No matter how well you care for your hydraulic system, there is always the chance that it may form a leak. Although it usually seems minor in the beginning, even a small leak could grow over time. It’s important to know how to locate leaks and deal with them early to prevent costly repairs later on. 

How Do You Know If Your Hydraulic System Has a Leak?

There are many factors that can cause or contribute to a leak in any hydraulic system. The majority of leaks occur because of one of the following conditions:

  • Connectors and fittings are loosened by shock and vibrations
  • Wear and tear on seals in the hydraulic cylinders
  • High-temperature damage, possibly due to using incompatible fluid

Although these are not the only reasons a hydraulic system forms a leak, they are the most common.

Other system issues can lead to leaks as well. Discovering the leak often leads to finding other issues your hydraulic system may have. No matter the cause of the leak, you need to find it and fix it as soon as possible.

By paying careful attention to the signs, you can typically find a leak before it causes large problems. Here are a few ways you can tell your hydraulic system has a leak somewhere.

Visual Inspection

Regularly looking over your hydraulic system can occasionally be an essay way to find a leak. Signs of a leak might include things like puddles or wet spots around or under your system. If you can visually spot a leak, it’s important to deal with it immediately.

Drops in Fluid Levels

Another important aspect of your hydraulic system that you should monitor is the fluid levels. If you notice the fluid levels dropping, you can safely assume you have a leak. Fast drops in the levels mean you have a clear problem somewhere within your hydraulic system. Slow, gradual leaks may be more challenging to find, but if you check the levels frequently, you will notice the missing fluid.This is another fairly easy issue to diagnose and repair quickly if you stay on top of it.

Drops in Pressure

When a hydraulic system begins leaking, it cannot always maintain the right operating pressure. This could also seem like a general slowdown in the way your system is operating.

In addition to other signs, your hydraulic system may start making noises or your fluid may reach excessive temperatures. Generally, if your hydraulic system isn’t performing as it should, heavy leaks could be the culprit.

How to Deal With Hydraulic System Leaks

Once you know you have a leak, you’ll need to pinpoint the location of the leak and any other leaks you might have. Since most leaks occur at joints, seals, and connectors, you can check those areas immediately. When checking for leaks:

  • Depressurize the system. 
    Put on thick leather gloves.
  • Don’t use your hand to check for the leak or you could burn yourself.
  • Use cardboard or a piece of wood to check for the leak.

If you find a leak at a fitting, tighten the fitting. You may want to replace any faulty connections altogether with high-grade compatible ones, including seals. Also, search along the hoses to look for signs of damage or leakage. Replace any damaged hoses immediately.

To find leaks for a larger hydraulic system, use a professional service.

Various tools and methods exist for detecting leaks in larger systems, including dyes that can help pinpoint hard to find leaks.

You can find tools to test pressure, flow, and temperature yourself, which can help you detect leaks. However, you need a proper understanding of hydraulic mechanics to use these types of tools.

At Yarbrough Industries we are hydraulic repair specialists. If you are experiencing leaks or need quality hydraulic parts, contact us today for assistance.

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Maintaining equipment, no matter the size or parts, is the best way to get a great return on your investment. When you are thinking about your pump or motor, the bearings, seals and gaskets are no exception. Preventative measures can save you money, time and effort by minimizing wear and tear on your equipment over time. Let’s take a look at some ways you can ensure process reliability by protecting your gaskets, seals and bearings with preventative pump maintenance.


Pump Bearings


It is essential to routinely examine changes in lubrication, vibration, temperature and noise of your pump/motor to determine that your pump bearings are operating properly. There could be several factors affecting the performance of pump/motor bearings. Your environment, speed, loading and lubrication can all determine how much stress it handles and how long the bearings last. By taking notice of changes, you can prevent damage that could extend well beyond the pump/motor bearings.

To start, consider the noises coming from a pump/motor. Take the time to evaluate any unusual sounds, as many times, you will hear uncharacteristic noises from pump/motor bearings if there is damage, poor lubrication, contamination or excessive clearance.

Vibration with your pump/motor bearings is likely caused by an imbalance, misalignment or play. Use standard practices to evaluate the vibrations, such as recording the vibration data and vibration acceleration. It’s common for pump/motor bearings to have an increased magnitude of vibration when the bearings are damaged or worn.

Measuring the temperature of a pump/motor bearing is also an effective strategy to determine its condition. In addition, nowadays most pump/motor bearings are sealed and do not require lubrication. Before pumping grease into your bearings please consult with the staff at Yarbrough Industries as this could cause failures due to excessive grease buildup in the motor windings.


Maintaining Seals

When choosing seals for your equipment, consult with the staff at Yarbrough Industries to ensure that you’re using the proper seals. In most cases, seals are inexpensive, but are crucial to maximizing the efficiency and life cycle of your pump/motor.


Gaskets


When a gasket fails, it’s most likely due to improper installation, lack of maintenance, improper hardware or improper gasket selection. When choosing a gasket, for maximum efficiency, you’ll want to select one that contracts and expands at the same rate as the metal in your pump, especially during low or high-temperature thermal cycling. Doing so, helps prevent sealing loss. You’ll also want to minimize damage to your gaskets by using gaskets with higher-sealability that are designed to prevent leaking. When a liquid is present on the sealing surface, chances of the liquid causing erosion to the pump are increased, leading to a corrosive environment for your equipment.


Evaluating, assessing and troubleshooting problems with gaskets, bearings and seals can significantly impact how well your system operates. While these parts may not be large components, they play a vital part in your system’s overall efficiency. Preventative maintenance and routine assessments are crucial to extend the life of your equipment and the staff at Yarbrough Industries is here to assist with your service needs.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you update your equipment and understand more about the importance of maintaining your pump/motor bearings, seals and gaskets.

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Hydraulic Cylinders often do work in places that people cannot reach. Because of the tendency to use them in harsh environments, it is common to see additional wear and tear on the hydraulic cylinder, its mounts, components, and seals. Routine maintenance of hydraulic cylinders can prevent failure, increase the longevity of the hydraulic cylinder and improve safety. An inspection and maintenance schedule should be followed to decrease unplanned downtime, and ensure operational functionality.

The best thing you can do to achieve long life, and optimum performance, is to ensure that the right hydraulic cylinder is being used for the application. Anytime a piece of equipment or machinery is brought down for inspection, maintenance, and repair, it should be evaluated for job effectiveness.

Identify potential issues and prevent unscheduled downtime with your hydraulic cylinder:

  • Ensure an adequate filtration system for the hydraulic fluid. Check for dirt or foreign materials in the fluid with regularly scheduled samples taken and analyzed. Inspect the filter on the hydraulic fluid system for any clogs or debris.
  • Inspect the hydraulic cylinder rod for signs of weakness, stress, or wear. A rough, bent, or scored rod will damage seals or allow for leaks. A hydraulic cylinder with an improper mounting configuration can bend a rod and possibly bend or break amount as well.
  • Inspect sealed areas of the system components and fluid lines for evidence of leaks. Examine all lubricated areas and replenish them as needed. If there is fluid leaking from around the head of the hydraulic cylinder and the rod does not appear to be scored or damaged, you may have a broken or severely worn seal.
  • Examine the hydraulic cylinder barrel for signs of ballooning and/or machine interference which can cause serious leaks, damage and even cylinder failure.
  • Check for sideloading, which if not corrected, can lead to misalignment, tube scoring, bearing wear, and damaged beyond repair. Sideloading is when the cylinder has a sideways force applied to it, that is not linear to the cylinders functioning motion.

A simple inspection can go a long way to keeping your equipment up and running and preventing downtime. Even when you have the right hydraulic cylinder installed, and use the equipment properly, any of these maintenance issues can still occur from unstable loads or a shift in the equipment’s center of gravity. If you find you need a replacement seal kit, component part, or an entire replacement hydraulic cylinder, our hydraulic cylinder specialists are happy to help you demolish downtime and get your equipment back up and running again quickly. Contact Yarbrough Industries to get the parts you need, today!

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This industry moves fast, but you can move even faster if you’re up to date on trends, technical developments, and best practices. The Yarbrough Industries blog is a go-to source for valuable, timely and detailed information. Sign up to ensure that you don’t miss a single post.

Many people ask how a pallet dispenser would benefit their industry or organization. Because of the versatile industries, Yarbrough works with, we have put together a few reasons anyone can benefit from purchasing a pallet dispenser.

1. Streamlined Productivity

Enhancing a high-production work environment can be as simple as having all of your machines and products in the right place. With high-quality pallet dispensers from Yarbrough Industries, you are able to integrate your product lines without skipping a beat. Each Pal-O-Matic Pallet dispenser is custom-made for industrial applications, giving you the opportunity to allocate time and resources toward other critical production areas while knowing your pallets will be where they need to be.

Some productivity benefits of pallet dispensers include:

  1. Elimination of manual pallet handling

  2. Reduction of employee injuries due to removal of manual pallet handling

  3. Increased production while minimizing time and labor involvement

  4. Minimal floor space used for storage and staging for pallet stacks

  5. Minimal pallet damage

  6. Stand-alone models offer simple stacking and dispensing

 

2. Seamless Integration

At Yarbrough Industries, every solution we offer you is geared toward improving workflow for smooth, efficient product integration. We recognize how difficult it can be to find technology that simultaneously keeps operating costs at a manageable price while also increasing productivity. 

  1. Problematic labor replacement, including the elimination of repetitive motion risks while allowing stacking of square and stable loads to full height to minimize freight costs.

  2. Compact, mobile footprint fits into existing tight spaces, typically taking up only as much or on occasion, less space as what you are already using for manual palletizing.

  3. Modular flexibility to dramatically minimize hassle and ensure optimal time for customer projects.

  4. Financial incentives are realized in as little as one year. Having a pallet dispenser can dramatically lower certain costs for 1-shift, 2-shift, and 3-shift operations.

 

3. Increased Production

One of the hardest parts of improving the performance of your facility is finding the right technology to fit your space, budget, and production requirements. With Pal-O-Matic Pallet Dispensers, you’ll be able to perform at an exceedingly high level without disrupting the area you operate in while staying within budget. Replacing cost-increasing inefficient manual labor with the Pal-O-Matic Pallet Dispenser makes work easier and safer while letting you keep more of your money—It is our job at Yarbrough Industries to continually find exciting ways to make your production easier. With our high-quality automated pallet dispenser, we’ve done just that.

Contact us to find out how we can make things simpler for your facility.

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This industry moves fast, but you can move even faster if you’re up to date on trends, technical developments, and best practices. The Yarbrough Industries blog is a go-to source for valuable, timely and detailed information. Sign up to ensure that you don’t miss a single post.

High-quality welds are the best way to ensure a successful metal fabrication project. Every single weld is important as they build on each other to ensure the final product’s structural integrity and longevity. Without sufficient welding quality control, mistakes can compromise the entire custom metal fabrication.

There are many ways that welding mistakes can cause disastrous and costly consequences. Even minuscule holes can invite rust, and poorly-fused welds can lead to breaks, eventually causing things like product failure or failure to meet OSHA industrial access regulations or industry-specific requirements.

Properly trained welders, along with a well-documented WPS program, can prevent project mishaps and delays.

Finding a Company

Finding a company that you can trust could be a challenge if you don’t know what to look for. Welding Procedure Specifications are a great way to determine the quality of the work you will receive. Having Welding Procedure Specifications is essential for every welding company because it maintains quality standards across every weld. It isn’t just a nice guide to follow. Under various international standards, a WPS is required to ensure a stable weld.

No matter how experienced your welding company appears to be, you shouldn’t rely on them to simply guess the best way to accomplish a specific weld. They should provide you with a list of specifications that guarantee their welders can execute an excellent weld in any situation. To maintain consistently high standards, you should look for a Welding Procedure Specification for every type of weld you require for your project.

What is a Welding Procedure Specification?

A Welding Procedure Specification, or WPS, is a formal written document describing standard welding procedures.

Like a recipe for welders, these procedures provide clear direction for welders to make quality products up to code and industry standards. They will include any details and information that are required to make the desired weld.

These are proven and tested procedures that include but are not limited to information such as the materials needed, the tools required, the processes to follow, the techniques they employ and finally, confirmation of the desired outcome.

A WPS goes beyond knowing you will get a great weld. Although a WPS will ensure the welded components meet design requirements, it can also help you determine what company you should go with when hiring someone to create your product. Knowing a company’s welders have skills that are in line with a particular WPS can give you peace of mind and ensure your product will pass inspection and do exactly what it should.

Why You Need Welding Procedure Specification

A company that has an established process to ensure their welders follow Welding Procedure Specifications means you know what you will get without having to see the finished product. Because the WPS should record all pertinent welding information, such as plate dimensions, material type, and welder and operator identifications, it is easy to guarantee the quality of the work.

Here at Yarbrough Industries, we hold our welders to the highest standard. We can provide Welding Procedure Specifications for the most common welding types, including MIG, TIG, welding of carbon steels, stud welding, and welding stainless steels for structural purposes. We are also willing to create a custom WPS for your product when the basics aren’t enough.

At Yarbrough Industries, we only employ certified, safety-conscious welders as part of our documented quality control program. Our Quality Control program adheres to industry-specific safety standards, such as material thickness, in each custom metal fabrication. We provide our clients with documentation for every fabrication, including quality inspection and detailed photographs. Our dedicated manager ensures every metal fabrication meets or exceeds safety and quality standards.

If you’re ready to work with a custom metal fabricator that practices what they preach when it comes to welding quality, give us a chance to say, “Yes, we can do that!” by contacting us today.

Get direct access to industry-leading content

This industry moves fast, but you can move even faster if you’re up to date on trends, technical developments, and best practices. The Yarbrough Industries blog is a go-to source for valuable, timely and detailed information. Sign up to ensure that you don’t miss a single post.

Any hydraulic system relies on having quality hoses to continue working effectively. That means selecting the right one could make the difference between operating an effective system or dealing with defects and potential damage.

When looking at hydraulic hoses, they appear relatively simple and possibly even interchangeable. However, hoses are actually multi-layered, sophisticated tools designed and manufactured for specific applications. Figuring out which hose is right for your system depends on several key factors, including size, temperature, compatibility and choosing the right hose fitting connection.

Choosing a Size

If a hose is to function optimally, the inside diameter must accommodate the correct amount of hydraulic fluid, minimize pressure loss and avert heat generation or excessive turbulence, both of which can damage the hose. The “Dash Numbers” measuring system is the hydraulics industry standard used to indicate hose size and the proper accompanying couplings.

Determining Your Temperatures

When looking for a hose, it will need to be able to accommodate two temperature areas — that of the hydraulic fluid and that of the environment in which the hose exists (ambient temperature). Hoses that cannot withstand both the minimum and maximum temperatures of the fluid, as well as those not designed to work near hot manifolds, are likely to fail.

Ensuring Compatibility

Typically, replacement hoses should be duplicates of the original hoses. In some circumstances, however, using a different type of replacement hose might actually be desirable. This is especially true if the hose failed prematurely due to excessive abrasion, unusual mechanical loads, routing challenges, temperature fluctuation or some other environmental factor. With advancements in hose engineering, there may be a better hose available.

As you read in the first paragraph, typical hydraulic hoses consist of numerous tubes, including one inner, one outer and several reinforcement layers. Hose tubing must come in direct contact with the fluid it carries, so it is important to ensure that the inner tube is compatible with the system’s fluids in order to perform reliably. Furthermore, the threads and mechanical interfaces of ends and couplings need to be compatible with the hoses and other system components. If they’re not, leaks and other hose failures can occur.

Choosing the Right Hose-Fitting Connection

The most important factor in choosing a replacement hydraulic hose is the system pressure. It is vital that you know your system’s precise working pressure — including pressure spikes — when choosing a hose to ensure it will function properly. Finding the correct hose tube and the right fittings will help you avoid future hydraulic hose failures, which may include leakage, cracking or whipping.

Delivery of hydraulic fluid is all about volume and velocity. Any replacement hose needs to be properly sized to efficiently and effectively transport hydraulic fluid. If for any reason the system has been altered, you need to determine the hose I.D. by consulting with an expert.

For more information about hydraulic hoses, or if you need assistance choosing the right hose fitting connection for your system, contact us today!

Get direct access to industry-leading content

This industry moves fast, but you can move even faster if you’re up to date on trends, technical developments, and best practices. The Yarbrough Industries blog is a go-to source for valuable, timely and detailed information. Sign up to ensure that you don’t miss a single post.