Assessing water in hydraulic oil

[William1]

My un-expert feeling is... run an acceptable, cheap oil. Half a hour, working all components of the machine. Drain, refill and then run the tractor hard (six hours of work) to get it real hot. Water will 'boil off'. Every hour during this hard day, check the level, it should drop if there is still water in it. At the end of the day, drain and do it one more time.
I'd not run-flush it with anything but acceptable hydraulic fluid.
To those that might know, can a 'Mr. Funnel' be used to trap the water during a flush?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

First verify the at full capacity. Do a 100% drain and determine how much is left in cylinders etc. Fill with diesel fuel, run all hydraulics 1/2 hour and drain. Repeat with second fill 50-50 diesel and hydr oil. Then conplete by filling 100% hydraulic oil. Let the 50-50 mixture settle and any water in on the bottom.

That would be a great way to destroy a lot of the tractors systems!
Running diesel through the hydraulic system is an extremely BAD idea period!

Diesel in a HST would instantly destroy everything in it.

 

[D2Cat]

First verify the at full capacity. Do a 100% drain and determine how much is left in cylinders etc. Fill with diesel fuel, run all hydraulics 1/2 hour and drain. Repeat with second fill 50-50 diesel and hydr oil. Then conplete by filling 100% hydraulic oil. Let the 50-50 mixture settle and any water in on the bottom.

You put diesel in your hydraulic system and "....run all hydraulics 1/2 hour and drain". Then report how your HST operates!!! Advice no one should follow.

Late to the show, but man.......

 

[Hman0217]

My un-expert feeling is... run an acceptable, cheap oil. Half a hour, working all components of the machine. Drain, refill and then run the tractor hard (six hours of work) to get it real hot. Water will 'boil off'. Every hour during this hard day, check the level, it should drop if there is still water in it. At the end of the day, drain and do it one more time.
I'd not run-flush it with anything but acceptable hydraulic fluid.
To those that might know, can a 'Mr. Funnel' be used to trap the water during a flush?

Thanks William

After reading this I had to do my own diligence because I didn't realize you COULD boil off the water. But it seems it's possible.

Will the fluid circulate if I just leave it running in a field or so I have to actually operate it continuously and keep moving the loader and backhoe?

 

[William1]

Thanks William

After reading this I had to do my own diligence because I didn't realize you COULD boil off the water. But it seems it's possible.

Will the fluid circulate if I just leave it running in a field or so I have to actually operate it continuously and keep moving the loader and backhoe?

Just letting it idle will probably not heat up the fluid.
Drive it operate the FEL, move boulders, grade the drive way, dig a swimming pool. Operate every thing that is hydraulic to move the fluid and you want it hot. At least a few hours of hard work.

 

[TheOldHokie]

[

Thanks William

After reading this I had to do my own diligence because I didn't realize you COULD boil off the water. But it seems it's possible.

Will the fluid circulate if I just leave it running in a field or so I have to actually operate it continuously and keep moving the loader and backhoe?

Do you know what the function of the hydraulic oil cooler is?

Dan

 

[Hman0217]

[

Do you know what the function of the hydraulic oil cooler is?

Dan

I do now.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

Diesel in a HST would instantly destroy everything in it.

Well, other than that picky little detail, it should work great!


Sounds like an old-school method that might have worked in old school machines, somewhere in time.

Maybe...

 

[Mark_BX25D]

To those that might know, can a 'Mr. Funnel' be used to trap the water during a flush?

Are you thinking of recycling the flush fluid to save money?

Mr. Funnel will separate out liquid water pretty well, but once that water is emulsified (milky oil), Mr. Funnel won't help at all.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

in my experience (but not directly related to a 3901hst) because of nooks, crannies, low areas, filter media, etc..... can never drain 100% of fluid in one shot so triple rinse at minimum is probably going to be required.

a couple of times a year we get someone around here drown out an atv, utv, etc.... and often 3 complete fill / drain / filter replacements can get it correct but occasionally it takes more like 5+ drains and refills. Now these are not always hst machines just a contaminated oil observation from experience. I feel filters are a big culprit in holding water.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

Will the fluid circulate if I just leave it running in a field or so I have to actually operate it continuously and keep moving the loader and backhoe?

You have to operate all hydraulic cylinders, otherwise the water stays in there. I suspect this is where the water came back after your first change. Unfortunately every oil change only "thins" down the water. If you could drain everything it would reduce the number of iterations required but draining cylinders is probably not straightforward.

 

[McMXi]

You have to operate all hydraulic cylinders, otherwise the water stays in there. I suspect this is where the water came back after your first change. Unfortunately every oil change only "thins" down the water. If you could drain everything it would reduce the number of iterations required but draining cylinders is probably not straightforward.

I bought a used Buhler/Farm King 3-way hydraulic rear blade last year and it was relatively simple and easy to drain all of the oil out of the three cylinders. I didn't want to contaminate the hydraulic oil in the M6060 so made sure I got most if not all of it out prior to hooking it up. A loader might be a bit more challenging but I don't think it'd be the worst job ever.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

I bought a used Buhler/Farm King 3-way hydraulic rear blade last year and it was relatively simple and easy to drain all of the oil out of the three cylinders.

Can you describe briefly how you did that? I assume you had to disconnect the cylinders mechanically on one side; that should be doable on a loader too.

 

[McMXi]

Can you describe briefly how you did that? I assume you had to disconnect the cylinders mechanically on one side; that should be doable on a loader too.

I removed the fittings off the end of the hoses for each cylinder and used compressed air to drive the piston in one direction and then the reverse direction keeping the ends of the hoses below the cylinder. I cycled the piston back and forth until I was satisfied that the cylinder and hoses were empty.

 

[Hman0217]

After many weeks of settling this is what it looked like (what I drained). I don't actually see water but what would we classify the white sediment at the bottom as? Is there another issue here?

 

[TheOldHokie]

View attachment 164914
After many weeks of settling this is what it looked like (what I drained). I don't actually see water but what would we classify the white sediment at the bottom as? Is there another issue here?

Well donet!!! Emulsion and/or additive dropout. Something you dont want.

Dan

 

[Hman0217]

Well donet!!! Emulsion and/or additive dropout. Something you dont want.

Dan

As a result of water contamination or do we suspect another root cause?

 

[TheOldHokie]

As a result of water contamination or do we suspect another root cause?

I would assume that is the result of water intrusion. Do you have something else in mind?

 

[Hman0217]

I would assume that is the result of water intrusion. Do you have something else in mind?

No. I am just learning about all this. Water causes the additives to precipitate out. Got it. Thank you

 

[TheOldHokie]

No. I am just learning about all this. Water causes the additives to precipitate out. Got it. Thank you

Water can cause additives to precipitate out but the formation of emulsions and free water are the main concern. Think loss of lubrication and increased corrosion.