Hydraulic equipment is complex and when it’s an integral part of your business, keeping it in excellent working order is a high priority.
Making sure that your equipment functions properly will keep your running costs down. Regular maintenance by a reputable repair company, such as ourselves, will also reduce potential failure and downtime, improve performance and prolong the working life of hydraulic systems.
In this month’s article, we look at the different types of pumps and some common reasons that they fail.
Three Types Of Hydraulic Pumps
There are three common types of hydraulic pumps:
Piston Pumps
The most common type of pump, you’re most likely to find piston pumps in manufacturing settings and in high-pressure systems. Piston pumps are positive displacement pumps that use a high-pressure seal and work together with a piston to move water.
Vane Pumps
A less common type of pump, vane pumps are simpler and used in lower-pressure systems with high flow rates. They are positive displacement pumps that can work with a number of different vanes, including flexible vanes, swinging vanes, rolling vanes, external vanes and sliding vanes. As the rotor of the motor rotates, the vanes sweep liquid to the opposite side of the cavity inside the motor and squeeze it through discharge holes in the cam.
Gear Pumps
Gear pumps are the simplest of hydraulic pumps and are typically used for single, basic applications. They work by using two gears that mesh to displace water. The gears rotate together, creating suction as they separate, which draws water into the pump — water it then displaces when the gears mesh together.
Common Causes Of Pump Failures
There are many reasons that a hydraulic pump might fail. Some of the most common causes are:
- Wear – Like all mechanical parts, hydraulic pumps become worn with use.
- Fluid contamination – This is caused by dirt and debris mixing with the liquid. It can cause friction and result in wear on the pump
- Over pressurisation – Excessive load on the pump results in a red-line operation that’s unsafe and damaging. Hydraulic pumps that operate in this way over a long period of time will wear and fail prematurely.
- Implosion – This is a major safety hazard. Implosion happens when air bubbles within a hydraulic pump collapse, causing an overload of pressure to the pump resulting in an intense shock.
- Aeration – When air bubbles become trapped in hydraulic fluid, the pump subjects the bubbles to pressure. This causes high heat and over-pressurization when the bubbles collapse. Aeration at extreme levels leads to implosion.
Our Repair And Maintenance Service
We provide a professional and flexible approach to all projects and with a high success rate, our customers are always 100% satisfied with the repairs and maintenance service we provide for hydraulic pumps and motors.
Our experienced team will efficiently identify any faults with your hydraulics system and fix them, on-site or off-site, giving you peace of mind that you will be up and running again in no time.