I normally have the shop rebuild cylinders, but now they want 500-850 to rebuild, doe not include the kit. So doing myself. Now I repacked the cylinder, but ripped the seal on the piston while putting back in the cylinder. The seal is not split, its one piece and sticks out beyond the piston profile. . Looking for advice, or tricks to get it back in. right now I have a hose clamp on it, will leave over night.
Send pictures. Will tell if screwed or not
On cylinders that I am having trouble getting back together. I use a ring squeezer to compress the seal. You can pick up a cheap one from any auto parts store.
Yes, also known as a piston ring compressor.
Of course replace the ripped seal if its mission critical I like to have two of everything on hand Find a way to put even controllable light pressure on the rod like a ratchet strap so you can wiggle and work it in lots of times with that kind of seal you have to work the lip with a butter knife type tool
It also helps to have things warm, cold seals aren't very flexible or elastic. In cold weather I hold components, such as piston seals once I've fitted it on the piston, in front of an oil fired space heater for a few moments to heat them up, then put the ring compressor on them to make them compress back after being stretched onto the piston during fitment. Once that's done, heat the piston assembly for a few moments, plenty of assembly grease inside the cylinder can and on the piston, then slip the piston inside the cylinder.
I always put a screw type hose clamp around the piston seal and let it sit for a bit before installing, and then I grease the crap out of it and the threads on the gland.
I do as Coy does but wrap a few wraps of electrical tape on the seal before putting the clamp on, i do not want the metal parts of the clamp imprinting the seal. Leaving the clamp on for a few minutes, after removing it and the tape the piston will slide right in.
what type of grease do you use so it does not contaminate the oil? The ring clamp tool won;t let the rod go in far enough for it to work.
I sometimes cut a section out of a 1 gallon milk jug and lay it in the barrel threads to protect the piston seals until they are in. I always slather hyd oil on the piston.
We always used Vaseline (petroleum jell), and as you can imagine there were plenty of jokes to be had, but it is supposedly compatible with the fluid once warmed during operation. Make sure the lead in the cylinder barrel is shiny clean. A little rust make it grab. The come a long strap and wiggle is often productive. Tinkerers milk jug method may also be helpful...we used to use shim stock when necessary on some designs.
You take the clamp off before trying to insert the piston in the barrel. The key to assembling it is to make sure the rod is straight to the barrel. I've stood the barrel up on end and used an overhead crane to drop the rod into the barrel if I had the room and lift. If I had to do one on the floor, I tied the barrel down and blocked the rod to the level of the barrel and had to use a hammer or fork lift to put them together. The packing glands have always been the biggest problems for me. When they went to high pressure systems and multiple pieces of packing in the gland, it got hard to push the gland onto the rod. A few times I've been dismayed to see a sliver of packing show up on the rod as the gland was pushed up.
I always used whatever grease you use to lube your pins n bushings. The type clamp I use is for silicone hoses, they won’t leave marks on seal. Put clamp on seal after installing let set for a few minutes then remove clamp grease piston and install.
I have done hundreds of Case cylinders in my 52 yrs and the tape and clamp method is by far the best , the idea of the clamp is to reform the seal to it's original size after stretching it on the piston. A little HY Tran on the packing and they slide in easily, I do that method on power brake pistons in brake valves that use a square ring expanded by an oring as small as 5/8 boost pistons in Case ag tractor valves using the real small fuel hose size clamps.
Coy, Is this the one you are referring to in your post? Called a T-Bolt clamp.
I use standard radiator hose clamps but that is ideal, much nicer than what I use, I probably would use electrical tape anyway but it may not be necessary.
I have typically used either a piston ring compressor or appropriately sized gland bearing/guide ring with a worm clamp around that. The t-bolt clamp seems like a good idea.
after using a hose clamp overnight, the piston slipped right in, almost too easy.... Now need to do the boom cylinder. I do have the adjustable gland nut wrench which so far has proven useless. Had to make a tool for the lift cylinders. Thought I would ask is there a technique to using this? slips off easily. I wedged a block of wood to hold the tool in place, Looks like I have to make another tool for the boom gland nut... Thanks for the help, I did use vasoline for the lubricant, they use it for automatic transmission assemble so figure it was the best option.
the boom cylinder piston cap screw is 1300 to 1600 ft/lbs. Don't think I can get that off so looks like I will be spending some big bucks to get this one done. Unless there is a trick I do not know about. I do not have a torque multiplier anymore.
Those will work if you can find one big enough. The ones I used were screw clamps.
case310350, Do you mean the bolt on the end of the cylinder rod that secures the piston to the rod? A socket with a heavy duty breaker bar and a length of pipe on it. Usually about 2 people pulling on it. Punch mark the rod/piston and piston/bolt so that you torque back to where it was when starting. The adjustable gland nut tool is not perfect, but usually works well if you have the correct sized pins pins and it is properly adjusted and locked into place. You need to keep the pins fully engaged as you pull. I purchased some 7/16" dowel pins for mine because the stock pins were a bit small on some of my cylinders. If you had access to a lathe, you could make pins that fit snugly into the holes in the gland nut. It is always a good idea to tap the tube where the gland screws in with a hammer. This will make it much easier to crack loose.
going to try the gland tool again before i make a tool. without a wedge holding it in I don't know how you keep it on. I have 1 inch tools, I will have to look up and see how much force a swivel breaker bar will take before breaking.
most of the holes in the gland nuts i encounter have been previously messed up and my pin-type tool can't be used. i usually end up using my big chain wrench with a snipe. if its rusted, pein all the way around while heating. if they are really stubborn it may take a few heating and cooling cycles
An un-threaded section of a grade 8 bolt make a decent replacement pin for gland wrenches. And also for homemade gland wrenches I made. New pin holes can easily be drilled in the gland - in a drill press
If the pin holes are in fact messed up, and a chain wrench doesn't cut it, a 4' pipe wrench with a pipe may work. However, you will forever see the sign of butchery when you look at the scared gland nut. I have found that the peening goes a long way to release a gland. You are actually stretching the metal on the tube just a tad. I have seen heating, hitting, and simultaneously pulling on the gland wrench crack a stubborn gland nut. Need an extra body for this tho. A custom made gland nut wrench may also be an option. If the pin soles are shaky, it gives you the option of making a tool that goes into 3 holes vs. the 2 on the tool...just thinking out loud.
I just saw this picture the other day holding the tool in place.
I have no patience for adjustable pin wrenches and breaker bars if there is room to grip it with a 4 ft pipe wrench and an excavator as a handle I'm going for it If I have to use a pin wrench I like to tap the holes for bolts like the last one I did that the nut was recessed on a 5 inch cylinder an adjustable wrench wouldn't have held up to the 950 loader cracking it loose and sledehammer blows to unthread it The green one is a hard to reach steering cylinder the pins are held in place by closing up the cylinder against the pipe so it is impossible to slip out while breaking free You could do the same by splitting a pipe and closing up your boom cylinder or even wood if it works out
If you can't break the gland loose, find a hydraulic shop with a cylinder bench and pay them to break it loose. Rebuild it yourself.
Has anyone mentioned that sometimes the manufacturers put set screws in the barrels to prevent the glad from coming loose?
found a shop that had a reasonable rate, took it there said a day now 3days not done going to pick up and will go back to making the tools. Broke my ajustable spanner wrench,
ok shop could not remove the gland, explained that any more force could strip the threads. So it's been heated, peened, any other ideas? Looking for good sites for a used replacement. Once I have a source, I will be more aggressive in getting it off or destroying it.
Something I’ve done in the past is drilled those spanner holes in the head bigger, the size of the tool hole.....then slip in a shouldered bolt. The bigger size pin will give you the capability of a lot more force for removal. I have yet to have this fail to remove a stubborn head.
shop did make the holes bigger to 3/8ths. Put the cylinder back in and is now unusable, fluid just flows out, Must have happened when they put heat to it. going backward on this one. looks like 1200 for a rebuilt plus shipping and taxes. Will work on it one more day then will have to buy a replacement. Need the machine. the will try and sell the other one for parts.
Heat tends to compromise the seal integrity.
case310350 , You talked about making a wrench...How about making a wrench (make sure it gets 3 pin holes) then tack welding the wrench to the gland temporally. Secure the barrel tightly (I would put it back in the machine with the original pin in place), heat it good and proper and while one person hits the barrel in the threaded area, pull on the wrench with a pipe. Some times the torque coupled with shock will crack it loose. With the wrench tacked on, it shouldn't come off. I hate to see you spend $1500 for a rebuilt when you have that one, and probably a kit too?
You took it to the wrong shop ! Why buy a complete cylinder if it comes to that ? Any decent hydraulic shop can make a new barrel. Unless the gland is destroyed too. Willie59's peening method has never failed that I know of.
Add a 8 foot cheater pipe
now thats something I didn't think of, welding it to the gland, will give that a try. Did the heat and using a loader tractor buck to push on the wrench, still did not come off but will weld on and try
also shops want 950 to repack, to make a cylinder gota cost 1000. can get a used one for 850. running out of time as i need the machine.
Hope it works!
At this point, if you can't afford the price to get it fixed, how can you afford to run it at all?
Cost me $1400 to have a boom cylinder made for my Cat 426. The cylinder was dented, they made a new cylinder, piston and replaced the rod.
Thanks for all the replies, I had to buy a used one, 750 rebuilt, drove down and got it. Will bring the bad one to a shop down south with cheap rates let them try now that time is not a factor. I am surprised there is no dump truck forum here?
There is a truck section on HEF. It is in the Transportation section.
I have a SWENCH set for sale if you may be interested. Great set for any shop. Torque multiplier, breaker bar, and torque wrench all in one ratchet. 3 swenches in one kit
. A pipe wrench will not slip, it just digs deeper. It leaves a mark, more to grab the next time ya gotta rebuild it.