Hydraulic oil sample on my dad's excavator. I don't have the serial number, hopefully that doesn't matter. Copper levels are high, where would copper come from in a hydraulic excavator? He has been complaining about reduced power in the tracks.
@Nige I know this prob isn't nearly the level of info you usually want, best I can say is it has about 1500 hours on the oil, not sure about filter. I can't give you a sample of the new oil to compare zinc levels, so I guess all we really are wondering is would this level of copper cause you to panic? I hope the answer is drain, flush, replace, resample in 50 hours, but something tells me that's wishful thinking. The only good thing here is maybe it's been caught before the hydraulic system is completely destroyed?
The slippers have a very high content of copper and zinc, unfortunately. So does any brass or bronze bushing.
Shimmy. How many hours on the machine? Has there been any hydraulic components which include the hydraulic pump rebuilt or changed?
No. I believe the hoe has around 7000 hours. At this point, the problem being addressed is low track drive pressure. Spec requires 5800 psi +/- 300. Only seeing about 5000 when testing, this is by pinning the rails and stalling the drive. My dad (rose-colored glasses) has been studying the manual, and thinks it's something with the power boost or swivel. I don't know what to think.
Do you have a schematic of the hydraulic system? If so post up a picture for the hydraulic experts to look at.
25 year old machine. Based on the low pressure in the travel circuit I’d suggest to reseal the swivel as a first step because it’s probably in a pretty ropey state by now. JMHO.