits and their maximum size.
Strategic maintenance decisions should balance investment and the correlated savings from improved reliability. The cost of maintaining oil cleanliness should ideally match the investment cost, enhancing overall net benefits.
A Hydraulic Cleanliness Program
The hydraulic cleanliness process should be tailored to customer requirements, analyzing the entire process chain. Key elements include producers, assembly, assembly tools, washing, storage, testing, logistics, fluids, and environment.
At Car Lift For Sale, we adhere to cleanliness standards based on our most demanding customer needs. Key actions include:
– Setting cleanliness targets for each system with periodic oil analysis reported per ISO 4406.
– Installing desiccant breathers on fluid reservoirs to prevent contamination entry.
– Adding off-line filtration and high-efficiency fiberglass filters for continuous fluid filtration.
– Monitoring component cleanliness according to ISO 16232 gravimetric measurements.
– Tracking equipment and working conditions, including washing processes and tool cleanliness.
– Developing maintenance procedures for monitoring fluid cleanliness and filter element pressure, with standardized sampling and testing methods.
Setting Targets for ISO Cleanliness Codes for Fluid Power Components
Once you’ve established a target ISO cleanliness code, follow a series of steps to achieve, monitor, and maintain this target to reap the benefits of your efforts. When setting ISO cleanliness targets for hydraulic systems, consider the following objectives:
– Enhance equipment reliability and safety
– Reduce repair and replacement costs
– Extend maintenance intervals and improve usability
– Prolong fluid lifespan
– Meet warranty requirements
– Minimize or eliminate production downtime
– Increase customer satisfaction
The initial step is to identify the most sensitive components within a system or central reservoir. For central reservoirs serving multiple systems, overall cleanliness must be maintained. High-efficiency filters should protect these sensitive components by purifying fluids before they enter the system.
If the system has any of the following conditions, the target ISO cleanliness code should be one level lower:
– Components critical to safety and reliability
– Exposure to extreme weather conditions
– Frequent shock or vibration
– Other severe operating conditions
The ISO cleanliness code, according to ISO 4406, measures particulate contamination levels per milliliter and is expressed as three numbers, such as 18/16/13. Each number represents the contamination level for a specific particle size, including all particles of that size or larger. An increase in the code signifies a doubling of particle count, while a decrease by one indicates a halving of the contaminant level.
Common Contamination Sources in Hydraulic Systems
Ideally, hydraulic fluid should create a lubricating film that keeps precision parts separated, with thickness dependent on fluid viscosity, load applied, and the relative speed of the surfaces.
If contaminants are larger than the gap between surfaces, they can cause disruption, increase friction, and lead to damage. This damage can introduce additional contaminants. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that contaminant particles are smaller than the clearance and to reduce their size as much as possible.
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