took the bucket ram apart to put a seal kit in.. the gland nut seal had a nick in it and fluid was leaking out of the tube.. replacing the main seal on the piston was fun.. there was a flat rubbing type seal on either side of the main seal.. easy to install those as they were cut so you could just spread them slightly and install.. the main seal was comprised of a square rubber seal that went into the groove first.. easy to do as it would stretch.. then overtop of that is a flat seal.. about 1/2 inch in width and about 1/16 inch thick and it has no stretch at all.. struggled to get it into the groove without doing any damage.. finally got it done but once it was in position it didn't sit down in the grove as it appeared to have been stretched and wasn't shrinking back at all.. got the tube assembly installed back in the barrel and everything seems to work okay.. kept scratching my head thinking about an easier way to do it.. after I was finished I thought about possibly putting the seal in hot water for a few minutes and getting some softening and expansion.. the next day I called my local cat tech rep.. he just laughed and said "welcome to hydraulic rams".. he indicated that putting the seal in hot water helps but you still wind up with it looking stretched and dubious about how well it's going to work.. the seal that was on the piston when I dismantled the ram was down flush in the groove.. knowing what I know now, I never would have tried to replace it as it wasn't an issue.. I just thought that while I had it apart and had a new seal I'd go ahead and do it.. anyone familiar with this seal and how it's done properly? serial is AFKY00251 Bernie
You're on the right lines with the hot water. If necessary you can put a hose clamp around it until it cools. If the hose clamp has any sharp edges on the inside, protect the seal with a piece of shim steel.
I use a piston ring compressor on them for about ten minutes.
Thx guys Appreciate the feedback.. the ring compressor is a great idea.. next time Bernie
There's a piston ring compressor kit that I think otc used to make that had a locking setup. It came with 9 or 10 bands of different sizes up to around 5 inches. Might be worth rounding one up if using that method.
I've got one that uses a large pair of pliers to squeeze the bands and there's a very fine tooth ratchet locking mechanism on the pliers.. should work well for that.. Bernie
I just used the cheap ones from Napa. My big one will go out to about nine inch diameter. It doesn't take much hold for the ring to go back to original dimension.