Bleeding a pipe loader

[13fx]

I had a pipe loader that had water get I to the oil so I drained it all out and put in fresh super s fluid. Since then I have been having a heck of a time getting the air out of the system. This is the first pipe loader where I actually am using the frame for the hydraulic oil instead of an aftermarket tank. So I figured I'd ask for some seasoned advice and tricks on this one.

 

[old]

I had a pipe loader that had water get I to the oil so I drained it all out and put in fresh super s fluid. Since then I have been having a heck of a time getting the air out of the system. This is the first pipe loader where I actually am using the frame for the hydraulic oil instead of an aftermarket tank. So I figured I'd ask for some seasoned advice and tricks on this one.

On most you fire it up and let it run for a while. On most you can take the fill plug out while running and watch for the oil to move once it is then you work the controls full one way then the other till each moves to full range

 

[used red MN]

Is it pumping or will it not prime? Where is the air, foaming oil? Are you sure that something isn’t leaking on the suction side introducing the air? Photos of the setup, please.

 

[13fx]

I think I might have to be a lot more patience with this one than I'm used to. The oil is super foamy still, but we do seem to be getting somewhere, just very slowly.

 

[13fx]

Is it pumping or will it not prime? Where is the air, foaming oil? Are you sure that something isn’t leaking on the suction side introducing the air? Photos of the setup, please.

It pumps, there for a while it would stop pumping and loose prime for a while, now it slow and if I don't baby the lift cylinders down it spews foamy hydraulic oil out the top all over. Don't believe there is a leak on the

I had a pipe loader that had water get I to the oil so I drained it all out and put in fresh super s fluid. Since then I have been having a heck of a time getting the air out of the system. This is the first pipe loader where I actually am using the frame for the hydraulic oil instead of an aftermarket tank. So I figured I'd ask for some seasoned advice and tricks on this one.

I had to run into town for a couple of hours. When I came back and tried ed to work the hydraulics nothing happened for 10 seconds or so then they worked really choppy and when I lowered the bucket it spewed foamy oil out like crazy. The pump is the lowest spot in that entire system so it shouldn't have lost prime when I went into town as there are no leaks around the pump, but it seemed to have. I worked the controls back and forth for a while and it didn't improve, way very choppy, had no power to lift, and every time I lowered the lift cylinders it would spews badly. Pump seal comes to mind, but I am not seeing a leak there.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

If the operation is still choppy there is still not enough oil in it; or the suction hose is collapsing.
With those gravity drop cylinders there will always be air above the oil. When the cylinder goes down it pushes the oil out of the lines; that's why it takes a couple seconds to lift, pump has to fill everything back up and traps the air again. Loosen the hose at the bottom of the cylinder and operate the valve to push the air out. Do both sides.

 

[13fx]

I have it bleed back out for the most part. It seems that the very end of the down stroke it doesn't want to bleed, but from what you said that should be normal. I added 3/4 of a gallon of hyd oil and it cured the choppy movement. I still get a lot of spewing from the vent, so I am thinking that there is a restriction on the return side somewhere. I'm going to go to town and get a 6" section of threaded pipe and raise the vent cap up to see if I can stop having it spew out. Tomorrow I'll try working it around the property to see if I can work things out.

 

[13fx]

I had a pipe loader that had water get I to the oil so I drained it all out and put in fresh super s fluid. Since then I have been having a heck of a time getting the air out of the system. This is the first pipe loader where I actually am using the frame for the hydraulic oil instead of an aftermarket tank. So I figured I'd ask for some seasoned advice and tricks on this one.

So got that loader bleed out good. The loader worked well, but It won't stop spewing hydraulic oil from the breather. It will spew it out till it's low on oil. The intake hose seems fine, the loader lifts pretty fast now, but every time I lower the lift rams or bring the bucket back upright it goes crazy spewing out the breather. I've raised that breather almost a foot and it doesn't care at all. It doesn't slow down or have problems lifting until I lose enough oil for it to start to suck air. If there is a restriction inside of the pipe loader, how do you clear them?

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Just for laughs, fill the system back up and just put a pipe plug in that cross bar, and raise the loader all the way...if the pump doesn't starve by time the boom is all the way up, just leave the plug in place.

I don't know if that loader is supposed to have a reservoir, but due to the velocity of the oil in the frame during a fast drop , large bubbles of air that you sucked in during the raising of the boom can get trapped I under the oil because of the myriad of passages in the frame; all those bubbles with oil on top of them are racing toward the breather and it's all going to come out because there is no quiet area (reservoir) for the air to separate from the oil.
If leaving the plug in doesn't work, I think you'll have to mount a de-aereation tank somewhere.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

What also might work is a one-way restrictor in the lift circuit, to limit the drop speed. There is a lot going on in there with that small diameter tubing, with the air rushing out; if the valve dumps the return oil in at too high of a level on the frame, the air will pick up the oil as it rushes toward the breather. The return should be as low as possible in the frame, even submerged, so the air will always be above it.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

I didn't notice before, but that sucker really goes up in the air! Looks like you could load a tandem with it.

 

[BradCNY]

I had a loader like that on my 8n. Mine had a fill/ level pipe plug part way down one of the side pipes. The top vent is exactly that, just a vent. I think you have way too much oil in it.