Hydraulic lock, sometimes referred to as hydrolock, is a condition that affects all engines and motors that use fluids, and can even affect steam engines in some cases, where steam condenses and water remains inside the compression chamber. It mostly occurs on starting up, but can occur during operation as well, for instance when a car drives through a puddle and water enters the piston chambers, flooding the engine. When fluid enters the compression chamber (over the clearance volume) it rest...

If you’re responsible for a hydraulic machine, or the owner of one, it’s crucial that you know what can put you into an unpleasant position when it comes to your maintenance budget spend. Running a hydraulic machine too hot can cause all manner of issues including internal damage to components.

It’s no secret to hydraulic system engineers that implementing proactive maintenance takes both time and money. It’s for this reason that it’s important to get a grip on whether the tasks involved are worthwhile in terms of return on investment as part of the ongoing engineer’s challenge of increasing reliability.

To ensure the smooth running of your fluid hydraulic power systems, it’s critical to schedule consistent maintenance of cylinders. Here are five hints on getting this right:Regular inspections. Check whether the rod has any pitting, corrosion or uneven wear. Uneven wear could signal an impending disaster for the entire hydraulic system. Corrosion may indicate too much moisture either in the fluid itself or ambient moisture. It could also speed up wear on seals. Pitting can also lead to sea...

If you’ve recently suffered from an unexplained hydraulic pump failure, then you’re most likely to keen to find out what caused it.A number of different factors can go into causing a hydraulic pump failure. With so many different pumps on the market, each one can have its own specific failure reason. However, in some situations there are some failure modes that are common in every type of pump. Some of these might be caused by bad design, using inferior fluids or just failing to effe...

If you’ve recently suffered from an unexplained hydraulic pump failure, then you’re most likely to keen to find out what caused it.

How to Keep Your Hydraulic Oil Clean One of our clients recently went through a period of experiencing substantial particle contamination in their hydraulic fluid. The design of their machine is that it drains oil from a tank with zero backpressure, without any return filters. It used pressure filters but not particle filters.