Would like some input We have a grove ATS 540 our first crane we own... and we are trying to trouble shoot a drift problem but the problem is when the boom is in the cradle.. rod side seems to be pressurizing when crane is shut down over night.. It seems that the downward pressure on the cradle increases overnight... any thoughts would be appreciated.
I think you just have a normal boom cylinder drift problem. Sounds like your not gettin all the weight into the cradle and it’s settling overnight. I can’t see a way that the rod side is actually getting pressure with the crane turned off. It’d take a strange chain of events for that to happen. I’d set the crane up with the boom over the back. Hang the hook a few inches off the ground with the boom at a 0 degree angle. If the hook is on the ground your cylinder is bleeding off. Either a holding valve or boom cylinder needs rebuilt.
Thermal expansion or contraction maybe from variations in oil temps?
Thank you for the reply’s.. when we put the boom in the cradle the LMI reads -2 to 3 k lbs.. next day it will read -8k lbs.. and there is noticablely a lot of down pressure